Udale Bay

Udale Bay at bird hide

View from the bird hide

Leaving The Black Isle

 

A cold night, but the sky is clear and the sun is shining when we wake.

From Fortrose campsite near Chanonry Point we drive a couple of miles to the Fairy Glen woodland walk (an RSPB car park) and walk part way to the waterfalls and turn back, thinking that we have another 105 miles to drive to Thurso.

It is a lovely woodland walk, under the broadwood trees full of birdsong and wild flowers with the babbling brook running through and we enjoy about an hour’s walk. On to Udale Bay, still on The Black Isle, RSPB hide and lookout, overlooking the Moray Firth estuary, today there are few birds apart from herring gulls and oyster catchers, possibly because the tide is fully out and all we see is sand and mud. We have lunch and get on our way driving north on the A9 through Evanton, Glen Morangie (past the distillery), Dornoch and Brora, turning inland at Latheron towards Thurso (still on the A9).

We arrive at Castlehill, an old fishing village and flagstone quarry mining area where we wild camp on the heritage centre (now closed) car park along with two other motorhomes. After eating our tea, we walk along the heritage trail but it there is a bitterly cold north wind so we return to the Hymer and have an early night.