Meandering the NC500: Travels from Drumbeg to the Northern Coast

 Let me begin by saying that we actually got a great night's sleep!  Perhaps that "outdoor-sie" feel was just what we needed! 

Instead of waking to the sounds of birds chirping, the morning call was sheep baa'ing. 

And it was delightful!

The Drumbeg Hotel ended up being a great experience for us.   It's a small hotel run by a husband/wife team who do it all.  And, I might say....they do it quite well.

After a delicious breakfast, we headed back on the single track road to continue our NC500 adventure.

Here in this particular area, the sheep all roam free reign.  They can be seen walking down sidewalks, or even down the middle of the road.  Or, tucked against the side rail on the road. 

 Just one of the entertaining aspect of driving here, as well as challenging when up against vehicles coming the other way.  So far, we haven't seen any casualties, thank goodness!

We drank up the scenery as we made our way off the peninsula.

Back on the main road, our first stop for the day was Wailing Widow Falls.  I can't say that we found the directions to locating it all that helpful. And, it turns out that we weren't alone, as a few other visitors commented the same.  

We were looking for a parking lot, and what we really found was a lay-by.  After driving past, realizing that we had to have gone too far, turning around and slowly scouting out the area, we finally decided to park where several other cars were sitting.....just along the side of the road.   We could hear the rush of water in the distance, and we knew we were at the right location.

So, we headed out on the trail to the waterfall.  Well, actually, it isn't a trail.  It's a small stream with a series of large and small rocks on either side that we had to carefully maneuver in order to reach our intended destination.

I'll admit that the footing was a bit tricky, and on one occasion, a young strong Scot insisted on lending me a hand while I hoisted myself over a boulder. 

But the end result was so worth it!

Of course, we had to foot it back along the same way we came, but we managed without much difficulty.

  

Back in the car, we headed northwest, driving mostly along the perimeter of the land mass, although the road does shoot inland for a bit prior to once again outline the northern edge of the country.  

We stopped in Balnakeil Craft Village as I had read about the unique venues, but we were disappointed to see that many of the shops were closed.  Kind of surprising for a weekend.  But Cocoa Mountain was open, and, actually, super busy.  I opted to try the "Chocolate Tour" which consisted of a hot drink and four specialty chocolates.

Believe me....there was NO disappointment in that department!

And the view from the village was stunning!

And as we drove east, we encountered one amazing site after another.

One can't tire of this type of beauty and we've been quite fortunate to have bright blue skies which always seem to enhance the photos. 

We stopped in Tongue to hike up to Castle Varrich. Look at the very top and you will see the castle ruins perched on the hill. 

 I had read that on a clear day,  one could see for quite a distance.  Well, today was that day!

So, we parked our car in a lot and easily found the footpath that was not only well marked, but well maintained so that there was no way one could get lost.  What a delight!

We crossed a bridge over a lovely stream 

and began the hike up the mountain.  It was hot again today, making the walk a bit more challenging.

But we finally made it to the top where we were able to climb the spiral staircase to an upper landing in order to take in the views.

We could spy the town of Tongue in the distance.

The breeze at the top brought welcome relief!

Coming down was much easier, and faster, than climbing up and we were soon in our car, heading to our B&B to check in for the evening. 

We arrived with just moments to spare before we had to leave once again to drive to our restaurant in Halkik which is less than 10 minutes from our B&B.

We found it to be a charming little town. There was a touching memorial for those who perished during WWI as well as WWII.

And lovely potted plants adorning the hall across the street. 

It turns out that the restaurant is in a hotel that sponsors fishing trips for Salmon.  It didn't take long for Marty's attention to be elsewhere as he checked out the place. 

I spotted this photo and couldn't help but chuckle.

That's quite an array of happy fisherman!

Hope you've enjoyed today's adventures. We're looking forward to heading north for more gallivanting tomorrow.  I'll be sure to keep you posted!