Ancient mystery

This is the Hill o' Many Stanes up on the far north east coast. We stayed overnight in Golspie so had a nice, leisurely wander up to the evening ferry and this place is just a mystery. Rows of stones over a small area and nobody knows why. The view east over to the North Sea gave us a view of a new, massive windfarm - what a contrast. 

We pottered a bit in Golspie, gave Berry a chance to have a good sniff by the beach in the sunshine and fresh air and bought a couple of Christmas bits in the little gift shop. What you don't appreciate when simply driving through, as we always have, is that there are quite a few good shops that are cunningly hidden between domestic buildings and not especially noticeable. Chris enjoyed a rummage in a well stocked hardware shop (the male equivalent of a quilt fabric shop really!) and came out with a couple of big plastic trugs and mini WD40 spray - a happy chappie!

We had an hour or so at John o' Groats, brewing our own coffee (the wonder of van life!) and watching the waves hit the shingle shore. Apparently the sandy beach was destroyed during 'the war' when the sand was taken off to be used elsewhere, and has never replenished. There was a new sculpture focusing on the massive stone boulders that, it's only recently been discovered, roll around the bottom of the Pentland Firth. The huge currents generated here have attracted tidal energy generating companies who carried out deep surveys which brought these great stones to light. Not a stretch of water to be trifled with. 

Back home, we found our track has been gouged out by the recent flash floods. Some work to be done...