There are some more photos of Myrtle and Findhorn on our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrtle-Cottage-Findhorn/348855044022?sk=photos_albums
Tag: cottage
Findhorn accommodation – Myrtle Cottage now booking into 2011
Myrtle Cottage Findhorn is now booking out through to July 2011.
We can offer three day weekend stays in Findhorn for up to six people from £250.
Our weekly rate starts at £400, rising to £700 for Christmas and New Year, currently both available.
Come to Findhorn not only for a break, but as a learning experience too.
You or your children may want to learn to sail on gorgeous Findhorn Bay with the hugely popular Findhorn Marina sailing school,
Or you may wish to learn to fish on the River Findhorn,
Or take an Art Course at the Moray Arts Centre,
Or delve into the amazing variety of courses available at the world famous Findhorn Foundation, ranging from a one day Ecovillage Training course to two weeks of Astroshamanic Trance Dance!
And for the evening, take advantage of the great pubs serving excellent local food, the long summer evenings in the winter (sunset after 10pm in June and July!), and the Universal Hall at the Findhorn Foundation, for closeup music, theater and dance.
All these activities are within a few minutes walk of our beautiful, comfortable cottage. You don’t need to even get in the car!
For availability and rates, please click here.
Nairn Book and Arts Festival
The Nairn Book and Arts Festival, June 5th to 13th, takes place in the Victorian seaside town of Nairn, with its Championship Golf Course and Tidal Swimming Pool.
You need to click on this link to appreciate the wonderful array of speakers and writers.
BBC: ‘Nairn festival signs up first female poet laureate’ (link to article)
On the far side of the Firth you’ll catch glimpses of snow on the mountains of Sutherland. Yes, as late as June! Yet on the beach it can be as warm as Cornwall or Brittany.
The sun won’t set until after 10pm, and starts to rise two or three hours later. Very disconcerting if you’ve spent a little too long in the pub!
Myrtle Cottage Findhorn , our self catering cottage in Findhorn, only 15-20 minutes from Nairn, is available in June.
If you are interested in a booking for a week or a long weekend, please get in touch with us at simoncwinfield@hotmail.com.
Whisky Festival on Speyside starts next week!
What are you doing next week?
Take a trip to Speyside, where you will find a huge number of Whisky related events at the annual Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
If you are staying in Findhorn, then only 10 minutes away Benromach, Brodie Castle, and the Knockomie Hotel are hosting whisky tastings and tours of the distillery (link to Speyside Whisky Festival site).
In the other direction, towards Elgin and Dufftown (a regular bus service operates from Findhorn, departing 10 paces away from Myrtle Cottage) you will be able to visit and taste the whiskies of 15 or more distilleries on Speyside.
There are so many events still available, and so much going on, that the best thing for you to do right now is click here to go to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
Myrtle Cottage is currently available for rent for the duration of the Festival.
Sailing in Findhorn Bay – the season has started
We landed on the white sandy shores of Findhorn Bay, just beneath the tall pine trees of Culbin Forest. Having made sure the dinghy was secure, and the picnic gathered up, we climbed up across the grass and up the sandy slopes to sit beneath the trees.
The sense of remoteness was amazing, like being on a distant Caribbean island. Yet only a few hundred yards across the bay lay the small houses of Findhorn, nestled close to each other for comfort. A bit like Swallows and Amazons!
Sailing on Findhorn Bay is an experience not to be missed. Fortunately it is now available to all. You don’t need to have your own boat, or be a member of the Findhorn Yacht Club.
Simon Paterson is doing wonderful things down at the ‘Marina’, having invested in a fleet of Topper dinghies, and sourcing great instructors.
He offers sailing experience trips and courses, for adults and kids, ranging from two hours, to two, four and five days, as well as evenings in the summer.
Findhorn Marina also offer more advanced courses, for example on spinnaker training, as well as onshore based navigation and offshore powerboat courses.
So please take a look at his website for something that will definitely suit you, whether you are 8 or 80 years old.
Happy sailing!!
Findhorn Marina link here.
Adventure activities on the Findhorn River
The River Findhorn supplies an abundance of food to the Bay, evidenced by seals and seagulls feeding at the line between the peaty river waters, and the clear saltwater of the Moray Firth.
It is renowned as a fabulous river to fish, by many expert flyfishers staking their skills against the salmon swimming upstream.
One other sport that seems to be increasingly popular is kayaking or white water rafting in the upper and middle stretches of the Findhorn. The river is graded from Category II to IV, and sports many gullies and rocks to negotiate on your downstream trip.
A couple of local operators are G2 Outdoor, and Full On Adventure. We haven’t yet used or experienced either of these operators, so are unable to recommend them personally. However a call to Tourist Information at Aviemore will likely yield a recommendation.
Have fun! You’ll be glad of that whisky in front of the roaring fire at The Kimberly on your return to Findhorn.
Join Myrtle Cottage on Facebook
I am increasingly finding that Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with friends, and also services, such as cafes, music events, and products that I like and buy.
So we have created a Facebook page for Myrtle Cottage Findhorn.
Please join us, and become a fan by clicking here.
Myrtle Cottage Findhorn – come and stay
A captivating little cottage, recently renovated to create a simple bright home in the heart of Findhorn.
Original artwork adorns the walls, a Morso woodburning stove warms the living room, and a refurbished kitchen features Habitat units.
Myrtle sleeps 6, in two doubles (one en suite) and one twin.
An enclosed garden, with lawn and outdoor seating areas, allows for privacy, yet is only yards from the back door of the bakery, the village shop and post office, and the cafe.
The two excellent pubs are but a couple of minutes walk, as is the Royal Findhorn Yacht Club and the bay. The golden beaches are a 5 minute stroll, and the Findhorn Foundation a 15 minute walk.
Reminders of the setting for Local Hero* with echoes of Nantucket, todays Findhorn is the second incarnation of a small fishing village and natural harbour (the first was washed away in the 17th Century).
Stone built fishermans cottages nestle together, interwoven with small lanes where kids can cycle around without a care in the world. Empty golden beaches surround the village, on both the Moray Firth and the wonderful expanse of Findhorn Bay where Ospreys fish for salmon. Seals guard the entrance to the bay, while bottlenose dolphins cavort in the Firth.
The ‘Moray Hole’ provides a wonderful microclimate, protecting Findhorn from the prevailing wet westerly winds. The Monadliath Mountains in the west and the Grampians to the south take the rainfall, leaving Findhorn with sunshine, little rain and no midgies!
Visitors say they ‘loved the sleeper train up from London’, and sending the kids every morning to ‘the bakery just past the garden gate’.
Myrtle Cottage is available from £400 per week, or £200 per weekend. See the Availability and Rates page for details.
*In fact Local Hero was filmed at Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast, about 1 1/2 hours due east of Findhorn.
Myrtle Cottage Findhorn 