Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!!!!

Today got off to a marvellous start. First of all there was an e mail from the electricity company with this quarter's bill - £6.73. So much better than last quarters estimated £1200+ that we were unable to check because we were away!

Then when ma 'n' pa went for breakfast and as they were walking downstairs, the receptionist said, without even a modicum of sarcasm 'Ah, are you the young couple doing the walk?' don't know who paid her, but if it's going to put them in that sort of mood - carry on!

Then, although it wasn't very nice to start with, against all the odds, the sun came out to play again.

And so we left Dornoch Golf Club in fine fettle and made our way up to Loch Fleet where we finished yesterday, at a place called The Mound. The first 4 miles were on the A9 which clearly dad had decided, wasn't to be messed about with, for we completed it to arrive in Golspie in just over an hour. Only 1 juggernaut overtook us, and that was coming in the opposite direction!

Golspie is a pleasant enough little village overlooked by 'wee Jimmy' a statue of a past Duke of Sutherland whose family own Dunrobin Castle up the road and probably at one time, most of the village. There we had a coffee break and got some bits and pieces for lunch.

Then......we walked down to the shoreline and that is where we have been for the rest of the day.

Shortly after leaving Golspie, we passed under the magnificent, and quite superior castle and pulled up for lunch, to sit on an old lobster box, to munch lunch whilst watching a fisherman bring in his lobster pots, empty them, bait them, and put them back in the sea.

A little further on we were able to walk on the beach where we have been royally entertained by an osprey dipping and diving to catch fish, taking them back to his nest and returning for more. What a gracious, capable and magnificent bird he is. At the same time we became aware of a colony of grey seals that had been left basking on the rocks as the tide ebbed. They looked so funny - each one occupying it's own rock, precariously yet perfectly balanced. Shelducks and Skuas with their young, herons, cormorants, it was difficult to know where to look.

A truly memorable day. One of the best we have had.

Helmsdale tomorrow and dad is doing his best to find another diversion like today's to avoid the A9. I forgot to tell you that the last few days have been a wee bit shorter than the estimates so mum and I think it must have been before he found out about us reducing his 14 mile measuring string (used to estimate daily walking lengths). Back on course now though!

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M
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