Today we are driving up to Durness, as far northwest as you can get by car on the British mainland, and we’re probably going to some of the most remote areas of our road trip so far.
Photo of the day
Heading past Locha Chairn Bhain on the scenic B869.
Knockan Crag
The intriguing Globe rock sculpture by Joe Smith at Knockan Crag. Just down the path behind us there was also an excellent information hut explaining about the geology and history of the area.
Ardvreck Castle
Jarno managing a straight selfie photo… finally 😉 Behind us the ruins Ardvrek Castle on Loch Assynt, originally the 15th century seat of the MacLeods of Assynt.
Lochinver
How cool is this?! Can’t imagine there are many fish delivery trucks painted like this.
Rhicarn
A cute little red house near Rhicarn.
Clachtoll
One big surprise as we drove north were the beautiful clean white beaches, with crystal clear waters. Clachtoll Beach was typical of the many beautiful beaches we saw.In the beach car park the jaw and skull of a Fin Whale that had got stranded on Raffin Beach in 2007.
Stoer
There maybe trouble ahead.I’m not sure who was more concerned, us or the cows, anyway the road ended up being (just) wide enough for all of us.Stoer Lighthouse, and it was for sale! Interesting…The steep cliffs below Stoer Lighthouse.
Locha Chairn Bhain
The craggy coast around Locha Chairn Bhain and Eddrachillis Bay was stunning.The snaking road continued alongside Locha Chairn Bhain then on to Unapool.
Unapool
..and we did just that, on this bench by the road just above Unapool.
Kylesku
Bright green grass on these mini islands on Gleann Dubh near Kylesku.
Assynt
Magnificent views back over the Assynt region (Norse for rocky ridge) to Quinag and Sail Ghorm.
Cranstackie
The final stretch north to Durness as we passed Cranstackie. Despite the A838 being an ‘A’ road it was single track most of the way, reminding us that we really were in a remote location.
Kyle of Durness
Looking back along the Kyle of Durness from Keoldale.At Keoldale we decided to stop and check out the ferry times to cross to Cape Wrath the following morning. But the ferry didn’t run today due to the weather, so we’ll be back in the morning to check if it is crossing then…
Balnakeil Bay
We carried on to Balnakeil Bay, and wow what a beach. Again we hadn’t imagined that the beaches would be so perfect or the water so clear, but it kind of makes sense seeing there are so few people to pollute them.
Smoo Cave
Then before stopping in Durness for the night we continued a little further east to Smoo Cave.Inside Smoo Cave there was this little stand where tours could be arranged, but not today, again due to the weather.However, despite no one being around, you could still enter the walkway into the first chamber…… to view the Smoo Cave Waterfall. A nice little surprise to finish the day.
