After spending the first half of the day on Orkney we drove down the coast towards Inverness, where the holiday cottage we let for the next week was located. Our first stop was the Castle of Old Wick, located on a jutting cliff overlooking the North Sea.
You can just see the castle on right side of the image.
The actual ruins are sparse, just a few walls of the tower left. What is amazing about this site is the location alone. To get to the castle you must walk over a muddy, rocky, difficult terrain on a very narrow cliff with steep walls dropping down to the sea. This castle was definitely built for defense!
Looking down from the point of the castle's cliff.
Our next stop was the stark opposite of Castle of Old Wick: Dunrobin Castle. A fairy tale-like building, it is still used as a residence for the Sutherland family. This is the drive down to the castle, but this particular view is looking from the castle to the street.
The front of the castle. Need your own clocktower?
We did go in the castle, but we were at the very end of the open time and they were setting up for a wedding to be held there that night (Paul asked who was getting married, the reply was "No one really, just someone from the village.") and photography isn't allowed indoors. Mostly the rooms were a museum to the Sutherland family and were stuffed with trophies and antique furniture.
Coming down from the castle, this is the left side of the gardens. Behind the row of trees is a field used for falconry.
The right side of the gardens, and a close up of the one remaining lily in the pond.
This was one of two old gates leading to the beach. Not so bad a place to live!!
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