2019 Holiday in Inverness: Days 7 - 8: Ness Islands Walk, Nairn, Findhorn Bakehouse, Cullen and Dunkeld

The Ness Islands Walk in Inverness was our morning dog walk. You can walk on either side of the River Ness and cross at the islands and over the bridges in the city centre to make a variable length of circular walk.

 Rob lurking suspiciously on a bridge to the Islands

Inverness Castle and the view towards the City Centre

 Brock and I and a carved wooden bench on one of the Ness Islands

Next, we drove East to the seaside town of Nairn. We gave Brock another long walk along the beach and up through the town, stopping to sit at an outside table of The Classroom Bistro for a coffee and cake.

The Bakehouse Cafe at Findhorn was our lunchtime venue (our third visit this holiday!). It was still warm enough for us to sit outside with Brock. I ate GF bread with halloumi and roasted vegetables; Rob had scrambled eggs on toast. The freshly baked bread is fabulous.

Further East, we came to the small fishing village of Cullen, home of the famous Cullen Skink soup (made from smoked haddock, onions and potatoes). We headed downhill to the harbour first.

Then we had a tasty rum and raisin, and coffee ice cream before exploring the three antique and bric a brac shops in the town. We saw some beautiful brass port holes, painted stained glass windows, vintage clothing, costume jewellery, books, and just about every other item you could wish for.

Saturday came round all too soon, and we were up at 7.00 am to give The Bothy a clean and vacuum, getting on the road for home just after 9.00 am.

We stopped off at Dunkeld once again and this time the lovely Kettles of Dunkeld cook shop in the town was open. I bought a silicone spatula, tiny whisk and two top notch dishcloths.

We had morning coffee and cake in the excellent The Scottish Deli. It is dog friendly, so Brock was able to accompany us and met a lively, 'free range' friend in there who was full of beans and trying to get him to play (without much success, since Brock was firmly on the lead!).

We arrived home at 2.00 pm and said hello to the Minnow Cat and Connie Chicken, who did not seem to have missed us at all, since our friends and neighbours Neil and Babette had looked after them so well.

2019 Holiday in Inverness: Days 1 and 2: Journey Up, Dunkeld, Findhorn and Croy

Rob, Brock and I were on holiday last week, staying at The Bothy, near Croy, Inverness.

We set off at 9.30 am, stopping just up the road at Johnstonebridge Services for coffee and a dog walk.

Lunch was at Dunkeld, a convenient half way point for us. It was warm and sunny so we decided to have a picnic in the park overlooking the River Tay, with food from The Scottish Deli. I had a hummus and sundried tomato salad; Rob had the same in a roll.

[Please click on any photo to see a larger version].

Findhorn was our next stop (via a 'Google Special' back route). We had a walk by the sea, then afternoon tea at The Bakehouse Cafe, again sitting outside - all four of the outside tables were taken on this sunny day. This was one of our favourite places to eat on our previous visit, and it was as good as we remembered, with fresh 'real' bread baked daily, homemade food and cakes, including gluten free options. I had a GF cranberry slice and Rob had the citrus cheesecake - both were delicious.

It was time to head to our holiday cottage, and we were soon in and lighting the wood burning stove to warm it up, before giving Brock a walk nearby. I saw a roe deer, and heard another crashing about in the gorse. The Bothy looked to have had a make-over since our last visit, and had a new bathroom and kitchen. All very nice and cosy, with a vase of yellow tulips and a packet of shortbread awaiting our arrival.

The countryside surrounding the holiday cottage is quite flat, and you can see distant views of the mountains and sea. The photo above shows the fields and trees nearby.

On Sunday we headed to Culbin Forest for our morning walk. There are dozens of small trails to follow, including ones that go down to the sea. The pine trees are growing on an area that was once sand dunes, and run to many acres.

Our next stop was at the Findhorn Foundation. We always enjoy looking at all of the eco houses on the site. There are also craft studios, a wholefood and craft shop, two cafes (I recommend heading into Findhorn itself to the Bakehouse Cafe, rather than eating here, however) and The Moray Art Gallery on site.

We headed back to the Bakehouse Cafe for a filo vegetable pasty for Rob and a GF chocolate brownie to takeaway. There was a mixture of bright sunshine and heavy showers, so we could not leave Brock in the car, nor sit on the wet seats, so bought some tomato soup to take home for lunch at the holiday cottage. We had a quiet afternoon reading the Sunday paper, walking Brock, watching tv and generally relaxing.

 

Holiday in Yorkshire - Day 3 - Brimham Rocks and Ripon

After a vegetarian cooked breakfast at the cottage, to set us up for the day, we headed out to Brimham Rocks. There are hundreds of weird rock formations on the site.

It is like walking around an alien landscape. It was a bit busier than when we were last there in October. The car park costs £5 per car, which is their 'entrance fee', I suppose.

Dogs are allowed onto the site, so Brock came along and was off the lead for most of the way, although you do have to watch out for some steep cliff edges in places. We wandered at random along small grass pathways and over the moorland before coming back to the Visitor Centre, which sells souvenirs. There is a refreshment stand (not yet open when we were there), picnic tables and a toilet block.

We drove on to Ripon and ate lunch at The Royal Oak pub. Dogs are allowed into the bar and beer garden.

I had feta salad (the only vegetarian, gluten free option), Rob had a falafel burger and chips and we both had cups of coffee. There were about four vegetarian options to choose from. The food was tasty and well prepared, and the staff were very attentive. The other people in the bar were locals and chatted about dogs with us - always a good subject! Definitely a recommended place to eat.

Ripon has a good range of small, independent shops, as well as some chain shops, plus plenty of places to eat. We bought some food for dinner in the Sainsburys, then headed back to the cottage to read the papers and relax.

New Abbey Walk, To Waterloo Monument

Rob and I went on a walk starting from New Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway this week. We had an early lunch in the Abbey Cottage. They serve award-winning tea and coffee with freshly-made food, sourced from local suppliers. We ate baked potatoes with salad, Rob had vegetarian haggis and I had cheese and coleslaw. They were perfectly cooked: the fresh salad flavoured with a wholegrain mustard vinaigrette dressing and served with coleslaw. With a pot of tea and an apple juice, the bill came in at under £15. Highly recommended! There is a small craft shop adjoining the tea room, and Sweetheart Abbey to explore, nearby.

 

The walk we did is about 4 miles long and directions for a similar walk can be found here.

We were heading for the Waterloo Monument, which can just be seen at the top of the hill in the photo below.

 

At the start of the walk you get stunning views of Criffel (another walk for another day!).

 

 

It is a steep climb up the hill, with rough, high steps to negotiate. From the top is a charming view over the Nith Estuary and across the Solway to the Lake District. The Waterloo Memorial, built in 1810, commemorates the British, Belgian and Prussian soldiers who, under Wellington and Blucher won the battle of Waterloo.

 

You can climb the tower if you are feeling brave. There is no lighting, but you can scrabble up the spiral stone staircase in the dark and come out at the narrow summit with a very low surrounding wall (knee height!). The view is spectacular with New Abbey and Sweetheart Abbey (below).

 

You can head back down the hillside by the way you came up, but we decided to go through the 'forest', which actually has been cut down now, concealing the original track. We scrambled over extremely rugged terrain, with fallen branches and boggy ground before ending up in some dense woodland at the bottom of the hill.  After half an hour of struggling through the undergrowth and thick, muddy patches, we emerged scratched and dishevelled onto the road which leads back to New Abbey. Quite an adventure, and, as Rob put it, definitely 'the road less travelled'.