For the first time since leaving the SW Coastal Path at the end of April, we saw the sea – and the weather was not dissimilar today! Our route took us through a golf links alongside the sea, and then along paths through dunes. We turned inland to walk round the attractive Loch Fleet along a lane which had been a disused railway line, from which we saw seals basking on a sand dune in the Loch. We reached the A9, which we were obliged to follow for 2-3 miles before heading across fields to a nature reserve. Before reaching Golspie, we passed yet another Golf Links. It seems that every village has a golf course in this part of the world!

A Backward Glance

There is a mythical route to Golspie from Dornoch that nobody has ever found, but Komoot was on it and today he would take us on that short cut previously unknown to all humanity. That’s what the route plan was promising and naturally we’ve grown to have total confidence in his hilarious suggestions. We set off in what we thought was light rain, but of course it never does in Dornoch, so it was probably liquid sunshine. I am not being disingenuous, most of this stuff would not get back to the sea before passing through local distilleries around here. In a locked glass cabinet near the reception desk of the hotel we had just left, there were shelves of partially full bottles of whiskey with price tags on them varying from £30 to £200. “I trust those prices are for ‘full’ bottles”, I chirped. He gave me a disdainful look and said, “No Sir, that is per shot: 25 ml. Now, a bit of Math: there are officially 20 drops in one millilitre, so 500 drops in 25 ml and at £200 per 25 ml shot, that works out at 40 pence a drop. That means the 75 cl full bottle would cost me £6,000 and the undistilled whiskey running off the back of my bag would be worth thousands by the time we got out of town. (Whiskey is between 58% and 59% water, but it’s that 1% that makes all the difference, adding a little water to whiskey brings out all the subtle flavours). After walking through the pristine green golf links outside Dornoch we were in uncharted territory following a narrow path between sea and fenced fields. Then Komoot confidently gave his instruction, “Turn Left”. We both looked at the heavy metal gate covered in barbed wire, locked and chained at its adjacent post, and with a large sign on it saying PRIVATE KEEP OUT in big red letters. On the other side of the gate were clear signs of undisturbed long grass as far as the eye could see. Carol took no persuading, we were on the same side for once and agreed to follow the coast all the way to the end of the Loch to pick up the A9 instead. A hundred yards further was a stile tempting us to cross just as Komoot was frantically telling us to “make a u-turn”; we kept going. Then after about a mile Carol was given a sign, it was on a post and read, ‘John o’ Groats North’ with an arrow pointing left over the fence. We were quickly onto quiet roads along the Loch and could see the main A9 at the end giving us access to the Loch’s northern bank and Golspie. On sand banks in the estuary, there were seals persuading people in cars to stop in lay-bys to take photos. Walking along the edge of the A9 was not dangerous, just difficult and unpleasant, and traffic was generally respectful of our predicament. Once off, a track took us directly through a beautiful wood of tall Scots Pines where we passed other walkers with large binoculars around their necks, probably bird watchers. After a short stop at a bench and table in a clearing, which we shared with another couple from Germany walking the John o’ Groats trail, we were soon walking past another golf course into the centre of Golspie. A tiring walk, but one that has bitten off a good chunk of what remains.