Finally, some deer

Hi there, reader

Thanks for checking in with my blog. I'm still in the Scottish Highlands where the weather isn't getting any warmer. My next stop was to be Thurso, but I didn't set out from Ullapool till quite late in the afternoon. 

Soon after I started out the last of the sunshine disappeared and rain clouds darkened the mountains ahead. Then the rain came.

Since I started driving through the Highlands, the two most common road signs have been warning: deer crossing and warning: falling rocks. So far, I hadn't encountered either.

Then, as I slowed down for a sharp corner I saw a deer standing right there at the side of the road. I stopped the van as gently as possible and put the window down to get a photo. That's when I saw another, another and another. There were actually seven in the group, but I couldn't get them all in the same picture. I couldn't believe how close they were and I felt really privileged. I grew up near a small woods with a river running through them, and I would occasionally spot a badger, a kingfisher, an eel, a bird of prey and it was always a real thrill. Same thing here.

I could see the deer were alarmed by my presence, so I just took a few pics and pulled slowly away to let them carry on eating.

I drove on until I reached a little place called Scourie where they had a self serve petrol pump. Filled up on diesel and carried on till I found a stopping place. The weather had turned really foul and even though it was the middle of nowhere, I just felt like getting into bed and watching a film on my laptop.

Awesome view in the morning:

Quick breakfast, then on the road again, headed for Thurso. My soundtrack for the drive was a CD of number one hits of the 1970s which I picked up in a charity shop. I love pop music from the 1970s as it's the first music I ever listened to. As a kid, I loved the music of Abba, Boney M and Showaddywaddy. Sadly all three are missing from this CD, but there are great songs from the Bay City Rollers, Mungo Jerry, Christie, The Rubettes and my favourite track on the disc, Oh Boy (1975), which takes me back to growing up in Belfast before my family moved to Wales.

I passed so much beautiful scenery on my morning drive to Thurso, including some stunning sandy beaches. 

Just look at this! Scotland's scenery blows my mind.

Made it to Thurso, got a shower and shave for 3 pounds at the leisure centre, charged everything up at the local library and returned to the van.

Just one night in Thurso, then on to John o' Groats. Or so I thought ...

The tire centre was closed for the weekend, so in the end I had three days to enjoy Thurso. I'll write about that in my next post.

Thanks for reading,

Brian