Day 16

Friday 2nd June

A day that started & ended with fine weather, and began with a good run along Loch Ness. Didn’t see the monster but the Loch was beautiful… in fact, all of Scotland has been stunning, by far the most beautiful part of the ride so far. I love it up here & will have to return (with the car!!) to enjoy it properly.

Followed the canal towpath from the end of Loch Ness to Inverness, but got on the wrong side & it got a little bumpy! Beautiful fresh path on the other side of the canal but what could I do… as the weather was fantastic I simply took my time & enjoyed it.

Made the ferry to Trigg from Cromarty. It’s a tiny 2-car ferry, the funniest thing you’ve ever seen! It’s only operational 5mths of the year, but it was a good service. (All the ferries in Scotland have been fantastic, although I understand they are heavily subsidised.) As it approached, the ferry lowered the loading bay door while still a good 50 feet from the slip-way! It was windy & the water choppy, but they appeared unconcerned. The ferry didn’t tie up; they simply held it against the slip-way on the throttle, as the current tugged at the boat & gradually began edging it along the slip-way & towards the great deep… the van on board dashed off, the stunned tourists were ushered on in their rental car & I rode on not wasting any time either.

Once on board, the car swiveled on a turn-table so it would be facing the right way once we got to the other side; the choppy water was sloshing all over the deck & I found myself wondering how much higher a wave would need to be to totally submerge the deck in water! What a fantastic experience, a bit of a detour today but well worth it for the Cromarty-Trigg ferry, hilarious…

A good ride today but hard in parts with various hills I wasn’t expecting, although the blast downhill into Cromarty was excellent. My legs died towards the end though, & I almost found myself homeless as I staggered into the reception of a hotel in Dornoch. None of the B&B’s were indicating that they had vacancies, & it turned out there was a wedding & a conference in the small village this week-end. No room at the inn! I seriously didn’t have the legs to crack on to the next village in search of a bed, & I was so thankful when the duty manager managed to find me a room…

I’m so close now, John O’Groats is almost within touching distance… a wee 80-odd miles!

72 miles for a grand total of 875m.