Chanonry Point

Chanonry Point

Toilet block at Chanonry Point

Cassette emptying point

 

Day 2 - The Kelpies to The Black Isle

We spent a quiet night on the car park at The Kelpies, up early and got on our way north towards Inverness as soon as possible. A bright sunny day so it was good for looking around as we travelled. Alan took the first section of driving until our coffee break in a lay-by on the A9, then Gill took over. We made a short detour on the outskirts of Inverness to fill up with diesel at Tesco then I did the final section to Fortrose campsite on the Black Isle.

An idyllic site that stretches along the coast close to Chanonry point, we had booked and paid in advance, a good thing because the "Full" sign went out shortly after we arrived.

We rested a while after the drive, then walked to Chanonry Point along the coastal path at the side of the golf course. A pleasant walk, with a strong wind blowing. Wind is a feature of this part of the world judging by the shape of the trees and bushes. At Chanonry Point there was a gathering of people watching and hoping to see bottlenose dolphins, they were not disappointed, whilst we were there several dolphins jumped out of the water and fins were seen slicing through the waves at different times.

Being birdwatchers we noted a number of species - common terns, wheatear, turnstone, pied wagtail, starling, house sparrow, blackbird, song thrush and linnet. It was good to see a lot of sparrows, I was watching then on the stony beach when a kestrel plummeted out of the sky, took a sparrow off the beach and wheeled away inland over the campsite. As it went I could see the hapless sparrow as the raptor tuned it so that it's head faced the direction of flight and its wings were held in to reduce drag.

We sat outside on the Hymer at Fortress Bay campsite and drank wine before tea, it was a little breezy and cool but enjoyable. A little reading and playing of games completed the day.

Summary of motorhome journey