Month: May 2012

I made an executive decision last night, as only I can when it comes to the trip. I mentioned in my post yesterday that the trip to the Mull of Kintyre lighthouse was looming. Well, I did some research (I don’t know how I coped before I had internet access to hand) and discovered that not only is there a long, winding single-track road that goes down 1000 metres, but that once you get to the end of that road you have to walk the rest of the way (steep hills) there and, of course, back. Now, I don’t want to be seen as a killjoy, but I’m not interested in any of that when it’s raining like it is. So, I decided against it (and Sanda island, which is a small island a short drive away).

Crinan was included in my original plan for today anyway. It’s a small village at the north west of the intriguingly-shaped Mull of Kintyre (look it up on a map and you’ll see what I mean). The lighthouse there looks like a fake. It almost looks as if it is part of a kid’s playground, but apparently not. Not only is it actually real, there is the old outer casing of a small lighthouse in someone’s front garden nearby, just rotting away really.

So, I then headed to Tarbet to catch my first ferry of the day. The next lighthouse caused me a few issues. I drove along the road I expected it to be on, but came to a dead end (a.k.a. a private road – they are very common it turns out). So, I decided to walk for a bit to see if I could spot it. Basically, I walked for half and hour and had no idea how much further I had to go, so turned back. It also started to drizzle just after I made the decision, which wasn’t massively appreciated! I decided to drive along the next road up and see if I could spot it. I saw during my walk, from a distance, what looked like a beacon of some kind on a small island just off of the coast, but you just don’t know, do you? Anyway, I had a nice walk and saw some great views, but no official lighthouse-sighting unfortunately.

So I moved on. My next location was Toward Point, south of Dunoon. I had previously decided to avoid the single-track option to get there and head north and then back down again on some sensible roads. However, I got to the junction where my final decision needed to be made and, surprisingly, I went for the windy B-road option. I was pleased in the end as it wasn’t anywhere near as bad some of those from previous days. I actually got up to 40mph for a while (never 5th gear though, not on those roads)!

The lighthouse at Toward was simply lovely and, most excitingly, for sale! It’s a bit of a change from Kilburn, but sometimes change is good! It was a quiet little place (with a private road, of course) and a great change to see yet another lighthouse that looked a little different!

My second ferry of the day took me from Hunter’s Quay to Levan where, just along the road, there is Cloch Point lighthouse. It’s similar to the one at Toward, but is a very different setting, just between the sea and a busy road. Perfect!

I then headed over to Port Glasgow (not actual Glasgow, but a town to the west of the city). I was really looking forward to seeing Perch lighthouse (pictured), which sits just off of the seafront. I love it’s black and white design and, although it looks a bit worse for wear now, it’s just a very lovely little thing. There is also a much thinner, taller version with the same black and white effect a little bit further along. Not quite as appealing unfortunately.

So, that’s been my day. It’s been full of lovely little lighthouses that all have their own style.

That also means that I am now back on the sensible part of mainland UK where there aren’t bits of land jutting in and out all over the place as is the case with much of western Scotland. As I was driving on the busy A8 near Greenock today, I was missing those small roads a little. One road was actually so wide that I had no idea where to position myself. Crazy in comparison to some of the roads to the obscure places! 🙂

I am writing today’s post from the confines of my tent as the rain has, unfortunately, begun. As I passed through Oban on my way to the campsite at Lochilphead it began and it’s been on and off ever since (apparently it’s going to get heavier during the night) so I’ve decided to prepare myself for the evening with all of my supplies and retire to my (hopefully) waterproof home.

I’ve had a lovely day today. It didn’t start off particularly well as I was greeted by a swarm of midges as I opened the tent door. They don’t seem to be biting me yet, but they are lingering ominously. I actually just counted 18 dead ones of the inside of my tent, I’d had enough so I went at them with the midge and mosquito repellant (I just squashed them with the bottle as they’re easy enough to kill). I’ve topped up on Avon’s Skin So Soft replenishing dry oil body spray as everyone seems to recommend it as an unofficial repellent. Fingers crossed it keeps working!

Once I’d left the campsite and midges I drove to the lighthouse at Ardnamurchan. She’s a beauty and contains a visitor’s centre which involves a tour of the top of the lighthouse. It was 152 steps to the top and I almost did it all without stopping. The tour guide wasn’t exactly the most animated of people, just giving brief facts every now and then and barely trying to answer any questions he was asked. He was quite chatty when I was talking to him on my own though. The views from the lighthouse were amazing, it really is a stunning area. My funniest moment of the day though was definitely when we were just heading back down from the top of the lighthouse and two guys asked if they could come up, to which the old guy said ‘have you got tickets’ and they said that they hadn’t, so he just turned them away and said ‘no, you can’t come up’, so they had to walk all the way back down the 152 steps. Brilliant!

While I was waiting for the tour of the lighthouse to begin, I decided to have a cup of tea and got chatting to a brilliant guy. His name is Chris Young and he was previously a social worker until he was diagnosed with a mental health disorder, which forced him to give up work. In an effort to raise awareness of mental health problems, he decided to walk around the coast of Scotland with just his rucksack and a trolley (named Hubert). Inspired by a guy who travelled extensively through Russia, Pakistan and numerous other countries with no money, he decided to do the same (except for a £5 note his partner put in his first aid kit, which he has yet to use). Basically, he’s wild camping most nights and just making the most of people’s generosity. The other night a pub in Applecross (which I fortunately managed to miss – it has the scariest and highest road in the UK according to a couple of sources) held a raffle for him and one morning, when he’d been sleeping in someone’s garden, he was greeted by the lady who owned the house the following morning and was asked if he would like bubbles in his bath. Anyway, you can find out all about him and his journey at http://ow.ly/1sTvOv. I thought I’d do my bit to support his efforts by giving him a lift to the Mull ferry.

In the car park at Ardnamurchan I re-met a guy who had stayed at the same campsite as me last night. As I had arrived I saw him standing there and he said ‘I’m just standing here trying to get signal on my phone, but welcome to the campsite’ and then directed me to the owner. That seemed to be very much his unofficial role at the campsite. I didn’t get a chance to speak to him last night, but found out today that his name’s Michael, he’s from Chester and he was just in the area to chill out. Simple as that!

Anyway, my second stop today was Corran where you can catch the ferry across to Inchree. The reason for my stop here was two-fold. Firstly, there’s a lighthouse at Corran (pictured). She’s lovely. I wasn’t really expecting a full on lighthouse, perhaps just a smaller structure, but I was wrong. It’s a great setting.

Once back on dry land I was delighted to be on a sensible road again! No more single-track road for me today! You really do get around so much faster when you don’t have to worry about winding in and out of mountains and trees or when you might next be faced with a car coming in the opposite direction.

I then stopped at Port Appin. This is another of those smaller places with little lighthouses that no one really speaks about. It was absolutely adorable though and I got some great pictures of the small islands in the loch (one of which had the lighthouse on). Just beautiful!

I am now ready to tackle the Mull of Kintyre tomorrow. Apparently it’s the scariest road to reach a lighthouse in Scotland, zigzagging 1000 feet downhill. Nice! 🙂

Now, this may not look far on a map, but I’m actually staying at Ardnamurchan this evening, so I’ve had a bit of a drive since Ornsay.

So, my day began with the lighthouse at Skye Bridge (pictured). It would be easy to miss it as it’s visible just as you are entering Kyle of Lochalsh from the mainland, but after that there’s no sign of it. I was looking for it though, which always helps. There are a few parking spaces at the east entrance to the bridge and a small gate which leads you to a path. The path takes you under the bridge and gives you a good view of the lighthouse. I’m not sure that I was actually supposed to be there, but I did it anyway!

Once on Skye, I then took another single-track road to Kylerhea where there is a ferry that goes to Glenelg where there is a small lighthouse (see what I did there?) I avoided going on the ferry and saw it from across Kyle Rhea instead as I wasn’t quite ready to leave Skye (Ornsay beckoned). The two men who worked on the ferry tried to tempted me over saying that I’d have a better view over the other side, but I wasn’t having any of it.

Ornsay, being on an island, wasn’t accessible, but I saw it from afar and got a chance to see a cute little village at the same time (it was essentially just a pub, gallery and a few houses). Lovely!

I’ve seen some amazing views on my travels today and taken the time to enjoy them a bit more.

From Ornsay I headed south for the ferry to Mallaig. The ferry journey itself was pretty standard, no hugely amazing scenery, but the weather today has been a bit overcast so it probably didn’t look its best.

I then attempted to reach Ardnamurchan by the shortest possible route, which turned out to be even longer. After about half an hour on this one road I arrived at a road closed sign, along with a few other drivers. However, rather than stand around wondering how to proceed (like they did), I just turned around and drove back. My alternative route was a little more out of the way, but I made it eventually and am all set up for a trip to Ardnamurchan lighthouse in the morning! 🙂

You may be intrigued by the title of this blog, but I will come to that shortly.

First though, on the way to my first stop of the day Little Car had her second bump (or should I say scrape). It was completely my own fault, I thought I was just about clear of a wall as I was turning around, but apparently not. She’s ok and still running fine, just quite scratched and a tiny bit cracked too. I apologised and she seems to have forgiven me.

Rhue was an interesting stop. Firstly, because it was very brief. It’s a tiny little village near Ullapool and there are probably about two roads there, I think. What was most interesting though was that it was the only place I’ve encountered today that was foggy. It was really quite bizarre. I managed to spot the old lighthouse in the mist, so that was fine.

My second stop was Rua Reidh. Now, I know I’ve been harping on about these one-track roads and how scary they are, but today’s just topped them all. It was really quite petrifying as the road, in places, ran just alongside the side of the coast. Luckily I didn’t have to pass anyone. If I had then I might have just stopped, got out of the car and told them to reverse my car into a passing place for me (in reality I probably wouldn’t have done that, but you get the idea). The lighthouse (pictured) was in a wonderful location though and made the scary road seem worthwhile. It’s actually used as a hostel and has a really cute little visitor’s centre, which is mainly focussed around the birds and sea creatures spotted from the lighthouse. Whales and seals had been seen recently!

The drive to my next stop, Neist Point on the Isle of Skye, was going to be a long one so I set up my tent in a campsite a few miles from Skye Bridge (as there didn’t appear to be any/many campsites on Skye itself). On the way here there were two hitchhikers at the side of the road (in different places). I mouthed ‘sorry’ to both of them and the first one seemed fine, but the second one stuck his finger up at me. How very rude and how dare he! Does he not know that a lone female should never trust a hitchhiker? Idiot!

Anyway, I still can’t decide whether it was a good idea to then go ahead to Neist Point, but I did it anyway. However, after driving for 2 hours I finally got there at about 7pm to find that the lighthouse wasn’t visible unless you walked somewhere (it wasn’t clear which way), so I decided to leave it, enjoy the scenery for a bit and then head back to the tent. So, I’ve techincally been in the same area as Neist Point lighthouse, I just haven’t seen it!

Tomorrow I head back to Skye to check out the lighthouse under the bridge and then south. Fingers crossed I will also reach Ardnamurchan, which absolutely everyone tells me is simply beautiful. Watch this space! 🙂

It’s been a proper adventure today! The main reason, of course, is the Cape Wrath excursion. I only managed the two lighthouses today because the journey to Cape Wrath with a bit of an epic one.

For the fourth time in a week, I was forced out of the tent by the heat. So I was up at 7.30 and ready to leave the campsite at 9.15 (after lingering a bit), but the first boat for Cape Wrath didn’t leave until 11. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and find the place, which was easy enough, and just hang out there for a while. So, I did! I was, of course, the first there, but noticed that there was another car there (I just assumed someone had gone for a walk).

The trip to Cape Wrath is a little long and begins with a trip by small boat across the Kyle of Durness. This was a short, but beautiful little ride, which was entirely uneventful (fortunately, as I can’t swim). Once we got over the other side we had to get a minibus to Cape Wrath, taking around 40 minutes. One of the main reasons the road is closed to the public is because it’s used as a firing range by the MOD, so it’s understandable that they don’t want any old Tom, Dick or Harry driving about.

So, we had all climbed into the minibus and were ready to go when the driver realised the battery was dead (the interior lights had been left on all night). Out came the jump leads and, with the help of the second minbus, we were on our way. I won’t lie and say it was a smooth journey, because it was quite the opposite. So, we bounced along all the way to the lighthouse (pictured), stopping occasionally so the driver could tell us a bit about the area. It was a lovely quiet place, which is understandable due to its remote location, aside from the sound of the air being compressed into massive containers ready to be used for the foghorn should it become necessary (I learnt all about that at the Scottish lighthouse museum, you see).

We had an hour to look around and stop in at the cafe if we wanted to before we bounced even more back to the boat (and it certainly felt more bouncy than it did on the way there). Halfway back we stopped and picked up a man who had been walking. It turned out the car I had seen this morning that was there before me belonged to him and he’d taken the boat across and the bus to the lighthouse the day before and camped there overnight. He’d just made the decision to go yesterday, so he did. Simple as that!

I followed this expedition up with another bash at one-track roads. I actually dislike them a lot, but this afternoon wasn’t so bad as I had someone in front of me who was just as cautious as me. Perfect!

The campsite I am at tonight is just north of Lochinver, about 20 minutes drive to Stoer Head. I went there earlier this evening just as everyone was clearing out for the day. I’m just constantly amazed by how beautiful the coast is and continues to be. Just when you think you’ve seen the most amazing scenery you come across something else. I started walking to the Old Man of Stoer (a big stack off of the coast), but didn’t end up walking far enough. The lighthouse was great though. It had some sheep thrown in for good measure. There are so many sheep around here! 🙂

Last night I managed to avoid accepting wine from a stranger. It was another man on a campsite (younger this time, but still pretty middle-aged). They’re just getting irritating now!

Anyway, my very exciting first stop today was Duncansby Head near John o’Groats. It’s the most north easterly you can get on mainland UK. There were plenty of cyclists around either starting or finishing their Lands End to John o’Groats (or the other way around) cycle. There were actually four guys who had just completed it when I arrived at the main tourist part of John o’Groats and they celebrated by jumping off of the pier. Lovely! Anyway, the lighthouse was in an amazing location. There was some great coastal scenery going on there! Big old coves full of really noisy birds and the dramatic Stacks of Duncansby, two huge pointy rocks sticking out of the sea. I have no idea how the coast managed to get in that state, but it looks amazing!

My next port of call was Dunnet Head (pictured), which actually marks the most northerly point of mainland UK, but not so well-known as John o’Groats. It’s a great little lighthouse with some fantastic surrounding views. My most amusing moment of the day happened as I was driving up the road to the car park. Suddenly this sheep, shortly followed by a lamb, came galloping down the road towards me. It was hilarious. I stopped the car, just to be on the safe side, but she just carried on running past the side of the car with the little lamb behind her. Brilliant!

My third stop was disappointing, but I knew it would be. Holburn Head is in Scrabster, just north of Thurso. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is in an area owned by Cunard (or one of those big companies), so I was only able to see it from a distance.

Finally (but by no means the end of my journey today, was Strathy Point. It was a bit of a walk to the lighthouse here through a grassy area full of sheep (and really cute lambs). You get some amazing views of the coast towards the west and the shapes of the rocks and coastline were brilliant!

My most epic journey today was the drive from Strathy Point to Durness. I’m staying the night in Durness so I’m ready to cross the Kyle of Durness and get the minibus to Cape Wrath in the morning. The road is fine up until a certain point when it becomes a one-track road with passing places and too many over-confident drivers for my liking. I’m not afraid to admit it was a bit scary and I did pull over a few times to let some crazy motorcyclists fly past. I made it here in one piece though! Success! 🙂

So, I woke up this morning to a horrible sea mist, which played a huge part in the majority of my day, unfortunately.

I had attempted to visit Cromarty lighthouse (pictured) with a few friends a couple of years ago, but without success. It turns out we were just one road away from the lighthouse and a few metres from a map showing where it was. Never mind, I found it today, regardless of the persistent mist, which I kept being told by the weather people on BBC Radio Scotland would be burnt off by the sun by the afternoon. It wasn’t.

My second stop was Tarbat Ness, which is not only on a high cliff, it’s also pretty tall itself. It was easy enough to find, but as I approached it was barely visible with all of the mist. I managed to see it well enough by walking to it though and had a stroll down towards the rocks in front of it. Some fantastic views there.

The drive to my next stop, Lybster, was long, creepy and a little frightening at times. The A9 winds in and out of the hills, which I’m sure were lovely. I was completely focussed on the road though as I had cars behind me, bends that I had no idea how “bendy” they would be and the mist to contend with. Not sure I’d want to do that again. Fingers crossed I don’t have to.

The mist seemed to clear just as I reached Lybster. In fact, I could see where it started from the harbour. The lighthouse in Lybster is on the end of the pier and is no longer in use, but I’m sure it would be a really nice little area without the dreaded mist.

My final stop of the day was in Wick. I drove to the harbour to see the two lights there and then on to Noss Head. The lighthouse at Noss Head is on private land so there were no close-ups of this one for me, unfortunately!

I made the decision, after hours of driving today, to stay put in Wick for the night and not head for my next stop, Duncansby Head, at John O’Groats. So, that’s where I’m headed first thing tomorrow: the most north easterly point of mainland UK! 🙂

Well, my day began by trying to avoid an old man who was staying on the same campsite as me (he lived about 8 miles down the road apparently), but failing miserably. Last night he had asked me if I wanted to go to his caravan to keep warm/watch tv/have a cup of tea and I refused all three times. This morning I thought I’d better talk to him and there were a number of moments of silence in the conversation when any normal person would have just said ‘see ya then’ or something, but not him. He carried on standing there until I said something or he thought of something else to say. Honestly, what is it with me and old men?! Another one stopped his car next to me when he saw I’d been taking pictures of a lighthouse and proceeded to tell me something about lighthouses in the area. It may have been very interesting, but I could hardly understand a word his was saying!

Anyway, during my (late) research I found a number of smaller lighthouses in Scotland that are no longer operational and so you don’t hear about them. Around the Edinburgh area I had been irritated by not being able to find or see some of these smaller lighthouses so easily. So irritated, in fact, that I had almost decided to forget about them and just focus on those in operation and promoted by the Northern Lighthouse Board. However, today has changed my mind and I will tell you why at the end of the following paragraphs.

Rosehearty, Macduff and Banff (my first three stops of the day) were all small towns and not necessarily worth a huge mention. I would call them “sleepy” if I had to use one word to describe them. Macduff had a small ‘Macduff Movies’ shop, which looked very closed and, as a result, very dodgy.

It was on my way to my next stop, Cullen, that I drove over a bird. It’s my first incident involving an animal whilst driving and was horrible really. Basically, it didn’t move out of the road as I approached and I may have been able to do an emergency stop (there was no one behind me), but I didn’t and just after I passed over it I looked back and it was clearly pretty injured. I didn’t run over its body, which probably just makes it even more cruel. Anyway, that was horrible, but it happens all of the time (I’ve seen a lot of roadkill so far) so we must move on.

And move on I did! To Cullen, which is one of the towns that makes me pleased that I chose not to reject all of those smaller lighthouses. The lighthouse itself was nothing special, just your standard small structure on the end of the pier, but it was a really lovely place with a great feel about it and some amazing scenery (there’s a big old bridge that runs parallel to the beach, just beautiful). Probably a great place for a family holiday too (not that this applies to me, of course).

I don’t have a lot to say about my next stop, Buckie, except it has two lighthouses, which are lovely. One of them sits on a patch of grass in front of some houses and overlooks the harbour (this was where the old man stopped and started speaking at me). The only other thing I will say about the place is that no one there seems to know how to use roads properly. I had people pulling out in front of me on roundabouts, people crossing the road in front of me, all sorts of tomfoolery!

Covesea Skerries (pictured), which has just or is about to be turned off as the Northern Lighthouse Board believe it is now surplus to requirements, was my next destination. It wasn’t massively easy to get to and I had to stop and ask at a holiday park where they informed me of a little road near their entrance, which was easily missed. It is a shame that it’s been/being turned off, but it’s privately owned now, so hopefully they will keep it well-maintained.

My final stop involved a long old drive to Black Isle and Fortrose. I am staying at a campsite that is around 30 minutes walk from Chanonry Point lighthouse. So, I took a nice stroll along the beach to the lighthouse this evening. I had also been informed that dolphins frequented the point, but when I arrived a couple informed me that they may not be about for another couple of hours. It was really chilly, so I gave up on that idea. Another couple appeared to have pitched up on the point for the evening. Clearly they love dolphins!

Ooh creepy, I’ve just noticed a sea mist setting in again. It certainly does make a place a bit unnerving (it happened really suddenly this morning as I was leaving the campsite too). Weird! 🙂

So, today has been my favourite day so far, I think! The weather has been beautiful and I’ve seen some amazing lighthouses (and lots of them).

My first stop this morning was Tod Head (pictured). As with many Scottish lighthouses it was in a fairly remote location, at the end of a one-track road. This was fine on my way to the lighthouse, but a different matter on the way back, when I encountered three cars coming in the opposite direction. Not sure Little Car was happy with me, but we made it through!

I then stopped just south of Aberdeen at Girdleness. I was lucky with this one and managed to kill two birds with one stone as I could see the strange lighthouse on the end of the pier in Aberdeen harbour from the Girdleness lighthouse. It was a lovely location and I had a bit of a “case of the Flamborough Heads” and was just fascinated by the big old rocks and jagged coastline.

I then found heaven in the shape of Buchan Ness. The lighthouse is attached to the village of Boddam by a bridge and you are allowed over the bridge and around the small island as long as you realise it’s private land, basically. Anyway, I fell in love with the place and I think I’ll move in tomorrow!

Peterhead was my next destination and, in fact, where I am staying tonight. The views across the harbour are wonderful and the lighthouse on the end of the pier is one of those that is fairly unknown, I guess, now as it’s not owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Having plenty of the day left I decided to skip ahead to my next two stops, doing them in reverse order. I was keen to get to Fraserburgh and Kinnaird Head lighthouses, which houses the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses. It closed at 5pm, hence my decision to do Rattray Head on my way back to Peterhead. The museum was fascinating! A brilliant experience. I arrived just in time for the start of a tour, which was given by the manager. The main bulk of the tour took place in Kinnaird Head lighthouse itself. We (me and a lovely old couple) were shown all of the different levels of the lighthouse, including the spare bedroom for any extra keeper they had to get in and the room where they prepared the paraffin for the lamp. The lighthouse itself was automated in 1991 and a lot of what was there then is still there today. The most exciting part, though, was that we not only got to go up to the lamp room, but he actually let us go inside the optic! It was amazing! He also span the optic around while we were in there (so we could see the view and how the sea looked through the optic, not just for fun). It was brilliant! I’d just like to point out that the big lighthouse we went inside in no longer in use (there is a smaller one next to it instead).

My final stop of the day was Rattray Head. Poor Little Car must have hated me again as the road to the car park was long and in really bad condition. We were bouncing around all over the place! She certainly didn’t enjoy that (and neither did I, to be honest). However, once we had parked up I took a long stroll over some huge sand dunes (I felt a bit like I was in the desert at points) and saw the lighthouse, which sits on a stone platform a little way out into the sea. It looked lovely, just sitting there!

So that’s been my day! I’ve heard that you are almost guaranteed a sighting of dolphins at Chanonry Point, which I should reach in the next couple of days. Woo hoo! 🙂

Well, what can I say about this weather except it’s just amazing?! Completely unexpected for Scotland. The only problem is that it’s brought the mosquitoes (which are, apparently, really bad on the west coast), so I’ve been on mosquito watch all day and have bought some stuff to, hopefully, protect me from them.

Anyway, before going to my first stop, Anstruther, I happened upon Pittenweem, a lovely little fishing village with some amazing views. Anstruther itself is very similar, except it has a very pointy lighthouse and about four piers (trying to find the right pier to walk along to approach the lighthouse was trickier than you might think! If there’s one thing I’ve learnt so far on this trip, it’s that what looks like the shortest distance to a destination isn’t necessarily the right one. I’ve experienced a number of occasions when I’ve chosen a path that looks like it heads directly towards the lighthouse, but then it’s veered off on a completely different path.

The weather started off brilliantly this morning and has continued all day, which makes a big difference. I’ve seen some amazing views, which (I’m pretty sure) would have looked a lot less interesting in the rain.

One lighthouse that I had managed to miss off of my list, but was informed about by my dad just a couple of nights ago, was at Fife Ness. I wasn’t entirely sure that I’d find it as I hadn’t prepared for it, but I parked up at a golf club near where I thought it would be. I asked the guy in the golf shop if he knew where it was. He didn’t, but he knew which direction it wasn’t in, which helped a little. So, I found it fairly easily and understood why it hadn’t shown up on my Google satellite view with images. It’s just tucked away in the cliff and isn’t easily seen from a distance. I had a bit of a walk to get to it, but I expected no less from Scotland!

I then drove north, through St Andrews and towards Dundee, where I headed east again. My next stop was in Barry, just between Monifieth and Carnoustie. There is a lighthouse on Buddon Ness, which I was only about to see from a distance. The problem with this area are the damn golf courses everywhere! Boo hiss!

My final lighthouse stop of the day was Scurdie Ness (pictured) in Montrose. Again, it was a good old walk to get to it, but luckily this one was tall enough to be seen a mile off, so I knew I was headed the right way. It’s a very “Scottish” lighthouse in that it looks very similar to the other major lights, but just like them it has some amazing surroundings. Lots of picture opportunities!

I’ve made a friend called Tom at the campsite I am staying at tonight. He’s ginger, very fluffy and a little bit chubby, but a friendly little cat!

Tomorrow I have a long old drive between my first three destinations, but hopefully the A90 will be good to me! 🙂