Our last day in Scotland brings us to the end of the “North Coast 500” and on to Aberdeen for our flight to Dublin – and our final “LAND” – Ireland.
There were not many stops today as we had a long drive and a lot of territory to cover.
We cut across the northern point of the NC 500 to the north east coast and not far from the town of Wick is the ruined castle of Sinclair Girnigoe. It is actually 2 castles – Castle Girnigoe from the 15th century and Castle Sinclair from the 17th century – it is considered to be one of the earliest seats of Clan Sinclair. The castle was damaged severely in a siege resulting from a dispute of ownership of the castle and never re-built. It is in a stunning location on the cliff edge with several sea stacks nearby. A good spot for the drone ! (Click here).
Sea stacks on the coast at Wick
At Castle Sinclair Girnigoe
A large section of the drive at this stage was directly along the coast and the scenery was quite spectacular – despite the grey skies.
Driving along the coast …
A bit further south we stopped at Whaligoe. It is a small natural harbour which was in use at the peak of the herring fishing era. Only problem was that it was down at the bottom of the cliffs. When the fishing boats came back, the local women would collect the catch in baskets and balance them on their heads as they negotiated stone steps back to the top. They are known as the Whaligoe Steps. We walked part way down the steps and back – it would be quite an effort hauling a basket of fish all the way !
On the Whaligoe Steps …
Also visible off the coast during our drive near here, and seemingly very close when we stopped at Whaligoe, were turbines from wind farms and the oil platforms out in the North Sea –
About an hour further, we came to Dunrobin Castle – one of the UK’s oldest continuously inhabited homes, dating back to the 1300’s. It is the home of the Earls, and later Dukes, of Sutherland. It is now essentially paying for its upkeep by being open to tourists and it is evident from the gardens that it is a costly business maintaining the huge property – some areas of what would have been the majestic gardens across the estate have now been totally replaced with grass. The outlines of the former formal gardens can still be seen amongst the grass. The gardens that are there though are still stunning.
Dunrobin Castle
Remaining circular garden at Dunrobin Castle
We passed through Inverness and headed on to our last stop of the day – Strathisla Distillery – home of Chivas Regal whisky. When we were planning our tour, I was intrigued at the number of “alcohol tours” that Adrienne had included. As she is mostly a “wine and champagne” girl, I thought they must have been to indulge me, which I was very grateful for of course, though she has started to gain a bit of a taste for beer after our last trip to the USA – despite those who have scoffed at “Bud Lite Lime” being called “a beer” 😂 As we were driving toward Strathisla, she hinted that her father had told her Chivas Regal was “only a blended whisky” and we should be going to one of the “single malt” distilleries. So why were we going to this one ? Was it the blend ? Was it a particular brewing method ? The particular brand ? No – “it was the prettiest” she said 😂😂🤣
“Pretty” Strathisla Distillery
The tour there was very good and the tasting interesting – quite a difference in the types and ages of the whiskies – though I had to wait for my tasting samples – Scotland has a “zero tolerence” alcohol policy, so they provide “specimen bottles” for the driver to put their samples in and try them later !
Barrels maturing in the warehouse
Time for tasting !
After our distillery tour, we had our final driving stage to Aberdeen where we dropped off the car and had our last night at the Crowne Plaza Aberdeen Airport – ready for our early flight tomorrow to Ireland.
Scotland has been great – great weather really, despite a couple of exceptions, great food, some fabulous scenery and unforgettable experiences – more wonderful memories for us to cherish from our travels together !
Onward to Ireland ! 🍀
Today’s Tour Trivia – In a recent 2018 study, Aberdeen was found to be the best city in the UK to start a business.