A first-time adventure to Caithness & Sutherland

The train journey, which lasted about 4 hours, seemed much shorter. I couldn’t take my eyes off the window as we passed the heather-clad hillsides facing the coastline of Sutherland, up to the fishing town of Helmsdale. There, the train started its journey inland through the plains and peatlands of the Flow Country. I was amazed at the number of stops on the line; for such a sparsely populated area, it is remarkably well-connected.

Taking the train is also a great way to slow down and really soak up this part of Scotland, as well as being an absolute bargain for hikers and campers who have plenty of places to start and finish their hikes at! My first glimpses of the Flow Country were quite incredible. Looking at the vast golden-coloured marshes dotted with small lochs and solitary hills, it dawned on me I was entering a very unique part of Scotland. We reached Thurso in the early hours of the evening, which offered me a wonderful view of the town at sunset, a foretaste of what was to come.  After catching a glimpse of the church spire in the distance, I went into my hotel, thinking about the next day.

The next morning, I set off bright and early to wander the streets of Thurso. I chose to follow the road that ran from the station and quickly came across picturesque buildings, a park and a pedestrian area lined with shops. I went down to the harbour, quickly stopping by Old St Peter’s Church, and very soon the north coast of Scotland opened before me, bathed in sunlight and a light autumnal breeze.

With it being such a clear day, I could easily see the dramatic cliffs that ensconce the town. I walked on the promenade along the sandy beach, looking out along the coastline. A few hundred metres on my left lay the harbour of Scrabster, with its ferries ready to carry passengers across the Pentland Firth to Orkney. I couldn’t believe just how close I was to Orkney: turning my head slightly, I could very clearly see the high cliffs of Hoy glistening in the sun. A little to the right, I got an even clearer sight of Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Scotland and an RSPB nature reserve.

The highlight of the visit was without a doubt the interactive display on the Flow Country, which made me realise just how vital this natural reserve is to its unique and fragile ecosystems, but also in the fight against climate change. Up in the theatre, I sat and watched a movie which told me all I needed to know about Caithness, the Flow Country and its importance to Scotland.  After having crossed the length of it the day before, this immersive experience made me feel like I knew more about the Flow Country than if I had actually walked through it.

After a quick lunch at the visitor centre café, I set off on the A9 along the coast, past the harbour of Scrabster, to reach Wolfburn Distillery. The second most northerly distillery on mainland Scotland. It is named after the Wolf Burn, which flows right past it, near the site of the original Wolfburn Distillery established there over 200 years ago. For 90 minutes, our knowledgeable tour guide Charlie took us through all the inner workings of this independent distillery, before taking us to one of their warehouses. We finished up the tour with a tasting of their finest whiskies, accompanied by extensive explanations (and a free dram to take home!).

But my trip to the North Highlands was not yet complete! I was offered an irresistible opportunity to join a Timberbush tour to explore more of the east coast and most northerly reaches of mainland Scotland! Handily located just behind Inverness train station, I joined five other eager travellers to meet our tour guide, Richard. Because I’m lucky enough to call Scotland my home, it was my first experience of a guided tour in Scotland and, I must say, I couldn’t have hoped for a better guide! Richard, himself a well-travelled Scot from the lowlands of Dumfries & Galloway, was both full of humour and incredibly knowledgeable about every single village and building we passed. I tried to test his knowledge on a few occasions and was impressed by the depth of knowledge and passion with which he delivered his stories. Our ultimate destination was John o’ Groats, the most northerly mainland tip of the UK! But we had a few stops to soak up what Caithness and Sutherland have to offer before we got there...

John o’ Groats is a pretty special place. Standing on the very north-eastern tip of mainland Scotland, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of being at the very edge of something. Even more so after Richard took us up the cliff to have a look at the very impressive stacks of Duncansby Head. After enjoying a rather delicious ice cream at Flavours in John o’ Groats, we start our journey back.

Having studied Old Norse and with Richard’s insights, I started to piece together these landscapes the Vikings once walked through the many Norse place names in the area: Wick (from Norse vík, ‘bay’), Thurso (from Norse Thorsá, ‘Thor’s river’), Dingwall (from Norse Þingvöllr, ‘assembly field’) or even the unique Flow Country, which comes from the Norse word flói meaning a ‘wet, marshy moor’.

As we were driving back along the coast from John o’ Groats, I chatted more to Richard about his role as a tour guide. I was curious to know what made this part of Scotland so special to him, when he had spent so many years running tours across the globe. He told me it’s a combination of heritage, character, and of course the people. “You won’t find this anywhere else”, he adds after a considered pause. He tells me of the clans, of the feuding, of the sheer depth of history still visible now. “In a way, it moulded who we are today”. Right before we set off on our journey back to Inverness, he adds: “I consider myself very lucky to live in this part of the world”.

I don’t know if it was the grand views of Duncansby stacks, the traditional folk music in the tour bus or the genuineness in Richard’s voice – all of those at once, I suppose – but as I watched the castle-strewn coastline of Sutherland roll before us as the sun set on this corner of the Highlands I had never expected would be so rich, I considered myself even luckier to have been part of this adventure in the Far North of Scotland.