Day 6 (Wednesday)
After my morning cuppa in the church car park, I headed off
for a couple of days to explore a different area. I crossed the Kessock Bridge,
which took me from Inverness onto the Black Isle. I spotted a sign for a
viewpoint, but was a bit disappointed to find it was just a view of the bridge.
Still, there were some loos, so it was worth the stop!
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| Morning cuppa |
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| View over the Moray Firth after Kessock Bridge |
Despite the name, the Black Isle isn’t actually an island —
it’s a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides. I continued driving and
left the “isle” via the Cromarty Bridge. There were a few lay-bys before the
bridge and even one on it, which made for a great photo stop with lovely views.
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| View of the Cromarty Bridge |
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| View from on the bridge |
My final destination for the day was the car park for the
Fyrish Monument. I missed it at first because I was looking out for brown
tourist signs, but only noticed a tiny wooden sign for the turn-off when it was
too late. Once I was finally parked, I set off on the Jubilee Path to the
monument. I was following an AllTrails route and didn’t see any waymarkers for
the path — though that could be because I wasn’t paying close attention,
or maybe my route didn’t follow the official trail. Either way, the path was
easy to follow and not too rough underfoot, though it was a good uphill climb.
Totally worth it though — the monument at the top was much bigger than I
expected and really impressive.
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| The route up |
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| The route up |
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| The route up |
The Fyrish Monument was built in 1782 on Fyrish Hill, near the village of Evanton in Easter Ross. It was commissioned by Sir Hector Munro, a local landowner and general who had served in India. At the time, many locals were being cleared from the land they’d farmed for generations, and jobs were scarce. To help, Sir Hector had the monument built to provide employment — even reportedly rolling stones back down the hill so workers would have to carry them up again, giving them more paid hours. The monument was designed to resemble the Gate of Negapatam, a port in India that Sir Hector captured for the British in 1781.
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| The Fyrish Monument |
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| The Fyrish Monument |
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| Magnificent views |
After taking lots of photos and soaking in the views, I began the descent back to the car park. I was doing a circular route, but in hindsight, I’d recommend going back the same way you came up. The return path went through dense forest, and although I rarely see many people on these walks, I felt quite isolated — especially being on my own. There were also loads of fallen trees (possibly from the same 2022 storm that hit Pinewoods), which turned the trail into a bit of an obstacle course! Some were easy to walk around, but others had me climbing over, ducking under, and even crawling beneath them.
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| The walk back down |
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| The long walk through the forest became an obstacle course! |
Eventually, I made it back to the car park — the full walk was about 5 miles. I decided to stay the night there and move on the next day. It was a quiet night with no problems.
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| Tonight's park up |
Day 7 (Thursday)My destination today was Rosemarkie on the Black Isle. After crossing the Cromarty Bridge, I decided to take the scenic route around the "island" rather than sticking to the main road. Along the way, I stumbled upon a small church and felt compelled to stop for a closer look.
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| Morning cuppa |
The Kirkmichael Burial Ground had beautiful views across the Cromarty Firth, with interesting tombs and gravestones scattered throughout the graveyard. The church itself dates back to the 1400s and had fallen into a dangerous state over the years—especially after the roof collapsed in 2012. Thanks to local fundraising, restoration work was completed, and the church reopened in 2017.
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| Kirkmichael Church |
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| The Grant of Ardoch Mausoleum dedicated to his wife Florence Dunbar |
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| One of many interesting stones |
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| View of the church and church yard |
I was happy to find that the church is open during daylight hours, so I went inside. There are two small rooms; one displays medieval ornamental crosses, while the other shares stories of people connected to the site. It was a quiet, reflective space and I'm glad I stopped. I could have spent a lot longer here looking at the many interesting grave stones.
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| View from the window |
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| One of many stones inside |
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| Inside the church |
After the church visit, I carried on to Rosemarkie, which turned out to be a lovely little seaside village. I managed to find a nice free parking spot along the beach road though there’s no overnight parking, which makes sense with the houses nearby.
I’d actually thought about staying at the campsite here last night but decided against it as I wouldn't really have much time. I regret that now because it has amazing sea views and would’ve been a great place to wake up.
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| Daytime parking only in Rosemarkie - but what a beautiful spot! |
Rosemarkie is known for its collection of Pictish stones (sculptures from the 8th and 9th centuries) that were found around the churchyard. They’re now on display at the Groam House Museum but I decided to give it a a miss and went for a walk instead.
The beach walk to Chanonry Point is just over a mile, with a lighthouse at the end and lovely views across the Moray Firth to Fort George. It’s supposed to be a great spot to see dolphins and seals. Sadly, I didn’t spot any this time. The tide was going out, and apparently the best time to see dolphins is when it’s coming in—they follow the fish closer to shore then. Maybe next time!
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| The path to Fairy Glen |
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| There was no obvious reason why I couldn't cross this bridge but no other way to cross the river |
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| The walk to Fairy Glen |
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| One of the two waterfalls |
Once back at the van, I headed to Fortrose Cathedral. Only part of the original building remains (dating back to the 1300s) but it was still worth a visit.
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| Fortrose Cathedral ruins |
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| The North Choir Range |
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| Fortrose Cathedral |
I then made my way back to Newtonmore, but I’ll definitely be returning to the Black Isle to explore more!
Before meeting J for dinner, I stopped at Kingussie Camping & Motorhome Aire to empty my waste and fill up with water for a £5 charge. Great facility when camping off grid!
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| Kinguisse Aire |
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