We moved on to the Kyle of Tongue firstly stopping off at Tesco for our weekly shop and then at Bettyhill viewpoint. Sadly it was absolutely hammering it down with rain so the walk was off. However a little further on we stumbled upon a little coffee shop ‘the store’ where we had a hot chocolate and a slice of cake coffee and walnut and rocky road.

We arrived at the Kyle of Tongue Hostel and camping site. It didn’t look so great but actually the facilities were nice and the view was kind of okay too. We went out with the dogs along the shore of the Kyle (which means strait) looking at the rainbows. As we walked back along the beach the sun was setting and it looked glorious.

So today 26th September is moving on day, we plan to move to the most northerly point of Scotland. The weather forecast for days has been warning of high winds and rain and so we planned our pack and what we would do. The forecast hasn’t changed so we packed the van so we had everything we needed to hand, we had pre-cooked our dinner and we planned to sleep downstairs, so no roof.

But first John O Groats

After the obligatory photos, hot chocolate (biscoff /Nutella) and a decoration from the Christmas shop we moved on to Dunnet Head – this is overlooked by JoG and is actually the most northerly point.

We arrived at Dunnet Bay Caravan and Motorhome club at 4 ish. Apart from plug the van in there was nothing more we could do. So we took the dogs out across the road to the small wood to escape the wind and rain. We then went on the beach before we got rained off and Mabel ran off – we realised she doesn’t like the rain.

We then camped out in the van. We fed the dogs, made a cup of tea, changed in to PJs and made dinner all in the space of about 5 x 5 ft ish. Waiting for bedtime when we all sleep downstairs.

We moved from Fortrose via the Cromarty Ferry to Nigg through the Cromarty Firth the oil rig graveyard. A little tour of the Black Isle and then into Dornoch. This campsite is much larger and we are camped next to the sand dunes overlooking the long golden beach and clear water.

We absolutely loved Shieldaig the campsite, the village, the surrounding area and the adventures so leaving felt really hard for us both. We were heading to the east coast to avoid the midges and were on the North Coast 500 route for a lot of the journey. When we arrived at Fortrose we weren’t sure what to expect. The toilets weren’t up to scratch, we pitched wrong and had to change it all and it was cold and windy. But we always try to be positive. We took a walk to the lighthouse to look for the world famous bottleneck dolphins but it wasn’t to be and no seals or ospreys either. To rough and windy!!

We did it all at Sheildaig, ran, swam in the loch at 13.5c and we walked some lovely walks. But we also both cycled the Baleach na ba route which was 42 miles up the famous mountain and then 8 miles down to Applecross and around the peninsula. It was beautiful if not brutal.

We also had a date night our first chance in 6 weeks to dress up in our best finery and go out to dinner. We went to the Shieldaig coastal kitchen where we are crab foccia for a starter and then the seafood platter with mussels, crab pate, smoked mackerel and salmon, rollmops, crayfish tails with sourdough bread.

It’s 16th September and we needed to give Fin and easier day today so Tim went off on a bike ride and me the dogs mooched on the beach. Fin wanted to belly dunks whilst fetching sticks and Mabel was just happy mooching along the water’s edge in and out of the seaweed.

As we go into our 6th week!

So when we arrive at a destination we set the van up and then that’s it for the van until it’s time to move on. So any place we want to see has to either be by foot, cycle or public transport and in rural deepest north west Scotland there is not a lot of public transport. So today we wanted to see the view over the Skye Bridge so we walked. We wasn’t sure what kind of walk it would be but it turned out kind of amazing with beautiful views. It was 17km and 5 hours, with 25 minutes of that spent looking for Mabel who went AWOL chasing a deer.