Brown Hill and Hillockhead circuit
Rosemarkie beach and Hillockhead circuit is a lovely 9 kilometres walk exploring different scenery on the Black Isle. We completed the route last weekend, exploring the beach and finding a cave.
The route is a bit wild and overgrown in places. It would be very hard to notice the path if not for a very old looking, weathered signpost.
The path climbs up the cliff through a thick vegetation including many hazel trees.
Some scenic views for the coast open up in between the trees.
Soon the path enters a forested area, where I was lucky to find some chanterelle mushrooms.
From here, the route leads through some heather and gorse to the top of Brown Hill. It is well marked with cute little wooden arrows.
Eventually, you reach the view point. You can see Moray Firth, Fort Gorge, Rosemarkie and the lighthouse at Chanory Point.
Further on, you reach a road in between fields and pastures with some more awesome views.
If you look carefully, you will notice Kessock Bridge connecting Black Isle to Inverness.
Walking along pastures and hay bales, with swifts flying overhead and sun poking from behind clouds, must be a hallmark of the late summer.
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Beautiful! Wish I took the time to explore Scotland when I lived in the UK!
Thank you!
Many people who live in the UK never visit Scotland. My partners family travelled up to Scotland for the first time for my wedding. They spend their whole lives in the UK and never came up before. They fell in love with it and are planning another visit next year. :)
Scotland is one amazing little country (even if not independent yet). I moved to Edinburgh in 2005, then I studied in Bristol, England and eventually moved to the Highlands in 2012. There are definite differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Generally, people are more liberal here. Scots are fairly straight forward and most will say what they really think, so you know where you stand with them. I am quite impressed with friendliness and openness of the locals, especially around the remote regions, such as Isle of Skye etc. When I moved to the Highlands in 2012, I did so with my partner who is English. We experienced no prejudice at all, which is awesome.
The pound is losing value and is likely to continue dropping. Who knows, maybe you will be able to come up for a budget holiday sometime! :) Camping around here is awesome. There is a public right of way, so you are pretty much allowed to camp anywhere you want. It's easy to find remote and quiet places full of natural beauty and the colonies of seabirds around the coast are amazing.
I really enjoyed booking a holiday in winter. You can get real bargains on self-catering. The weather might be formidable, but to me, it's an adventure. There is nothing like warming by an open fire, after hiking in the cold! :D
Do you mind me asking why you left the UK?
Sounds wonderful! And I have to admit, the accent is just fantastic. I went to Scotland once, actually. My ex-boyfriend was in a play at the fringe festival in Edinburgh. What a lovely place! I so wish I had planned a longer holiday than just the few days I was there.
You're completely right in the difference as well. On the train heading north it was as if the landscape resembled Norway more and more, which I undoubtedly loved. More pine trees and more hills! And when we stopped in Manchester ( I think it was ) and got a train conductor who spoke with a Scottish accent I was thinking I'd gladly exchange my posh English boyfriend toward someone speak like that! Haha. No offence to my ex, he's a wonderful man and I just laughed when I told him.
I left the UK because of Norway. I missed the mountains and the Norwegian way of communicating. The English politeness is fantastic when you're on holiday, but as a people I felt the undertone of rudeness the longer I was there. In Norway we communicate in a very fact based way, which often offends English people (at least a lot of the ones I encountered). Most of the good friends I made after 5 years in England were not English. Which I found strange, but after conversing with a lot of foreigners they had the same experience.
Then there's the problem of money. The wages in England are half the amount of what they are in Norway, yet the rent is the same. How is this even possible?! I had to pay twice as much as my class mates for my tuition (because Norway is not a part of the EU) and it increased with £40,000 from my first year to my third. 👌🏻
The longer I lived in the country the more I saw "flaws" in the system if you can call it that. I figured why would I want to stay in a country with so much struggle if I had the opportunity to go to a country that did not? I was planning on moving to London, but when I experienced a sexual assault this spring I figured it was time to go home. I needed to be close to nature and man had I missed hiking!
If I go back to the UK though, I'd definitely be Lake District or some cities in Scotland. :)
I love Scottish accent and malt whisky! :D Fringe is awesome. If you decide to visit Scotland I would recommend the Highlands, where I currently live. Loch Ness is gorgeous, especially the south side, less touristy. Great Glen Way is a popular hiking route on the north side. Inverness is a small city wich not much going on, but scenery is great.
I hear you! :D
I am so very sorry that this happened to you. I hope you have a supportive and loving people around you to help you. I experienced similar thing in England and it took me many years to heal from that. :( :( :(
Since you clearly understand the situation in the UK, I feel free to speak honestly. I come from Poland and I spent 12 years of my life here. Now I am looking at relocating. Scotland is so much better than the rest of the UK, but they lost Independence Referendum the last time, and it looks like Scotland will be dragged down post-Brexit. If I do leave, I will feel sad for not staying with the few friends I have and voting Yes! in the next referendum. At the same time, I might be deported back to Poland if the prime minister gets in a bad mood, post-Brexit. I do not feel that there is enough support for the EU citizens in the UK, let alone anyone from outside the EU.
We are researching different countries, wondering where to go. We will have to learn the language, which is a big commitement, so we have to make sure we choose well! I know that in Sweden and Finland people are becoming more anti-EU and anti immigration. I am not sure if this is exaggerated by the media, or not. I would very much appreciate your honest opinion about Norway in this regard. :)
Oh so you're Polish! Maybe that's why we get along so well? Haha! :)
I am ok, thanks. I was very quick to share my story in social media actually, I ended up pregnant from it and had a miscarriage and I felt so angry by the fact that I felt I couldn't talk about it, after all this is something that happen to a lot of women (and men for that matter, with the exception of getting pregnant of course), but I think talking about it was the number one thing that sped up the healing process. But naturally, my mind wanders from time to time to what would happen if I hadn't miscarried.
In the UK I was shocked when they voted for Brexit, because all my friends (young actors mainly, I went to drama school) were so against it. And since I had less experience with "the average Englishman" I was pretty surprised that there were so many voting yes. And I'm not gonna lie, that was one of the reasons why I wanted to leave England. They're kind of racist. Not all of them of course!
Because of drama school I have a very good English accent so a lot of people mistook me for being English. Even my friends. They would talk about immigrants taking jobs and blah blah in front of me. And I was just like "Excuse me? Hello!". And then they said, but you're ok! You can't just cherry pick people in that way!
Scotland sounds amazing though. I hope you get to stay. I had a couple of Polish friends in England, and I know one of them is considering leaving too. Scandinavia has had a bit or resistance when it comes to immigration lately. But it's mainly the conservatives really want to shut it down, lots of scaremongering going on here. We have an election on first coming Monday. I can let you know how it goes!
But learning the language is the number one to get a foot in, I'd say. Not just with the government, but also people you meet on the street.
I am sure that being able to talk about your assault was helpful. In my case, the person was definitely on psychopathic personality spectrum or suffered from some other personality disorder. Me talking publicly would have resulted in vicious attacks and bullying from him. Keeping quiet and moving on was the only option for me unfortunately but at least I didn't get pregnant. It must have been really stressful to go through that for you.
I was shocked when Scottish Independence referendum lost because the majority of people I know voted YES! It was older generation clinging to the monarchy and pound notes.
When it came to Brexit I saw it coming for a long time. It was mostly thanks to my mum. We skype regularly and she repeats what people say in Poland. She influenced me and @antonchanning to get married because of growing anti-EU mood in Britain. I am so grateful she did! I didn't believe it, to begin with. When the referendum happened I was devastated and frankly, I still am.
Absolutely! The racism here is awful and people are in complete denial of it. Some members of my family voted for Brexit. apparently, they thought that I have citizenship. Once they found out I didn't, they claimed it's easy to get it because I'm married to a Brit. They have absolutely no clue about the law or anything else, but they feel entitled to an opinion. It's dangerous and misleading to say things like that.
Thank you. Unfortunately even Scotland isn't free from growing racism. The day after Brexit, in Glasgow underground station, a white supremacist tried to push a Hindu lady under the upcoming train. Fortunately, people stopped him in time. I only know about it because she is a mother of my friend and he talked about it on social media.
There was a white power march in Edinburgh last month and another one, in Perth, is coming up. Scotland is a beautiful country, but if things carry on in this direction, it might not be safe for me to stay.
That would be great. I would really appreciate it. :)
Oh, definitely. I would have to learn at least a basic level. I know how much it helped when I moved to the UK. It would have been very hard without it. People gave me tons of advice simply because I could talk to them. :)
Pregnant or not, it is something very uncomfortable to go through. I hope you are ok and that your husband is helping you heal.
How horrible to hear how bad it is! :O I don't understand how people are able to physically want to hurt other people like that. Especially from just being form another country.
The fact that you're not English (and already speak more than one language) will only help you! I know Norwegian and Polish aren't exactly related to each other, but having picked up one language definitely makes it easier to pick up another! :)
Thank you. Being in a loving relationship is very helpful in healing and it definitely makes a big difference for me. :)
In my opinion, something like that just shouldn't happen. I don't get it. It's crazy.
Just today my friend messaged me about a close friend of her family, 70 years old Canadian, who is being deported after 40 years of living (and working) in the UK. He is being sent off to Canada where he doesn't know anyone and has no pension because he paid it in the UK.
That's true! I was beginning to think about learning another language anyway. :) I met a guy who can speak 5 languages and he said that its easier with each new language, the more you know the faster you learn. Being multilingual is a big advantage. I had some German and some French at school so could refresh them sometimes too.
The thought of moving a country is a bit scary but it is also exciting. I love the fresh feeling you get when you are somewhere new. You get to try the foods and visit new places. It is an adventure. :)
You always seem to walk through so many magical places! lovely!
Cheers! :) I do love spending time in nature. This is why I moved up to the Highlands. We have so many truly outstanding places just on a doorstep, it's amazing. This particular walk is only a 40 mins bus ride from city centre and there are many other lovely spots on Black Isle, around Loch Ness and Inverness. I live here 5 years now and there are still lots of places I didn't get to see. :D
It's a very affordable lifestyle when you can just enjoy strolling places like this. In big cities all entertainment costs money, here you get it for the modest price of tired legs! :D
It's a privilege to have tired legs surrounded by such beauty! May you continue enjoying yourselves in such lovely places!
Thanks, will do! :)