One of these trips was made in a weekend in July with two friends from Nesky kayak club. We chose to paddle from Helmsdale to Lybster to explore the fascinating remote and exposed coastline here.
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| The North East of Scotland, source; Google |
On Friday night be set up our camp just South of Helmsdale with views across the calm sea. Luckily the favourable weather forecast hadn't changed so we could stick with our initial plan.
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| Day 1: Helmsdale to Dunbeath. Source; Memory Map |
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| Plenty of light around 10pm ©Fenfolio2014 |
After a quick breakfast and breaking down our tents we organised our shuttle, leaving a car behind halfway at Dunbeath and one in Lybster. We left most of our camping equipment in the car because we would set up our tents on the campsite in Dunbeath.
Setting off from Helmsdale we were instantly welcomed by a calm sea, huge cliffs and hundreds of seabirds such as guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and puffins!
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| The sea cliffs near Helmsdale ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Massive cliff and sea stack at Ord Point ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| It looks rougher than it really was because of the angle! ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Sea stack at Ord Point surrounded by seabirds ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Hundreds of seabirds flying over our heads ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Watching nesting seabirds from a safe distance ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| The cliffs have perfect ledges for the nesting seabirds ©Fenfolio2014 |
Berriedale was the only place where we could actually land so we took our lunchbreak here.
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| Approaching Berriedale |
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| Lunchbreak at Berriedale harbour |
Then we continued our journey further North and explored the wonderful caves at Traigh Bhuidhe.
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| Cave at Traigh Bhuidhe ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Another cave at Traigh Bhuidhe ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Entrance of cave at Traigh Bhuidhe ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| The colours of the rock were really very vibrant! ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Beatiful rock strata©Fenfolio2014 |
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| All this beauty is just a few hours away from our house! ©Fenfolio2014 |
The icing on the cake of our first day was to see the impressive and slightly psychedelic sea arch An Dun, where you get the impression of paddling steeply uphill (or downhill depending which way you go) due to the rock strata. While paddling through it and looking up these towering walls next to you, you feel so tiny and even dizzy! We couldn't get enough of this so we spent quite some time here going "up" and "down" again.
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| Paddling through sea arch An Dun ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| The rock strata gives you the illusion of paddling uphill! ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Going downhill ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Feeling tiny next to these huge cliffs! ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| More nesting seabirds ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Paddling through another cave ©Fenfolio2014 |
Just before we arrived in Dunbeath we tried to find the secret entrance to the kitchen of Dunbeath Castle. Unfortunately the tide was not right to do this.
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| Dunbeath harbour with the castle in the distance ©Fenfolio 2014 |
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| Crails at Dunbeath Harbour ©Fenfolio2014 |
Just before the heavens broke open we set up our tent and went to the Bay Owl for a nice meal, drink and sharing our experiences of a fantastic day.
The next day we started at Dunbeath Harbour again and made our way up to Lybster, exploring even more amazing caves.
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| Day 2: Dunbeath to Lybster. Source; Memory Map |
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| Entrance of a cave at Cleit Mhor©Fenfolio2014 |
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| And another one! ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Rock art inside ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| There is light at the end of the tunnel ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Stalactites in all kinds of shapes and colours ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Nature's art gallery ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| The long and exposed coastline near Lybster ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| More sea stacks and great rockhopping ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Rock strata ©Fenfolio 2014 |
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| Rock strata ©Fenfolio 2014 |
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| One of the spectecular caves South of Lybster ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| One of the spectecular caves South of Lybster ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Cave with stalactites ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| One of the spectecular caves South of Lybster ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Landing on Lybster beach next to the harbour ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| Yummy cake and coffee at Lybster cafe ©Fenfolio2014 |
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| The perfect ending of a wonderful kayak weekend ©Fenfolio2014 |
Words are just not enough to describe how fantastic this kayak trip was. It is one of the best for me so far since I took up sea kayaking in 2008. The West Coast of Scotland has always been the first choice for many sea kayakers due it's sheltered coastline and milder weather. I do hope that these photos will show the North East is a hidden gem and that they will inspire kayakers to consider it for their next trip!
