latest news 9/5/06

Well, we are now having a well deserved rest day in Inverness. How did we get here?
Left Oban quite early in the rain, this was the first day of prolonged rain we have had. Basically it rained all day. In a way this was great as all this waterproof gear we have carried for the last 700 plus miles is now being put to good use. Followed the main road towards Fort William which generally was not too hilly and the wind, such as it was, was still behind us. Stopped for a break just after Annan overlooking a castle on an Islend, whose name escapes me. We picked up another main road after Glencoe and the traffic got seriously busy the rest of the way to Fort William. Dad bought some more of his magic energy powder in FW, we lunched then carried on our separate ways. Dad carrying along the main road whilst I chose the more tranquil track alongside the Caledonian canal. We met up again in Spean Bridge then continued the last 3 miles together to Roybridge, where we had the hostel to ourselves. Which was quite a contrast to the full to bursting Oban hostal.
The next morning we awoke to a lovely sunny day but also a strong easterly headwind. This meant really hard going. Our average speed was less than 7 mph. After 4 plus hours of hard cycling we made it to Newtonmore for lunch. During lunch the SYHA at Inverness phoned to tell me that we could not stay there. Despite having booked and paid for this over 6 months ago (I was spitting feathers I can tell you). Anyway I said we would be paying them a visit and we could sort it out then. After a good feed we felt a bit more energetic, but also by the time we got to Kingussie the wind seemed to have abated somewhat, making the rest of the journey to Carrbridge relatively easy. Checked into the Cairn hotel, known to dad of old.
Today, as mentioned is our second and last rest day. We caught the train into Inverness, where we firstly sorted out the train journey back, which went quite smoothly. Then went to the SYHA to sort out the accommodation for tomorrow. Apparently the problem is a safety issue with the bunk beds. The top bunks are too dangerous so the bed space at the hostel has been halved at a stroke. Anyway I got my money back and we have decided to strike out for Invergordon instead of staying in Inverness. The hostal has been booked there without a problem. Fantastic weather again here today. I can't believe we are in the north of Scotland, cloudless skies etc. It reminds me of when we were in Lanzarote one February. We are now within striking distance of the end. Only a real disaster should prevent us from reaching our goal now. Thanks everyone for reading this blog, I'm sorry I have not been able to update it more often. And also a big thankyou to everyone's encouraging comments

Journal Entry - Day 15
Had to get up a bit earlier than usual today in order to catch the first ferry of the day from Lochranza to Claonaig. So it was a quick porridge breakfast then down to the ferry. In the event the were only 3 passengers. Dad and I and a chap with his little car. Slowly chugged across the Kintyre sound in the morning subshine. Spectacular viewns of Goatfell and the Isle of Arran behind us while Kintyre stretched away to the southwest. A bit of a haul over the peninsular to the north side, views of Jura and Islay on the top of the hill. Then down to follow West Loch Tarbert to Tarbert itself. A quick snack, then once we were out of the town after an initial lumpy few miles we found ourselves bowling along north to Lochgilphead where we had an early lunch. Continued towerds Oban again at quite a pace until Kilmartin. From here the last 30 miles were quite hilly, but not enough to seriously challenge us. With 10 miles to go the skies darkened and the rain began falling heavily. This was the first reallly significant rain since we began this trip. I think we have been incredibly lucky to go for 2 weeks with hardly any rain. Arrived in Oban a bit bedraggled. Nearing the hostal who should I bump into but the Frenchman from Alsace-Lorraine. He was really chuffed that we met up again. I love his zest for life and enthusiasm about everything even where he camped last night. "I put up ze teent last night and zis morning I found eet was in zis burg. Eet is a good waterproof teent" Just like something out of Allo Allo. Put our damp kit in the drying room then off to the Oban Inn for steak and chips - an excellent pub. Tomorrow we continue north through Fort William. I can remember cycling this road a decade ago in the summer. At the time I though it was one of the most dangerous stretches of road I had ever cycled. Due wholly to the number of left hand drive campervans. I am hoping there will not be many of those tomorrow.

Journal Entry Day 16
Full hostal at Oban so a busy breakfast time in the hostal kitchen. Porridge without figs (run out) and on a rainy road by 8:15. Put on all our waterproofs before setting off. The first time on this trip. A bit of a climb out of Oban then a pretty unmemorable ride to Connel where we crossed the old railway bridge. I've become rather fascinated by bridges on this trip and how they are engineered. Connel bridge is basically a box section across the middle with these large triangles at either end. A good strong bridge to my eye. As I was crossing a strong current was going over the falls of Lora (which used to be a major hazard forthe ferry before the bridge was built. Continued through the rain to Portnacroish where we stopped for breakfast overlooking a classic highland castle on a small island (whose name forget). A cockney on a motorbike was really fretting about the weather and whether he should head for home today or tomorrow. This involved asking other customers at the cafe and phoning up his mate at work. How someone in London is going to know the local weather in Loachaber is a mystery to me. When we got to Glencoe we joined the A82 and the traffic increased considerably. I now remember why I have not been keen to come back to Scotland for a cycling holiday. There are few roads up here, so often one has to use the main roads. There may be beautiful scenery all around but personally if there is a semiconstant stream of cars etc going past, then for me the pleasure is greatly attenuated. Arrived in Fort William by 13:45ish where we wereon a quest to get some more magic energy powder for dad, after which it was lunch in the Crofter pub. After lunch we set off in the rain in different directions.dad continued along the "lovely" A82 whle I chose the track alongside the Caledonian canal, where not even the sound of a boat's engine was heard to upset my sensibilities. Followed the track to Glairlochy when I took to road up past the Commando monument to meet up with Dad in Spean Bridge. Then it was just 3 miles up the road to Roybridge and Grey Corrie Lodge hostal. Looks like weare the only 2 people staying here. Bit of a change from last night. Tomorrow is going to be hard if the weather forcast is correct. Over 50 miles into a 20mph headwind to get to somewhere that isn't even on the way to John O Groats. Ho hum.

Journal Entry - Day 17
Made quite an early start this morning, about 7:45, after a porridge and banana breakfast Started going east along the A86 down glen Spean. A marvelously quiet road witha surprising amount of climbing to start. We also had something like a 20mph headwind which seriouly impeded our progress. Our average speed was less than 7nph. But the weather was clear and sunny and the scenery was stunningly beautiful. Cycled south of Creag Megaidh then alongside Loch Laggan. On the opposite side of the loch a farytale castle could be seen. dad told me this had been used in a TV programme (which I have not seen) called Monarch of the glen. By the time we got to Laggan the wind was worse than ever We were making very slow progress and were beginnng to think this could be a very long tiring day. Crawled into Newtonmore where we had lunch at a local cafe. During which I received a phone call from Inverness hostal informing me we will ot be able to stay at the hostal. The bloke on the phone was not helpful at all. He did not offer me my money back or give much of an explanation as to why we could not stay there. As you can imagine this really pissed me off so I basically said we will discuss it later when we turn up in Inverness. By the time we got to Kingussie the wind had eased off a bit. So although we were a bit tired the ride through Aviemore to Carrbridge was OK. Checked into the Cairns Hotel then dad took me on a short walk to see the curling rink! Struth I live in the fast lane sometimes.

Journal Entry - Day 18 (rest day)
Took the 9:53 train to Inverness. Where we arrived about 30 mins later. On the way to the station we saw a Red squirrel - first time I have ever seen one in the wild. Straight to the ticket office to sort out our tickets back home. Remarkably this was achieved with the minimum of fuss. The guy in the ticket office said we were very lucky. In the peak season there are huge problems trying to get all these people with bikes who turn up at John O Groats back home again. Once we had sorted this out we went to the tourist office to get a map of Inverness and I tried (and failed to update the blog). Armed with the map we walked up to the SYHA. Apparently the problem was due to a safety issue with the bunk beds, thus halving the bed capacity of the hostal at a stroke. I was given a refund and phoned up an independant hostal at Invergordon, which was sorted with ease. Having sorted out all the business we were then free to explore Inverness. A nice town on the banks of the river Ness. After a pub lunch at The Moray we had a look around the victorian market where the only thing of any real interest was the bagpipe shop - expensive things bagpipes. Prices ranging from a few hundred to over a thousand pounds. Bought Cerys a kilt and Sian a wool scarf in the Smith tartan. Saw a stone outside the Town house which is significant for some reason, then made our way to the old High Churchyard where there are supposed to be bullet holes in some of the headstones where some Jacobites were executed after the battle of Culloden. Did'nt find any bullet holed gravestones but did find one man asleep, one man pissing up against a gravestone and two young lads being busted by plain clothes police officers. Obviously there is never a dull moment in this graveyard. Tried to update the blog in Debenhams and failed. Then tried an excellent shop next to the station called The Mailbox where I did sucessfully update the blog. Then it was back to Carrbridge on train. That evening after our meal we went deerstalking n our bikes. We didn't see any deer but it was a lovely evening ride nonetheless. The weather is still really good up here. A beautiful cloudless sunny day.

Journal Entry Day 19
Another beautiful day and dad was quite animated this morning as this is an area he knows very well so he was giving me a running commentary of things to look out for on the ride out of Carrbridge, such as the footbridge thr Gurkhas built etc. We did see some young deer run across the road a few hundred yards in front of us shortly after leaving Carrbridge. We followed the sustrans route along the old A9 to the top of Slochd down the other side, through Tomartin and onwards all the way to the site of the last battle in the UK. Culloden moor, which sealed the fate of the Jacobite cause. The whole thing was over within an hour. One of the most moving bits of the site are the clan graves. These really do look like mass graves. Small mounds, each marked with a stone with the clan name, containing the bodies of the 1500 Jacobite casualties. On to Inverness and the crossing of the Beauly/Moray firth via the Kessock bridge to the black isle. Another great bridge crossing. Managed to avoid the A9 as far as Tore where we had a good big lunch in the local greasy spoon. Then unfortunately we had little choice but to go along the A9. This was pretty unpleasant. Not a wide road with a fair amount of articulated behemoths on it. Crossed the Cromerty firth on another long bridge then had to stay on the A9 until at last we cound get off at Evanton. These last miles through Alness and Invergordon were a little heavy going due to the headwind. Invrgordon has some sort of dock for oil rigs. I have never seen one of these close up. They are enormous, hundreds of feet high. I can't imagine what it must be like to work on one of these. Staying at the Balintraid backpackers hostel, which is actually a family home in a huge house which has some spare rooms. We have an enormous room with a lovely bay window overlooking the Firth. The kitchen and bathroom we share with the family. I really like it.It's realy homely and our South Australian hostess is utterly charming. Went to the local pub in Saltburn for an evening meal and I noticed that there is live music on Wednesday evenings. As we finished our meal some of the musicians arrived one of which was carrying a fiddle so I was hoping we could be in for a good evening. However my hopes were soon dashed once they started playing. This was really a practice night not a session by players that competently know the tunes they were not bad musicians per se. They just had no oomph, life etc. It really annoys me when players like this practice in public. I think it gives the music a bad name. Anyway, this session was obviously going nowhere fast, so we went back to the hostal for a good rest before tommorows exertions.

Journal Entry Day 20
A late porridge breakfast in the family kitchen. As we set off rain seemed to eb threatening, but it didn't come to anything. Sterted along the B817 to Kildary, then crossed the A9 and cut through the back roads to Tain, a charming little town where we had a little look around and I bought a practice chanter from a shop run by a Canadian woman who was a graduate of the University of Guelph. After a cup of tea we continued through Tain picking up the A9 to cross the Dornoch Firth then off the main road to take the back road to Dornoch. On this road we came across a man with a gun trying to shoot a deer who had been injured in a road accident. It looked like he wasn't doing a very good job, taking several shots at quite close range and still not hitting it. Had lunch in Dornoch, at the Stag Hotel I think. This was also a really nice town witha Cathedral and interestingbuildings. Apparently this was the cathedral that Madonna & Guy Richie were married in. Cycled north then wast along the edge of Loch fleet then we were back on the A9 again. Still a fairly busy road but once we had passed Brora the road seemed a bit quieter On arrivel in Helmsdale we found that our landlady wasn't in so we retired to the La Mirage restaurant for a cup of tea. Interesting place La Mirage. Lots of pink stuff everwhere and huge photos or the proprietor, who obviously modelled herself on Barbara Cartland, posing with various celebrities. I imagine that quite a few celebrities pass through Helmsdale, especially those doing an end to end for charidy. I'm sure La Cartland lookalike takes full advantage of this offering refreshment with a photographer close at hand. In fact the end to end is quite an industry up here. I'm sure there would not be so many B&B's etc if it wasn't for the end to end. Also everyone knows the exact mileage from wherever they are to John O Groats. Over our cuppa in La Mirage we decided to push on to Dunbeath as the weather forcast for tomorrow is not good and there are some really bad hills beyond Helmsdale. So off we went to attack the hills, and some hills they turned out to be, more like north Cornwall than Caithness. However this time we have had a bit more training so we did ot find them as daunting as we did earlier in the trip. Arrived in Dunbeath and were pointed in the Direction of Mary's B&B (the one with the ivy in the shape of a heart on the side of the house) by the woman who ran the local pub, where we returned to eat later and savour the drunken banter of the locals.