A Grand Drying Day in Helmsdale

It was such a relief after having endured a journey in rain yesterday to see the sun this morning that we were up and out before breakfast to savour the moment.

We had a frightening moment on arrival in Helmsdale when the starter motor made a noise like a death rattle. We managed to find a garage and spent a horrible hour wondering how we could cope with the onward journey if there was something catastrophically wrong with the car and we had to leave it behind. But the gods smiled benevolently on us aged travellers as it transpired it was only a loosened aluminium heat shield requiring some new screws. Phew! That was a relief.

Now we are pressing on for the ferry from Scrabster to Orkney and Hoy........ it might be a little breezy in the Pentland Firth though.