11 July 2018 Dornoch to John O Groats
After a short walk around the town we visit the weekly market with stalls of fresh fish, meat,, cheeses and other handicraft goods. Three young children are attracting the visitors in their kilts and playing violin and accordion. We move on to the Cathedral a wonderful place where most would recognise as the venue for the wedding of Maddonna.
Returning to the camp site we soon set off towards Lairg to visit Shin Falls where we saw salmon leaping. It is just 19 miles from Dornoch, on the road from Bonar Bridge to Lairg. The Falls are spectacular in their own right and very easily accessible, just a short walk from the road and car park.For much of the year Shin Falls are recognised as one of Scotland’s best places to see salmon leaping. Depending on the weather, fish can usually be seen jumping from mid May until late autumn as they make their way up river to spawn.
The new Falls of Shin Visitor Centre (Lottery Funded) opened in May 2017 and has a restaurant, shop and adventure playground. There are a range of woodland walks from the Falls car park from 20 minutes to over an hour. There is also a woodland play area (Suitable for children and adults!). You get a great view of the river and falls and if you wait and concentrate will soon see the salmon leaping.
We continued on to Bonar Bridge then along the A9 at Golspie on the coast the location of Dunrobin Castle.
Dunrobin Castle is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. A visit to Dunrobin castle could literally take up a day with its beautiful gardens, interesting tour, popular falconry displays and unexpected museum, this is a highly recommended stop, the castle is not open all year so you need to check. The cost for an adult is £11.50. 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. Dunrobin Castle is on the east coast of the Northern Highlands overlooking the Moray Firth, just north of the villages of Golspie and Dornoch (famous for its cathedral and Royal Dornoch Golf Club).
