The Black Isle

The Black Isle, a peninsula on the East coast located just North of Inverness, is neither black nor an island! It is surrounded on three sides by the sea – the Cromarty Firth to the North, the Beauly Firth to the South, and the Moray Firth to the East. The name is thought to allude to its dark, fertile soil and its appearance in winter, where it contrasts starkly against the snow-covered hills surrounding it, making it look black. At its most Easterly is Chanonry Point which is famously one of the best locations to see bottlenose dolphins at close range in the UK. I decided to stay on the Black Isle as a staging post for heading to the far North, an opportunity to see the coastline here and hopefully catch some sightings of the dolphins. Rather than take the more popular A87/A82 route going along by Loch Ness, I took the more scenic road through the mountains via Loch Carron, Loch Alsh along the A835 by Loch Luichart. This was a brilliant mountain road avoiding many of the masses attracted to the Loch Ness area; I would complete the famous A82 route on my way back down South returning home. The coastline next to Rosemarkie was lovely and provided a great beachfront location to camp, and a decent 1.5 mile walk end to end. The village of Rosemarkie was host to a Spar and a very good eatery called The Crofters which I can recommend for both sit down food and take away coffee. Falling asleep to the drifting sounds of the ocean breaking against the beach front was a memorable camping experience. On the return leg I camped on the other side of the peninsula, a couple of miles away, in Melrose. A decent camp site but with a much more pebbled and rocky shore line. In between the two places lay Fortrose and Rosemarkie golf club. Its claim to fame was being “The 15th oldest recorded club in the world” - I assume they mean golf club and not just any club :) I don’t play myself but it looked a lovely course and a beautiful location to while away a few hours walking, talking and hitting balls. For those taking part it looked a serious business, and some I met had travelled here especially for the golf.