Pentland Firth

Just a short hop from john O'Groats to Wick today to catch the afternoon train back to Inverness. Today's blip is looking north to Orkney over the Pentland Firth from just above John O'Groats. It looks calm and peaceful, but the Petland Firth is notoriously rough -- tides can run through it at 10 knots causing a lot of turbulence (according to Wilipedia speeds of 16 knots (30 km/hr) have been reported near the Pentland Skerries).

We passed a broch at Nybster at a site which is considered to be very important from an archaeological point of view, but the broch itself is not the best  example I have seen --- there is one on the Loch Hope road which is in better condition.