The last of Scotland

 I am getting slightly behind with my Scottish travelblog, but here goes. We stayed in the Station Hotel in Thurso for three nights and it was delightful experience. The room was lovely and warm and the staff friendlyand welcoming, The kitchen staff made sure that a vegan option was available for me for every breakfast and evening meal. The first day we were at our leisure in the town, so it was our opportunity to have a walk around after a long coach trip the previous day. During our walk around the harbour wall and along to the beach we met up with various other members of the coach trip, including the driver, and a few of us gathered trying to identify a large black bird sitting on the wall. We decided, eventually, that it was a cormorant.

Also in Thurso is a very old chapel, St Peter's, now in ruins but very picturesque against the blue sky. We found the visitor's centre which had an good exhibition about the area, including a short film and, also a very good cafe, where we had soup (vegan) and I also had a vegan bakewell slice. As we were staying in the Station Hotel we thought that we ought to make an effort to look for the station, and eventually found it at the other end of the town. It is the end of the line and the stop for catching the ferry to Orkney.












The next day we had a day out in the coach which took in Wick, John O'Groats and Dunnetts Head, the last of which is technically the furthest north on the UK mainland. In Wick we found a Museum which was a museum of social history and very interesting - we could have stayed longer. I particularly liked the Caithness glass which used to be made locally and of which they had a fine display. There were also well displayed exhibits of rural crafts and bygones. 







Incidentally, my aunt's stepson used to live in the Caithness area, in a village called Halkirk, and he was an engineering lecturer at the nearby college. When he died a few years ago, he would have been retired for twenty of so years, so he must have lived there for fifty years or more. 

We then travelled to John O'Groats where the obligatory photos were taken, and we enjoyed some very good chips from a small kiosk opposite the ferry, cooked and served by a very friendly lady. There was time for a good look around, before we were back on the coach. There was a small bookshop where I bought a new copy of 'Seal Morning' by Rebecca Farre.

Dunnett Head is the official northernmost point on the British mainland, so we stopped there as well.













Then it was back to the hotel for our last night in Thurso.

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