Day 20 - Saturday 18 March - Dunnet

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This accommodation includes brekkie delivered to our suite - and what a brekkie it was! We both chose porridge as a starter, then Tom had pancakes with bacon and maple syrup - I had smashed avocado on sourdough with smoked salmon - it was delightful. And we met Sylvia, a local who met and married John. She is just lovely and was so delighted that we’re on a family history jaunt.

Our first engagement today was a gin distillery tour and tasting at the gin distillery 500 metres up the road at 11am. It was great. This distillery was started by a chemical engineer who wanted a change from working at the nuclear research station. They gave a gin and tonic to start, in the most elegant glass, and it was soooo smooth and lovely. Then we toured the distillery and came back to the tasting room for a paddle of little gin glasses. By then we were best friend with everyone else on the tour.



After that we drove out to the lighthouse on Dunnet Head, the northern most part of mainland UK. it was misty and deserted, including by the birds. I’m sorry Dee, the sign said puffins, but we didn’t see any. The lighthouse was built in 1831 by Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped etc). We saw a few dilapidated ruins, some of which could’ve been our family homes because they were in the areas they lived in, but it was nice to see some being rescued too.





We returned to Dunnet, and St Mary’s church where we found the headstone of Alexander Dunnet and his wife Margaret Baikie-Dunnet, my 4 great grandparents. Unfortunately the church was locked - 4 of my ancestors were baptised there, and two were married.





We returned to our room for a nap, then headed off to Wick for a lovely dinner in a French restaurant, just for a change! They had pheasant on the menu, but Tom couldn’t bring himself to eat a cousin of all the cute pheasants we’ve avoided on the roads.

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