Inverness to Thurso

After a restful two nights, it was time to get in the car again.

We stopped first at Dornoch and could not miss seeing this ship which carries 4000 passengers and 1400 crew. Quite a number of passengers were wandering around the town.

This is the same photo but the pole was erased by the software on the phone.

What look like oil rigs in the distance.

We stopped here to look at the view but there wasn't much to see. The railway to Thurso runs along the coast and has the best views.

Sculptures at Balintore.

Heading north across the moors to Thurso. It's bleak up there.

We arrived at our hotel at Scrabster near Thurso.

A car ferry goes from this harbour to the Orkneys. I could not get rid of this pole.

We have an excellent view of the harbour from our hotel room.

Marianne has been fascinated by the cranes loading and unloading these logs.

Today we have taken the day off with no travel beyond nearby Thurso. We did some washing and I did my aqua therapy exercises in the local pool. It is indoors and the water was warm.

Train to Kyle of Lochalsh from Inverness

For the rest of our time in Scotland, we will stay two nights in each location so that I am not driving every day. For this rest day, we did the world-famous train trip from the East coast of Scotland to the west coast at the Isle of Skye.

Since Michael Portillo seems to have made a dozen or more train shows about this trip, Robin asked if I would be wearing a colour-coordinated outfit. I replied yes and that I had dyed my hair pink.

The route.

We walked to the station over the river.

The cost was 25 pounds each for the return trip, cheap enough for such a renowned journey.

The train set off on time with a fair number of passengers.

The canal that leads to Loch Ness.

It was already pretty countryside.

There were lots of sheep with their lambs.

A station.

The mountains got higher.

The western half of the trip is more spectacular.

The one way trip is a bit less than three hours. The ferry to Skye used to leave from here but it has been replaced by a bridge.

The Isle of Skye to the right.

All the station names have the Gaelic equivalent.

I particularly like the foot bridges at Scottish stations.

We had beautiful warm weather and it became obvious on the return trip that the train had no air conditioner.

Lossiemouth

Instead of proceeding directly to Inverness we decided to take a look at Lossiemouth which is where the Lossie River flows into the North Sea.

The beach is quite impressive with nice fine sand. The location could be improved but you make do with what is available where you live. We are spoilt in sub tropical Urangan.

A breakwater, which would be essential to protect from the North Sea waves in a storm.

The Lossie River.

This seaweed was rather stinky.

The main activity here seems to be eating icecream. There are several shops across the street. We thought it was a bit chilly to be eating icecream.

There is a footbridge across the river.

Lots of children were having fun as well as several dogs.

The other side of what I presume is Moray Firth.

Some of the town is up on a hill overlooking the river and beach.