The Retreat – Day 2

After a night in the wind, I actually managed a decent sleep, although my back is suffering a bit today.

The tent also survived with no incident, which was good to see, after my clownish efforts yesterday.

Today, I went on a beach hunt. For those of you that have been following, I do like a highland beach and is covering new ones is a treat.

I elected to go to Embo, which is a few miles north of Dornoch. I’ve heard good things about Embo beach and I wasn’t disappointed. I was greeted by miles of wide golden sands under sun, with a bit of cloud.

I walked for some distance and the small dots of people did not get much bigger, such was the expanse. Not on Sahara scale but big anyway. I lost myself for nearly two hours walking with my thoughts.

On my way south, I stopped off at Shandwick, one of my favourite beaches. It was the beach I would go to in mind when at my lowest points, so it has a lot of power for me.

A beautiful day with the tide out, low dramatic clouds and heat, it was again a massive treat to see it like this.

On my way down the A9, I realised I was ravenous and stopped at the Tomich Cafe, which is somewhere we know well as a family. It had a slight revamp and gave me the best burger I’ve had in a long time. Truly awesome.

On returning back to the campsite, I found the lady owner had put a kettle in the kitchen as I had asked about it earlier. Such a kind thing to do unprompted and I had my favourite coffee in a favourite place by the sea.

Today has been great and I feel relaxed and happy, hoping for more of the same tomorrow, which I’ll think of in the morning.

Thank you, highlands.