2019 Holiday in Inverness: Days 5 - 6: Dornoch Firth, Tain, The Black Isle, Rogie Falls and Ullapool

Wednesday began with a return visit to the beautiful beach at Dornoch for our morning walk. Brock met a little friend to chase around with. [Click on any photograph to see a larger version].

We took a scenic route around Dornoch Firth, stopping off at Bonar Bridge.

Tain was our next stop, for a quick look around the town, before having a delicious lunch in Greens Restaurant (mozzarella and sundried tomato salad for me; quiche and chips for Rob). Lovely interior, great food and friendly staff - highly recommended. The only improvement I could suggest, is having a dog friendly table or two!

Historic court building in Tain.

Interior of Greens.

We drove on to Cromarty on The Black Isle - a picturesque, 18th century town on the tip of the peninsula, with spectacular views including oil rigs being serviced or decommissioned, and the 'sutor' rocks guarding the entrance to Cromarty Firth.

South Sutor

View from the shore at Cromarty

There are lots of interesting independent shops and cafes to visit. We enjoyed looking around The Cromarty Pottery, and purchased a spoon rest with a fish and seaweed design, and a small, white spoon with a blue pattern on it, made by potter, Barbel Dister. Follow the link to see similar pieces on her website.

I finally bought some postcards and stamps on the way to Chanonry Point at Rosemarkie! They seem to be harder to find in these days of online sharing. Chanonry Point was looking very dramatic under cloudy skies, with a brisk wind, and choppy water on all three sides of the peninsula. It is sometimes possible to see dolphins from here, but I have visited four times and have yet to see them. 🐬

Distant view of Fort George

FRI PORSGRUNN This Cypriot cargo vessel is currently in the Baltic Sea, as I type. You can trace its whereabouts through the link above.

Here's Rob's photo of me taking the photo of the ship! I am standing on the point of Chanonry Point.

Chanonry Point lighthouse.

Dinner when we got home was a take away from The Curry Hoose in Culloden. There was a good selection of vegetables in the two curries we ordered. The pakora and rice were also good. Quite pricey, but there was enough food for two meals.

On Thursday, we set out towards Ullapool, stopping off at Rogie Falls for our morning walk. There are two short walks from the car park: (one more 'strenuous' as they put it on the sign post. We took that route to the falls to walk off our curry of the night before!). There was plenty of flow in the Black Water to make the waterfalls quite a torrent.

On the drive along the A835, we saw stunning views all the way along, including this one of Loch Droma.

 At Ullapool, we had a walk around the town before lunch in The Celidh Place. A very nice, dog friendly venue with a book shop attached. We managed to get the table next to the wood burning stove 🔥 I had a GF cheese and Waldorf salad open sandwich; Rob had a split pea burger and chips - both meals were very tasty.

There are lots of shops to investigate, and we bought a couple of cards in the community charity shop, a sweatshirt from the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, and an ice cream to eat while admiring the view out to sea.

Holiday to Inverness 2016: 26 - 27 September 2016

Brock had his morning walk at Culbin Forest on Monday. Culbin is a Forestry Commission plantation on sand dunes. There are dozens of tracks through the trees: some emerging onto the beach. I would recommend printing off a map from their website before starting out!

 A devil's coach horse beetle.

Pine trees growing on the dunes.

The ever-popular Findhorn Foundation was our next stop. It was incredibly busy and hard to park, even at this time of year. The cafe we had hoped to visit (La Boheme - found near the entrance to the site) was closed so we had to resort to the renamed 'Phoenix Cafe' further into the site. An attractive wooden building, with seating areas inside and out, but, as on our previous visit two years ago, the service was atrocious. There was a long queue; the till broke down; they ran out of coffee beans; no menus were available apart from one at the till point; there was a 30 mins + wait for the food to arrive (Rob had ordered a pie which simply needed to be put on a plate, and my choice was a jacket potato with cheese). So disappointing, when this could be such a nice cafe with some proper management and staff training. Until that happens, I would avoid it at all costs!

Afterwards we enjoyed looking at the lovely eco houses on the site. Here are a few of my favourites:-

There is a great wholefood and crafts shop on the site, which is well worth a visit. We stocked up on some food for the next day's breakfast: mushrooms, tomatoes, Quorn bacon and FR eggs.

Next, we headed to the village of Findhorn - another hard-to-park place. We headed to the Bakehouse for afternoon tea and cakes. This superb bakery has everything that the Phoenix has not: excellent food, friendly staff, and fast service. There are half a dozen homemade gluten free cakes to choose from: I had a cranberry slice that was delicious. Rob had a huge slice of pecan pie, and we sat outside enjoying the sunshine. Highly recommended!

Dinner that night was an Indian takeaway from Saffron in Inverness. The food was pretty good and they delivered to the door, which was a bonus. The price for two curries, two rice, poppadoms and a side dish was £26.50 (including delivery). A bit more than we would normally pay, but enjoyable.

On Tuesday we had a three mile walk at Glen Affric, taking in two of the trails at the unfortunately-named Dog Falls. The walk takes you past the water fall/gorge, through forest and around tiny Coire Loch. The pine forests, fungi and late flowering plants and bilberries were wonderful. It was surprisingly busy in the car park, but most people just go as far as the waterfall, so the longer trails are not too busy. It is very quiet, with a light wind in the trees being the only sound you can hear.

The Bothy at Fort Augustus was our lunchtime stop. It is dog-friendly, but service stops at around 2.30 pm, so we only just made it in time. Rob had veggie burger and chips. There were no GF vegetarian main courses, so I just had a mushroom/cheese starter without the bread, and a side of chips. With a tea and a mineral water, the bill came to £18.80. Despite the bad reviews it gets on Trip Advisor, we found the staff to be pleasant and welcoming. I probably would not return though, unless some GF veggie options were introduced.

Afterwards, we walked down to Loch Ness to see the tiny lighthouse, or 'unoccupied beacon' as it is less romantically referred to.

 Loch Ness in the background.

 The Caledonian Canal with five locks, seen from the bottom ...

... and the top.

A pretty town, but a bit too touristy for my taste. On a previous visit, we hired a boat and went out onto the loch - no sign of the Loch Ness Monster, though.

Holiday to Inverness 2016: 24 - 25 September: Dunkeld, Inverness and Chanonry Point

Rob, Brock and I have just returned from a week's holiday in Inverness.

We stopped off at Dunkeld on the way up. It is a very picturesque town with hotels, cafes and small shops. Palmerston's Cafe was where we had lunch (jacket potatoes with hummus and salad). The food is pretty good, but one of the waitresses is rather on the abrupt side, which is a bit off-putting, so I couldn't recommend it.

There is an excellent deli in the town: The Scottish Deli. We bought a bag of food there to take with us for the week: muesli, almond milk, cheese, butter, olives, wine, stuffed chillies, bread, hummus, strawberries etc.

We arrived at Rookery Nook, our accommodation for the week, at about 4.00 pm. It is a 'compact and bijoux' apartment with a tiny, private garden area (complete with bird feeder, rockery, washing line, seating area and plants). The apartment is in a very quiet area of Inverness, but only a few minutes drive to the centre or the ring road, so suited us very well. It has an open-plan kitchen/dining area/sitting room, with a bedroom, and a shower room.

Brock made himself at home on the duvet we'd bought for him (no pets on the furniture, please!).

On the Sunday, we headed into the centre of Inverness to do the Ness Islands Walk, only to find that there was a marathon and fun run taking place.

A view from one of the islands. We managed to complete the walk before the main race began.

 Warming up before the race starts.

Just before the race began.

The event was sponsored by Baxters soup and it was quite amusing to hear the commentator trying to work 'his favourite soup' into interviews with the competitors.

Rob and I had a walk around the town, but most of the shops, and the museum were closed. We did manage to get some postcards in The Works!

Chanonry Point near Rosemarkie on The Black Isle was our final stop for the day. The sat nav took us on the scenic route around the Beauly Firth, which is absolutely beautiful.

It was a bit windy on the point, but the beach that runs back to Rosemarkie was quite sheltered. You can see dolphins from here if you arrive in the late afternoon.

Chanonry Lighthouse.

Walking back along the beach towards Rosemarkie.

Brock enjoyed the walk and met some friends along the way.

By the time we approached the community cafe on the beach, the sun had come out and it was hot enough to sit outside for lunch.

The popular community cafe in Rosemarkie. Good tea, and GF egg roll, but very dry cakes :o/

We had a couple of hours rest at the holiday home before visiting a nearby pub for dinner: The Fluke. It was quite lively, with a mixed age crowd, and music from a jukebox. We ate the cauliflower and red pepper curry, which came with rice and poppadoms - quite tasty, washed down with some cider! They had quite a few other vegetarian meals on the menu: most centred around halloumi cheese.

Holiday in Gairloch: Day 3: Rogie Falls and Inverness

The weather on the west coast was horrendous today - wet, with gale force winds. We decided to beat the rain by heading for the east coast. We stopped at the Rogie Falls and gave Henry a walk, and ride in his stroller, as far as the first waterfall view point.

We had lunch in the Pizza Express in Inverness, where Rob ate the Fiorentina pizza (with egg and spinach) with a coke, followed by coffee. I had the Warm Vegetable and Goat's Cheese Salad, Peroni to drink, with a small portion of Semi Freddo Reale (gelato dessert with nougat, praline, marsala wine) and coffee. It was a good meal and I liked being able to have a small version of the dessert. Rob thought that the furniture and furnishings looked a bit scruffy compared to our last visit. The staff were good, though, and service was quite fast. The meal cost just over £30.00.

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery was our next stop. It has free entry with an optional donation box. We were just in time to watch a strange movement/music/light show of automata called "Sharmanka: Gothic Kinetic". There were lots of weird sculptures with moving parts. Some had a rather sinister edge to them, with strange creatures and skulls peeping out of little doors that opened and shut. Quite entertaining!

After a quick look round the shops, it was on to the River Ness Islands walk. This is a lovely circular walk along the banks of the Ness, passing over picturesque bridges and islands in the water, with distant views of the city. The weather was warm and sunny and it was very enjoyable.

Rob pushing Henry in this buggy.

A fisherman with a beautiful, turreted house in the background.

View of Inverness from the walk.

Holiday near Inverness

Rob and I have just arrived back from our holiday staying at The Bothy, Balblair Self Catering Cottages near Croy, Inverness-shire.

The holiday cottage was as nice as last time (with all mod cons), also cakes and biscuits on arrival. Mr and Mrs Strachan senior run it along with their daughter who lives in the farm building. Trig and Bob (dogs) came visiting most days, along with Jack who was staying next door, so Henry was very happy, as they all got along famously.

Our itinerary went something like this:-

Sunday:- Aviemore & Highland Wildlife Park
Monday:- Dornoch and Tain
Tuesday:- Nairn, Findhorn, Burghead, and Elgin
Wednesday:- Ness Islands River Walk, Inverness, The Black Isle (including Rosemarkie and Chanonry Point, Cromarty and back around the Cromarty Firth)
Thursday:- I was ill in bed all day :( (possible food poisoning). Rob went to Nairn beach with Henry
Friday:- Ullapool on the West Coast, then on to Achiltibuie

The weather was almost always sunny or cloudy, but dry. There were a few showers on the journey across to Ullapool and overnight on two occasions. There was still snow thick on the ground in Aviemore/The Cairngorms, but it had melted (apart from on the mountains) by the time we passed back through on Saturday.

A really enjoyable week with lots of nice meals out and about. We either had lunch or dinner out every day (sometimes both). Sometimes we bought food while we were out to eat back at the holiday cottage.

I particularly enjoyed the trip to Ullapool - a pretty little 'Fairtrade' town on the side of Lochbroom with a small port. The beach near Achiltibuie (at Achnahaird) was absolutely amazing and completely deserted when we got down to it (quarter mile walk from the car park). It had acres of clean sand, blue water with the mountains in the background - just perfect.

A building in one of the gardens at Findhorn Ecovillage.

A walk near the River Ness in Inverness.

View from Cromarty on The Black Isle.

Ullapool harbour.

Achnahaird Beach.

Henry had a wonderful time here, running around like a puppy instead of a 15 1/2 year old dog!