After taking the sleeper to Inverness, we had a long weekend that included travelling on the Black Isle, Tarbat Ness peninsular and East Sutherland areas.

In the US they talk of the "big skies" of Montana. Well, I have never been to Montana but I assume this refers to being able to see vast distances and have the sky framed by mountains. I have often thought this about the area around Inverness where low-lying agricultural land is framed by Highland peaks.

You get the "big sky" feeling coming in on the train or A9 towards Inverness from Carrbridge. Similarly if you drive over the Black Isle you will often get a fantastic clear view towards peaks in the distance but be impressed by the scale of things with firths, smaller hills and fields in between.

After Inverness we drove to Cromary and got good views towards the North and West. Cromarty is an interesting historic village. It also has a good view out to the North Sea between the Sutors.

BTW, if you ever go to Cromarty I can recommend the bakery. They make excellent oatcakes - which are far better than the mass-produced ones - including garlic and herb ones and good cakes.

In the next peninsular that stretches north of the Cromarty Firth to Tarbat Ness you also get great views inland.

This view west towards Ben Wyvis and beyond was taken at an elevation of about 50 metres but the height is just enough to give scale to the land between where we were and the mountains. We enjoyed the sound of skylarks in the area.

Outside Portmahomack there is a great view to the Northwest to Tain and the mountains beyond. Here the elevation where we stood was a mere 30 m but it is possible to see the big sands outside Tain. Unfortunately the scale of the view is hard to capture in a photo; they eye can comprehend far more than a camera!

Travelling further North the next peninsular is at Dornoch, bordered on the North side by Loch Fleet. When we were driving past Embo there were showers and sunshine producing occasional rainbows.

At low tide near Skelbo and opposite Little Ferry, Loch Fleet looks deceptively shallow but has strong currents. On the sandbank in the middle we counted 16 seals on a further bank maybe 30 more. In a previous year we saw an Osprey near here. Buzzards are plentiful presumably profiting from the numerous rabbits in the sand dunes.