AA&F

Image 0: Anne and I on the Caledonian Sleeper on route to Inverness and the North. The last time I was on a sleeper (aged about 7) the cabins were definitely bigger!
Image 1: The bog where Anne thought we were going to camp. Apparently when asked where we were camping I waved my hand over my shoulder and said 'over there...'
Image 2: Our actual campsite. Idyllic... Except for the midges...
Image 3: Oblong leaved sundew (Drosera intermedia). There were loads near our camp. They feed on midges. Perhaps it should have been a warning...
Image 4: Oldshoremore beach
Image 5: Foinaven from Oldshoremore
Image 6: Oldshoremore
Image 7: Oldshoremore (with seagulls)
Image 8: Wild cooking. Just as well we remembered the corkscrew.
Image 9: Balnakeil beach
Image 10: Balnakeil beach. Last time I was here they were filming Asterix the Gaul. Who needs French beaches then...
Image 11: Anne on Balnakeil beach.
Image 12: Faraid Head. We saw puffins! :)
Image 13: Smoo cave. A huge limestone cave at Durness.
Image 14: Loch Inchard The view from the Richonich public bogs. Sutherland is amply equipped with conveniences - very handy if you're wild camping.
Image 15: Our second campsite at Scourie. We, OK I, discovered that wild camping on a bog in July is just asking for trouble - Anne had her doubts all along. The midges drove me to pay for a spot to pitch my tent for the first time ever. There were some benefits though - showers, a pub and Red Throated Divers on the loch.
Image 16: Sunset at Scourie
Image 17: Anne on Handa island. Handa is a bird reserve managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust
Image 18: The Great Stack off Handa. Loads of guillemots, razorbills, shags and cormorants. And a few puffins. Unfortunately breeding season was virtually over...
Image 19: Lines of Guillemots on the Great Stack
Image 20: Look, a puffin. There - in the middle... Alternatively if you can't see it you can admire the geology. There's the Torridonian sandstone of Handa contrasting with the Lewisian Gneiss on the mainland - some of the oldest rocks in the world at 3000 million years old.
Image 21: Torridonian sandstone cliffs on Handa
Image 22: Sandwood Bay Looking north towards Cape Wrath
Image 23: Sandwood Bay We only saw about a dozen other people all day. Vast expanses of deserted beach... And the temperature was about 32°. Who needs the Caribbean?
Image 24: Sandwood Bay
Image 25: Sandwood Bay
Image 26: Sandwood Bay
Image 27: Anne in a convenient pool in preparation for a swim off Sandwood Bay - the air temperature may have been above 30, but the sea wasn't particularly warm!
Image 28: Look - me in shorts. It does happen sometimes. But only in remote areas.
Image 29: A waterfall at Sandwood Bay
Image 30: Lighthouse at the Point of Stoer
Image 31: Stoer Lighthouse
Image 32: Old Man of Stoer
Image 33: This sheep was determined not to be rounded up and sheared. There was a prolonged standoff between a collie at the other end of the pier and the sheep. Unfortunately we didn't find out how it was resolved...
Image 34: The Dun Dornaigil Broch, at the foot of Ben Hope. A broch is a fortified iron age dwelling. In times of danger locals hid inside with their livestock in a central courtyard.
Image 35: Castle Varrich (or Caisteal Bharraich in the Gaelic) above Tongue. The reed beds in the foreground are the town's sewage system.
Image 36: A rainbow looking over to Skerray from our hotel in Borgie.
Image 37: Ben Loyal. Known as the Queen of Scottish mountains - 2509 ft high. This is the spectacular west face.
Image 38: The view from the summit of Ben Loyal, looking north over the Kyle of Tounge. The weather was closing in...
Image 39: Our lunch spot on Ben Loyal. A thunderstorm started once we reached the top, luckily we found this handy little grotto to have lunch in. And we used Anne's walking poles as lightening conductors on top of the roof.
Image 40: Dwarf willow (Salix herbacea) on the slopes of Ben Loyal.
Image 41: Golden rod (Solidago virgaurea) found on the slopes of Ben Loyal.
Image 42: Alpine lady's mantle (Alchemilla alpina) on Ben Loyal
Image 43: Invernaver beach
Image 44: Invernaver beach, looking towards Bettyhill
Image 45: Me at Strathy Point
Image 46: The Castle of Mey
Image 47: Thurso Castle
Image 48: Dunnet Head
Image 49: Just to show we went to John o' Groats. Used the facilities and moved on as soon as possible. Awful place - just a big car park. And I thought it was the most North Easterly point. But no, that's...
Image 50: Duncansby Stacks, just south of Duncansby Head
Image 51: Me feeding a sheep at the Elphin rare breeds centre. Can't remember what breed of sheep it is - but it's rare. (Anne says it's a Hebridean job) There were goats there too, that sign at the top right said 'Friendly Goats'. They were too... They mobbed us demanding food.
Image 52: A Neolithic chambered tomb at Achcoillenaborgie, Strathnaver. Built between 6000 and 4000 years ago. There is evidence of human habitation in Strathnaver covering the last 9000 years, starting from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods all the way through to the present day. The glen is very fertile, a fact that interested the cash strapped land owners in the 1800s, who proceeded to rid the land of their human inhabitants to make way for sheep. Strathnaver suffered more than most during the clearances with people evicted from over 60 villages.
Image 53: Inside the Achcoillenaborgie Neolithic chambered tomb.
Image 54: Looking down into a Neolithic chambered tomb at Skelpick.
Image 55: Coldbackie beach
Image 56: The Farr stone
Image 57: Achininver beach, near Strathan.
Image 58: Port Vasgo, near Strathan.
Image 59: Anne at Port Vasgo
Image 60: Port Vasgo
Image 61: Port Vasgo
Image 62: Scottish primrose (Primula scotica)
Image 63: Forsinard. One of the pools that are so typical of the Flow Country. This year with the North of Scotland experiencing near drought conditions over spring and summer many of the pools are drying up. And this is compounded by the forestry drains that despoil the area - OK, I'll stop now...