Sunday nights B&B was at a farm 3 miles south of Keith in a beautiful location with the sunrise as my early morning alarm, I had the full Scottish breakfast which kept me going for my exploration of the Spey valley and visit to Boat of Garten RSPB where despite the missing osprey who had abandoned her clutch of eggs I did see Siskin, Crested Tits and loads of Green Finches.
It was great to catch up with John and Seonaid and they plied me with fines food and wines so getting out of bed for my first Ben was a challenge on Tuesday morning was not easy but it was a lovely rain free walk up Ben Braggie that Seonaid’s sister Barbara joined us on, it did get a little breezy at the top.
John and I dodged the showers again on Wednesday and made it to the top of the Struie Hill which gave us fabulous panoramic views of the whole of Sutherland. From there John took me on a mystery tour where we met a mermaid, walked around the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness, bought eggs from an egg box and had coffee and sausage rolls at another of Harry Gow’s shops this time in Tain.
This morning saw an early start at 5:30 which got me to the recommended greasy spoon near Pitlochry 15 minutes before they opened but despite that and a pile up on the motorway south I was still at the ticket desk at Bamburg Castle by 11:45, that was an amazing experience, the place is massive and what impressed me the most were the beautiful woods that have been used in the castle rooms, also the one time owner Lord Armstrong deserves further research. I managed to do all my exploring at Almwick so I will be on the road home early tomorrow morning.
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