End of the Road

           April 28

After missing a whole night’s sleep, our first night in the apartment was a welcome treat. The beds were comfortable but had only one cover each, a duvet. As cold as the apartment was when we arrived the duvet was just the opposite and really held in the heat. I’ve had electric blankets that weren’t as warm. The first night it wasn’t so noticeable, likely because of our sheer exhaustion, but last night was a different story. All four of us were constantly battling the heat of the cover. Without it the room was freezing and with it we quickly overheated. There were no other options, no sheets and no other blankets, just a duvet. We all seemed to deal with it differently. Jason got dressed and just slept in his clothes, without the cover. Rob ended up wrapped in a towel. Bryan just stayed mostly under his and just simmered all night like he was in a hot pot while I played a constant game of covers on covers off. It turned out to be quite a long sleepless night yet 6:45 still managed to come way too early. 

Today we were taking an all-day tour to the northernmost point of the Scottish mainland in the northern highlands. We had to be at the meeting point at 8 AM. If it was cold in Inverness it was supposed to be even more so on the Northern shore. We layered as many clothes as possible, packed even more in our daypacks and walked to the meeting point. 

We booked the tour last minute last night and we were a little uncertain that they got our online reservation, but they did. We were touring with Timberbush tours, the same touring company we took to the Isle of Skye last year. The tour was completely full, no empty seats, and was comprised of 16 visitors from Canada, Colorado, Arizona, India, and Australia. Oh and of Course Arkansas. Our tour guide (and bus driver) Malcom was a probably 50 something gentleman from Inverness. He was friendly, knowledgeable and had a story for everything. 

One of our first stops was at a small coastal town of Dornoch. We were informed our lunch would be a picnic and we were to bring our own food. We ran into a small local store and bought some homemade meat pies. We got two, a beef, potato and bean pie and a steak and gravy pie and they were absolutely delicious, (although we didn’t try them yet, we just got them for our lunch later). We spent a few more minutes in the quaint downtown area before moving on.

Our next stop was Dunrobin Castle (referred to in brochures as the Disney Castle of Scotland). Dunrobin Castle is the most northernly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. Dunrobin Castle is also one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses dating back to the early 1300s, home to the Earls and later, the Dukes of Sutherland.

The Castle, which resembles a French château with its towering conical spires, has seen the architectural influences of Sir Charles Barry, who designed London’s Houses of Parliament, and Scotland’s own Sir Robert Lorimer. The Castle was used as a naval hospital during the First World War and as a boys’ boarding school from 1965 to 1972.

Following the tour of the castle we proceeded to the gardens. Inspiration for the gardens came from the Palace of Versailles in Paris, and they have changed little in the 150 years since they were planted. At one end of the gardens was a field where they presented a falconry demonstration.

Falconry is the ancient art of hunting with birds of prey. Falconry was originally developed as a means of hunting fast or difficult prey as food for the table, and is still practiced for this purpose in many parts of the world today. The resident falconer demonstrated and explained the different hunting methods used by owls, hawks and falcons in a series of fascinating aerobatic displays featuring Peregrine and Gyrfalcon as well as a Harris hawk.

We stopped next at the small town of Latheronwheel and had our picnic lunch at the harbor. Afterwards we spotted some of the famous Highland cows (coos) and had to stop for a quick photo op.

We continued on from there to visit Camster Cairns, two of the oldest stone monuments in Scotland – a pair of Neolithic tombs originally built more than 5,000 years ago. The opening to the smaller of the two cairns was about 2 feet high, sized for someone about the stature of baby Yoda. The entryway was also wet so although we were allowed to crawl into the chamber we were discouraged from doing so as not to get covered in mud and track it on the tour bus.

I decided to go in anyways. Afterall when is the next time I’ll get the opportunity? I crawled into the small space gripping the stones lining the sides of the narrow passage and likewise my feet were anchored on the rocks on the sides. I maneuvered slowly and carefully through the roughly 12 foot passage never touching the muddy bottom until I reached the center of the chamber. It was roughly 7 feet in diameter and had a window at the top which lit up the burial compartment. I took several pictures of the interior which I relished, it was my reward for my achievement and especially so since I was the only one that attempted it. I exited the cairn the same way and never managed to get muddy at all. I returned to the bus where I gave a detailed account of my discovery to my curious fans.

Our next stop and the focal point of our day's journey was the tiny seaside town of John O Groats. Jan de Groot, a Dutchman, ran a ferry to Orkney and charged 2p a trip. The coin for this denomination became known as the ‘groat’. Jan de Groot is buried in Canisbay churchyard where his tombstone can be seen. Over a period of time the name Jan de Groot has subsequently changed to John O’Groats.

For being the primary destination for the trip we didn’t stay very long. The temperature was 42 and sharp biting winds constantly pummeled us. We took a quick picture by the famous signpost marking the notable location and then headed quickly into one of the several coffee shops nearby.

We drove along the coast for a short distance to the Duncansby Head Lighthouse where we parked and walked along the ridge of towering cliffs overlooking the sea. Winds were even stronger fiercer and colder here. The reason for the stop was to try and catch a glimpse of a Puffin. Puffins are seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among rocks or in burrows in the soil. Puffins have predominantly black or black and white plumage, a stocky build, and large brightly colored orange beaks and are just darn right adorable.

We spent a good bit of time freezing half to death trying to see the funny little birds but they never showed up. They survive by diving into the frigid waters for fish yet they know better than stand around on the cliffs when the wind is that cold. Now the stupid seagulls didn’t care and were everywhere. We also saw some other small black and white birds called Razor Beaks which looked a lot like the sneaky Puffins but aren’t and don’t have orange beaks. We also saw another strange bird by the hundreds all huddled around at the base of a rock ledge, with their white underparts showing and paddle-like feet sticking out in front. They were Guillemots, the nearest thing Britain has to a penguin.

Although the birds were indeed interesting it seemed to constantly be getting colder. I was wearing two pair of pants, four layers of shirts and three hats but still the frigid winds slapped me around like a Russian babushka whooping her step-son for stealing the last potato.

After getting back on the bus and regaining our composures, we started on our trip home. Now living in Hot Springs, Arkansas we have heard numerous times about Bridge street downtown being the shortest street in the world, or something like that. Well we did hear it but never knew if it was confirmed or not. Now I know!! The REAL and literally smallest street in the world according to Guinness Book of World records is right here in Scotland and we saw it. I wish I could say we drove on it and in a way we did but it is so small that we kind of just drove past it. The street is Ebenezer Place in the small town of Wick, and it actually is the shortest street in the world measuring in at 6’ 9” long. It runs in front of the entrance to Mackay’s Hotel, located at 1 Ebenezer Place. It literally is just the length of the entrance to the hotel and provides it an address. I did a little research and found out that the official shortest street in the US is in Ohio. So what is this claim to fame in Hot Springs? It was reportedly listed in the Guinness Book of World Records As the World’s Shortest City Street several years back. That specific listing has since been removed from recent editions altogether so Bridge Street has lost it’s official claim to fame. But it still has a heck of a good St Patrick’s day parade each year.

We made a couple more quick stops on the way back to Inverness including a visit to a place called Carn Broch Liath. Brochs are only found in Scotland, mostly in the north and west. The form of these huge round towers probably developed from earlier roundhouses which became increasingly complex and impressive. Built from drystone, Carn Liath has a narrow entrance passage at ground level, with a guard cell on the north side, and a stairway running up between the two walls, which would have led to upper floors.

Carn Liath is a fine example of a solid-based broch tower. It stands at 3m tall today, but when complete it could have been at least three times that. Carn Liath’s surrounding enclosure also contains the ruins of an associated village - a rare survival of stone houses and outbuildings - the earliest of which would have been contemporary with the broch. And aside from all that it was really fun to run around in.

Scotland is home to over 1000 castles and we passed several on the trip up to the north and back. One castle we passed is currently for sale for 3 million pounds in case anyone is interested. It was tempting but I may have to see a few things first, and I’m not just talking about MY things. Any takers?

We finally arrived back to the Inverness bus station at 7:30 PM. We were exhausted from the trip but it was worth it. But still a bummer we didn’t get to the see the silly Puffins. But we have more excursions coming up and more chances to catch the funny little birds.

We stopped for more fish and chips before heading back to the apartment to pack. We leave Inverness at 9:00 in the morning headed to the town of Oban for our next three days. We all enjoyed Inverness very much and the apartment except for the lack of heating, particularly in the bathroom, and the overheating duvets. If we could figure out how to take a shower wrapped in the duvet we would have it made. For now we suffer, like good Jews, wandering from place to place.