Day 672: Nali’s Castle

28/05/2023

Eloise had a good setup for breakfast this morning, the kids were making the most of the “mega massive couch”.

Eloise helped Grandpa DAVE whip up some scrambled eggs for Nali, Glaswegian style.

It was a short hop, skip and a car drive to Dornoch in search of morning coffees. Once Lachlan was done crab walking across the car park we snuck into Royal Dornoch Golf Club, unfortunately, we forgot to pack the hickories.

Royal Dornoch Golf Club is a golf club in Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland. It is generally referred to as Royal Dornoch. The club has two 18-hole courses: the Championship Course and the Struie Course. The older Championship Course is a links course located on the Dornoch Firth. Royal Dornoch has never hosted any of the modern professional tournaments. The British Amateur Championship was held there in 1985 and the Scottish Amateur in 1993, 2000, and 2012… The Championship Course was ranked No. 3 on the 2007 Golf Digest list of Top 100 International (outside U.S.) courses. David Brice, of Golf International, called it the “king of Scottish links courses”. The internationally renowned Championship Course at Royal Dornoch Golf Club was named No. 1 in the world by the online golf reservation service golfscape. Golf was played in Dornoch, over the extensive linksland there, in the early seventeenth century, circa 1616.

Lachlan then smacked his head on the ground, Elosie dropped a sugar bomb and executed a quick checkmate and we were on our way.

It was Nali and Grandpa DAVE’S fifth day in Scotland and they had not seen a castle yet. The wait was worth it for Dunrobin Castle & Gardens. A castle and a half. As we approached Eloise asked if this was our new house, yeah… Right… It took a bit of time as Lachlan does not like being picked up anymore.

As we entered and made our way up the staircase, Lachlan was bopping up and down in excitement as he saw all the deer.

This was an impressive castle with immaculate gardens. It is in fact all privately owned, must be nice!

Eloise was trying to teach Nali how to play the bagpipes.

Grandma Nicholls, we should have chosen a tartan carpet. Is it too late?

In the gift shop, Nali was learning all about her Sinclair tartan.

Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness. The Sinclairs are believed to have come from Normandy to England during the Norman conquest of England, before arriving in Scotland in the 11th century. The Sinclairs supported the Scottish Crown during the Scottish–Norwegian War and the Wars of Scottish Independence. The chiefs were originally Barons of Roslin, Midlothian and William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness and Baron of Roslin founded the famous Rosslyn Chapel in the 15th century. He split the family lands, disinheriting his eldest son from his first marriage, William (“the Waster”), who inherited the title of Lord Sinclair, instead giving the lands of Caithness to the second son from his second marriage, William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness, in 1476, and the lands at Roslin to his eldest son from his second marriage, Sir Oliver Sinclair.

Amazed by the castle’s rooms we made our way out to the gardens. Lachlan needed a runaround, it was that time again. The castle looked even more impressive from the gardens’ side.

We had timed it perfectly for the Falcon show, always entertaining. Apparently, a public service announcement is all the safety measures required before sending a Falcon 110km/h down the aisles in the crowd.

Dunrobin Castle (mostly 1835–1845 — present) is a stately home in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland, as well as the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It is located one mile (1.6 kilometres) north of Golspie and approximately five miles (8.0 kilometres) south of Brora, overlooking the Dornoch Firth. Dunrobin’s origins lie in the Middle Ages, but most of the present building and the gardens were added by Sir Charles Barry between 1835 and 1850. Some of the original building is visible in the interior courtyard, despite a number of expansions and alterations that made it the largest house in the north of Scotland. After being used as a boarding school for seven years, it is now open to the public.

Lunch today was in Brora where the majority of us had lunch. Lachlan nodded off just as we arrived so Eloise tucked him into the pram with her new tartan blanket which Nali spoilt her with from Inverness.

Eloise was quick to pick her choice from the “Lunch” menu. Classic Eloise, a waffle enthusiast.

Super Mum transferred Lachlan back into the car asleep. He missed the whole stop, he might read about it when he is older. We finally got some miles under our belt as we dashed up the east coast to a special castle that Nali had come a long way to see, Castle Sinclair Girnigoenow, now just called Castle Sinclair or Castle Nali.

As we made our way to the Highland coast, Mrs Sinclair was adapting to her natural environment.

Nali also managed to find her own bay, Sinclair Bay. Eloise was not impressed that there was not an Eloise Bay.

Lachlan did not need an invite and was the first to go sprinting across the bridge into the castle. Grandpa DAVE was hot on his tracks to keep an eye on him.

Nali eventually made it across her bridge and it was party time in Sinclair Castle.

Eloise even found an ice cream store.

Elosie and Lachlan wanted to venture down to the edge of the water where we discovered a great arrangement of stone piles or mini cairns. The kids had to leave their mark on behalf of Mrs Sinclair herself.

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe is located about 3 miles north of Wick on the east coast of Caithness, Scotland. It is considered to be one of the earliest seats of Clan Sinclair. It comprises the ruins of two castles: the 15th-century Castle Girnigoe; and the early 17th-century Castle Sinclair. They are designated as a scheduled monument. The earlier Castle Girnigoe was built by William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness, probably sometime between 1476 and 1496, but certainly before his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. There is some evidence to suggest that the castle was built on the foundations of an earlier fortalice.

We had lost track of time again so made a move to tonight’s accommodation. We were looking forward to our room tonight. Luckily it was even better than we had imagined. Eloise and Lachlan gave it two thumbs up with lots of jumping on the spot. In fact, Eloise was running, jumping and skipping so much she could not stop falling over with excitement. To top it all off, we even had a welcome party greet us.

The cabins were neat, we even had our own BBQ hut, amazing! Super Mum was experienced with BBQ huts.

We chucked on the charcoal and it was all systems go.

Of course, how could we say no to marshmallows in this? Eloise took it to the next level.