The next day we were back on the NC500. On the way up to Durness there was a sign for Cape Wrath. I have never been and I wasn’t going this time either as the ferry was not running.
Durness was a one horse town so we kept going to Tongue, which was the same – the roads and the views though were fantastic, thats why you take the time travel this far.
On the way around the coast we diverted off to Portskerra and the Beach. Well off of the beaten track but lovely with some very modern housing starting to appear.
portskerra 
Dounreay in the distance
We then continued our journey past Dounreay to our destination for the day – Thurso.
Now Thurso is quite a large town, the most Northerly in the UK and has seen better days; I guess the Dounreay money is now leaving, or has left. Much of the housing was built by the Nuclear Authority for its employees.
There was obviously much industry along the river Thurso in the past, but this has almost gone as well. A perfect location for a TV play about deprivation and teenage angst.
The good news is we found a bar – the Y Not Bar, it looked a bit suspect from the front – like an old drinkers pub. But inside it had been modernised, although a few few of the old loud drinkers remained, it did not go quiet when we walked in. The barman was clearly gay, so I guess the clientele had changed with the times. Stella Artois was off, but I forgive them for that, it was a nice place and we returned the next evening.
I managed to drop my debit card on the floor when I paid for the drinks and a guy returned it to me; well he asked in a loud voice was there was a “Ferguson” in the bar……maybe the name did it.
We left the bar on the first night and I said to Benita that we had been in Scotland for a week and i still had not had decent Malt. We turn around the corner and there was a Morrisions, time to top up the carrier bag cocktail cabinet and get a Malt in – not exactly my plan, but needs must.
Our B&B, The Manor House was in a quiet part of Town on the River and run by Leo, an amiable Irishman who came from the same Town in Ireland as Benita, and may have even been related to her. The Manor House was recently renovated and we would recommend without hesitation.
Leo was a great host and could talk the hind leg off of the proverbial Donkey. His bar needed some decent wine though. As it was Saturday we retired to our room with the Cocktail Cabinet and watched Strictly – sad, but true. Afterwards we decided that Fish and Chips would be good, i headed out to the shop that we had seen earlier – of course, it was closed – at 9pm!
There was a Chinese opposite which may have been the only thing open – the menu was a mile long. I called Benita who ordered Chilli Beef – I had Fried Chicken which was recommended by a regular waiting for his order, it seemed a safe option. During all of this I made a”bum” telephone call to my friend Carlton who thought I was calling him in an emergency – he clocked me ordering Chinese and figured all was OK!
On the way back to the B&B I passed a nightclub (in Thurso!) called Skinalski’s – it was full of flashing lights but empty of people – but , it was early.
The next morning we had a great breakfast courtesy of Leo, on the next table there was a group of youngsters (everyone is young to us now) who were doing the NC 500 the other way around, Turns out they had visited the most westerly Nightclub in the UK, and had been to Skinalski’s the previous evening as it was the most Northerly -apparently it got a bit lively at about 1am – I was glad that we were not there.
On the way out there was another conversation with Leo and an old guy who was a regular who said that we should visit the Castle of Mey, the Queen Mothers place – I must admit, I had forgotten that it was near. We passed by on the way to John O’Groats – it was closed.
It was a grubby day, misty and raining so we could see little as we travelled the north Coast to John O’Groats. We did the tourist thing and grabbed a selfie at the sign. This was good for us as we had visited Lands End in 2020. Maybe we should do the most Easterly and Westerly points as well?
Coffee and cake next at a lovely cafe, Benita bought a picture of Highland Cattle – the real thing had proven elusive so far on our journey; she added some Scottish Gin to her purchases as well. I look forward to sampling that.
Heading back to the car we found another Land Rover 110 parked up next to us, like us, decked up as an expedition vehicle, he wound down the window and gave us a thumbs up. Benita had a chat with him and told him it was a Perentie – he shouted 3.9 Isuzu, we said Yes, we had laugh and we were on our way, heading for Wick, through the driving rain.
Now Wick is deprived………..very tatty and the once industrialised Quayside derelict. There was a sign to the Pulteney Distillery which we followed. In the end we had to resort to the Sat Nav to find it and then we passed it twice before seeing it – it was closed.
We parked up for a while as it was still raining. I had been to Wick many years ago when I was a child and we had visited the Caithness Glass Factory and Visitors Centre. As it was raining I suggested to Benita that we pay them a visit. I did a search and the web site said that it was Open. I hit the “Get Directions”button expecting it to be 10 minutes away – it actually said something like 186 miles and 4 hours – they had moved to Perth in 2007!
We did not want to retrace our steps so we went South on the A99 calling at Lybster on the way. This was once a major player in the herring fishing world, although not for many years. Nothing much going in there but a nice feel ,also the widest High Street I have ever seen. The weather still bad we headed back to Thurso on the A9 and to the Y Not Bar.
After a drink we head back to the the B&B but passed another Bar on the High Street that I has seen the day before. We peered through the frosted window and it looked OK. We went to enter but had to ring a bell! The door was answered and we were ushered into what was a Sports Bar – with a Scotland Work Cup qualifying match on the TV…………Ooop’s.
We were marched to a table before we could escape and were instructed fill in the Covid form, we then told where the Loo’s were and the route to the exit. It was an experience especially when Scotland scored, and they were still loosing. We didn’t stay long, but at least the drinks were cheap.
We were as far North as we could go and our thoughts were now turning to the journey home.
I suggested that we went via Inverness along the side of Loch Ness to Fort William, and find a stop off in that area, then getting down to near Liverpool the following day. We considered going across the Cairngorms and South but decided to cover this area another time.
At least the Perentie had been running well and not causing any problems during the last few days. The diesel heater on those cold days worked well, even when driving and especially when we stopped for a while. As the de-mister was not great, the heated windscreen turned out to be a good investment.
48 States of Gray 
It’s look a whole lot of fun was had in Scotland despite the weather.
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