A Lobster, a smoke house and John O-Groats

When I’d spoken to the harbour master on Wednesday, they’d explained there was a fish auction to be held at 10:00 Thursday morning, but we’d decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and had gone to the Orkneys instead, so had missed it. There was therefore a bit of a rush to get up and out this morning when I read on their website that it happens every weekday. Sadly when we got there, only a 2minute walk away, they said it only happens when a boat comes in. It being a Friday, they rarely have one on, as it’s usually the day the market is being cleaned out ready for the weekend. The man cleaning up the crab claws on the floor could obviously see our disappointment, so gave us a quick tour of the catch in the cooler. (Don’t think he realised the look on our faces was more the waste of the crabs than the lack of an auction. He was throwing away almost double what I’d eaten for dinner! I was mentally working out how contaminated they were and if they could be rescued). Inside the cooler were two columns, each containing five rows of shallow trays. Each tray was connected by a mini waterfall of water. When we looked inside, there were about 40 lobster in each tray, all with their pinchers held shut with an elastic band, so they didn’t hurt one another or an unsuspecting tourist who tried to pet them.

Next stop the Caithness Smoke House. As well as the crab claws, I’d had smoked mussels for dinner last night. First time I’d ever had these, they were divine! So much so we made it our mission to find a smoke house today. It was well sign posted, but when we arrived it just looked like someone’s house. The owner, John, explained he was extra busy today getting ready for the big country fair tomorrow, but still took the time to explain how the smoking process worked, and how he ended up starting his business. He’d initially worked on electric machines in Amsterdam, but had followed his wife over here after she retired from teaching. First fishing for fun, he found that his neighbours were more interested in cooked products, so had stumbled into the smoke house business. He now supplies award winning butter to Michelin starred restaurants in London, as well as a number of famous events such as the Ashes and Wimbledon. Of course we couldn’t resist, and came away with a fridge full of goodies to be enjoyed for dinner!

On to the must see tourist attractions of the area. First Dunnet’s Head, the most northerly point on Great Britain, followed by the famous John O’Groats. I always thought this was the most north-easterly point, but I found out today this is actually Duncansby Head, about 2miles further along the coast. I guess John just had the better publicity team, there is a flag post there after all. All Duncansby Head has is a lighthouse currently closed to the public for renovation, and more of those adorable puffins!

Thistle – related to the artichoke, is the scottish floral emblem. The legend goes that one night, at a time when hoards of Norsemen used to pillage the Scottish shores, a raiding army were about to ambush a small village. In approaching the victims, one of the norsemen stepped on thistles and the pain was so intense that the screams awakened the whole valley, preventing the pillage.