Day 4 got off to a wonderful start, thanks to the fab breakfast Fiona did for us at Ornum House, Beauly! The super-king bed had afforded us a great nights’ kip, so to have our bellies filled with a piping hot, full fry-up was the icing on the cake of our stay.
A chilled tray on our table housed jugs of milk and orange juice, fruit yoghurts, pots of chopped Melon and ( Fiona’s next-door neighbours) Raspberries, cheese and pats of butter, and on an adjacent table was bread and a toaster, along with assorted cereal to help ourselves to.
I’d ordered Bacon, Haggis, Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Tomato and everything was cooked perfectly, so I was grinning like a loon as I took mouthful after mouthful of scrummy food. His Nibs had plumped for Bacon, Sausage, Haggis, Beans, and Poached Egg and, like mine, his breakfast was spot-on. Fiona also makes her own jellies and marmalades, so I had Apple jelly on my toast and The Man had Lemon and Lime marmalade on his.
Outside, the weather was bleak and the rain hammered down, but it didn’t dampen our mood as we bade Fiona and her family farewell and set off for Inverness and the start of the NC500 adventure ‘proper’. I’d certainly recommend Ornum House to folks in the area for whatever reason, not just those planning to do the NC500.
Our first stop was to see Inverness Cathedral (suggested donation of £2 per person, or £5 with guide booklet) and I have to say that it is a magnificent building. There are toilets there too, with an honesty box, and if ladies get ‘caught short’ by Mother Nature, there are sanitary products in a basket for you to help yourself to. Unfortunately we couldn’t get into Inverness Castle due to it being renovated, so we had to content ourselves with a photo from the other side of River Ness.
Inverness has a fab ‘Street Food Area’ that’s home to a variety of pop-up vans that serve food and drinks; we were visiting early morning (on Sunday) so none were open, but how cool is that?! Another fab thing is the water fill-up station on one end of this area that you can just use, FREE-OF-CHARGE, to fill up your water bottles! Tourist-friendly, that’s Inverness. Oh, there’s a KwikFit Plus in the city too, if your car needs help.
Next stop was Clootie Well, a quirky place that sees folks go and hang prayer/healing rags on branches – presumably to local saints? It was a lovely walk through a small wooded area and we appreciated the stretch of our legs.
A bit further along was the Fairy Glen Falls at Rosemarkie, and we donned our walking boots for this as we’d researched the trail and knew it was a bit ‘up-and-down’. It was also a bit narrow and slippery in places, thanks to recent rainfall. The rainfall helped the flow of the falls though, and they were a great sight to see.
Chanonry Point is known for sightings of Dolphins (about an hour or so after low tide) and we headed over there to see if we could spot some of these beautiful creatures; turns out we weren’t alone, and the car park was full! We were about to leave when the friendly car-park attendant said to do another turn round the roundabout then pull up and wait; he was starting a queue and we were first in it. Thankfully, we were only waiting about 10 minutes before a space became available then, having parked up, we walked down to the beach and sat patiently in the hope of some aquatic antics. Lady luck was on our side and we were blessed with the appearance of a small pod that fed on fish and flipped in the air, delighting us with their grace and beauty!
We left the Dolphins to their feeding and playing, and someone else gratefully parked their car in our now-empty spot. Next on our ‘to-see’ list was the Mermaid of the North; a fantastic sculpture located on a huge rock in the middle of a multi-coloured, pebbly beach, and we spent some time walking along it before scooting a little further down the road to see the ‘Hilton of Cadboll’ stone on the east coast of the Tarbat Peninsula.
This stone is a great example of a Pictish Stone (it’s a replica; the original, class II one is in a museum somewhere) and stands proudly in the middle of a field, adjacent to the ruins of a chapel.
By this point, we were fairly tired, so were glad to pull into the car park for Shandwick House in Tain, our home for the night! Run by Dennis and Clara, we received the best welcome of our trip so far by Alec and Trevor, their handsome Dalmatians.
Our room was superb: the large double bed, wardrobe, two plush chairs, fully stocked refreshment tray and kettle, and large corner shower with shower gel and towels provided, were a sight for our weary eyes! We settled in and unpacked, then gave Dennis our breakfast order for the morning as we headed out for an earlier-than-planned dinner at Platform 1846.
Life throws curve-balls sometimes and Chef at this popular Tain restaurant had unexpectedly gone sick, and the substitute Chef couldn’t work late due to childcare issues, so we bumped our reservation forward by a couple of hours. Tain isn’t blessed with many eateries, so we were keen not to have to go to the local Tesco for dinner!
The old station building is pretty big, so as you step inside you encounter the swish cocktail bar area - not a bad first impression, I’m sure you’ll agree! We went through to the restaurant area and ordered a French Martini (Vodka, Chambord and Pineapple, £9) and a pint of draught Poretti lager (£5.25), then helped ourselves to chilled water from the counter.
Both my courses came from the specials menu: Mussels to start (£11.50) and Sea Bass with warm Sweet Potato, Spinach and Tomato Salad (£24.50). His Nibs chose Confit Duck Spring Rolls to start (£11.50), followed by Blade of Beef (£23.50), both from the regular menu.
When our server put the Mussels in front of me I honestly thought that she’d mistakenly given me someone’s main course-size portion!! Never in my life have I seen such an ample bowl of seafood! The Mussels were large specimens and Chef had served them with plenty of Cream, White Wine and Garlic sauce – Chef at Beauly’s Priory Hotel, take note!!
Equally ample were His Nibs’ Spring Rolls; these were chockfull of succulent shreds of Duck encased in golden, crunchy Spring Roll pastry and swirls of Plum- and Hoisin- sauces were decorating the plate. An Asian ‘slaw completed this dish, and was said to be very tasty by The Man.
Chef was clearly going ‘off-piste’ a bit, as my Sea Bass came with chunks of Sweet Potato but no Spinach and pitifully little Tomato; there were tender Broccoli florets and wedges of Red Onion to enjoy, though. The fish itself was cooked perfectly, its moist flesh flaking apart easily under pressure from my cutlery. Whilst this was undeniably different to what I ordered, it was by no means a disaster thanks to it all being cooked nicely.
His Nibs’ two rounds of Blade of Beef were beautifully deep in flavour and came with a Yorkshire Pud, Roasties, Broccoli and Gravy that weren’t in the menu description! Carrots had been braised in Star Anise and the subtle spice taste paired superbly with the vegetables’ sweetness. Torched Onion WAS in the description and its smoky note paired perfectly with the Onions’ intensified natural taste.
Whilst the dishes were a bit different to what we’d been expecting, our bellies were full after the two courses, thanks to the generous size of them. Platform 1846 is a bit more ‘spenny’ than you’d usually expect to pay, but there is a lack of competition around and, as I said, the portions are very generous. We both said that we’d go again if we were ever back in Tain.
