Sarahmade

…continued from the first part of the holiday…

Tuesday 11

Scourie – Durness (29 miles)
Accommodation: Lazy Crofter bunkhouse

Ouch. Bones were aching after the hillfest of the day before and it didn’t help that the view from our breakfast room was of the massive hill on the other side of the bay we would be starting off the day with. But it turned out not to be too bad. After the first ridiculous steep climb it levelled out a little. I don’t mean flat but a more genteel gradient and we also benefitted from a good tail wind. It seemed to last like that for the first part of the morning and we got higher and higher until we were eventually in the cloud. Or it was just really foggy. It was eerie but just another aspect of the Scottish weather we had to experience.

After a while we came out of the clouds and started on what would be about a seven mile descent into Durness. The light was incredible as the cloud just formed a thick blob above our head and outside of this the sun lit up the hills and mountains in very strange ways.

We ended up getting to the hostel by about 1pm and after checking in to out tiny room – slightly smaller than the sleeper cabin – and eating some lunch we did a bit of exploring in Durness the most north westerly village on mainland Britain.

We went to the Balnakeil craft village, a former a post World War II military encampment and now home to various cafes, bookshops and craft shops and the excellent Cocoa Mountain

We came back to the hostel to cook a nice meal and chat to a couple who hadn’t been able to get a B&B and were generally moaning because there was nothing to do in the area and nowhere too eat. But they probably would have thought that had they been staying in London. Anyway if you fancy a trip to Durness there are three or four restaurants and lots of things to do. As we found out the next day on our day off.

Wednesday 12

Day off in Durness
Accommodation: Lazy Crofter bunkhouse

The boring couple (so boring we didn’t even name them) were in the room next to ours and we heard them flee Durness at about 5.30am. Good – we would probably have much more fun without them.

We enjoyed a non fried breakfast and then made our way to the Cape Wrath ferry. There were two sailings a day, one at 11am and one at 1.30pm. We had decided not to join the Cape Wrath Fellowship although it was very tempting but the hills of the previous few days had taken their toll and I just needed a break. Still I’m upset I won’t be in a club with this man.

The were about 25 people waiting at the pier which was quite an amount when you saw the size of the ferry. It took ten people at a time at £4.50 each return. We crossed the Durness sound to the waiting mini bus. The trouble is we had to wait for the second crossing and the midges were unbelievable. Even the ferry man could be heard muttering ‘blody medgies’ (that was Scottish). But once we got on the mini bus for a 40 minute ride the the lighthouse (£7.50 return) it was fine and we enjoyed the commentary from the driver and the views of red deer and MOD chequered huts.

The lighthouse was interesting. Puffins usually live on the surrounding rocks but they are feeding out at sea at this time of year so we didn’t see any.

The weather was getting more and more lovely and after buying food for the evening we went on a walk to the Smoo Cave, followed by a sit on the beach of Sango Sands. We passed lots of restaurants along the way to and from all the interesting things we were doing and seeing.

I’m glad we proved them wrong.

Thursday 13

Durness – Altnaharra (42 miles)
Accommodation: Altnaharra B&B

This was to be one of our longest days and we set off at 9am to be hit with the worst head wind we have ever cycled in. Cycling down hill was even difficult and it wasn’t much fun. Especially because we had to keep the speed up a bit because we didn’t want the boring cyclist from the night before to catch us up.

We were cycling along the coast and unfortunately reached a large loch that hadn’t yet been blessed with a bridge meaning we had to cycle up one side and down the other, a round trip of abut 15 miles. Roughly nine of those were into this head wind and we no shelter at all. Worst of all was reaching the end and turning the corner to be hit by the crosswind that just blew me off my bike not just once but three times. I was getting angry and definitely having a sense of humour failure which I think Tom guessed when he turned back after my last fall to see if I was ok and I just shouted ‘IT’S STUPID’ in his face. He didn’t know what was stupid and neither did I really but we both got back on our bikes and kept quiet until the tail wind took hold.

It carried on like that throughout the day although I managed to manage my sense of humour a bit better. It was really lovely when at one point during a particularly miserable section of wind and rain a woman overtook us in her car and gave a very friendly wave. Then as we rounded the corner we saw she had parked by a sheltered barn, got her camping stove out and was making us a cup of tea. We stood there for ages drinking her tea and eating our lunch. Thanks Di.

We finally reached our B&B to be met by the very chatty Mandy and her very hyperactive chickens that she said actually have an asbo. I don’t know if she was joking. She said she was being 100% serious. It was an entertaining evening in many ways. I really don’t know what else I can say except it was an experience.

Friday 14

Altnaharra – Lairg: by bike (23 miles)
Lairg – Inverness: 1510 – 1649 (rail)
Inverness – Edinburgh: 1827 – 2209 (rail)
Edinburgh – London: 2340 – 0718 (Caledonian Sleeper)

On our last morning we woke up to an amazing sunrise and view of hills and deer from of bedroom window. Breakfast was again – an experience.

We had a beautiful ride along National Route 1 and saw lots of cyclists doing Land’s end to John o’Groats as that is part of the route. They were all going the other way but we had the tail wind. At one point I think I actually shouted to one of them ‘we have the tail wind’ which was mean really and I don’t know why I said it. I think I would have hit me if I was him but I was just glad it wasn’t the other way round after the day before.

We then killed some time in Lairg (I’m afraid it isn’t as interesting as Durness) and caught the train at 3.10pm for the start of our 16 hour train ride home. We enjoyed sunset while travelling through the Cairngorms and woke at 6.30am at Euston Station. We were home by 8am in a daze after 10 days of clean air and brain detox with barely any mobile signal. The only sign of modern life was an unusual desire to watch Come dine with me on channel 4 at 5.30pm with someone called Clive who I used to work with. Unfortunately we missed the final on friday because we were watching beautiful views from a train in the highlands.

Does anyone know who won?

More photos from me.
More photos from Tom.

We have just spent a remote 10 days in the North west of Scotland. Everyone said how it was one of the most beautiful areas in the UK and it really is. Photos don’t do it justice. We cycled from place to place, working our way up the west coast and up hills. Here is the first half of our trip. More to follow. More and full sized photos here. Tom’s photos here.

Wednesday 05 September 2007 – London – Inverness

After spending the afternoon doing important things like cleaning the vegetable drawer in the fridge, about a minute before we had to leave I realised I had forgotten to pack things like a bike lock and bike lights so a frantic rush meant we caught the train to town with about 10 seconds to spare. We made our way to Euston to get the Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness and a journey picnic and a gin and tonic in the cabin meant that we were immediately thrown into holiday. We also knew that when we woke up we would be looking at the Scottish highlands instead of the Euston Road.

Thursday 06

Inverness – Garve (by train)
Cycle to Ullapool (32 miles)
Accommodation: Waterside house

Waking up with a view of the Cairngorms was pretty amazing and travelling the length of the UK is really a good way to spend time sleeping. Although the gently rocking of the train does aid sleep the stopping at the stations and loud people getting on at Crewe doesn’t. We changed at Inverness to get the train to Garve where we actually started cycling. Garve is small and quiet however the first few minutes of cycling saw us hit a traffic jam because of some broken traffic lights which turned from red to orange and then back to red so the front car would start moving and then had to stop immediately. The midges were already out too. It was fixed and we carried on for another few miles before seeing a hotel that offered coffee. We were on holidays so it would be rude not to.

There were another couple of cyclists in there who were making a similar journey to ours but in about a third of the time. They had taken the coast road we were planning to take the day before, and the just looked ill when talking about it and said it was really really hilly and hard and not at all fun. We just thought they needed to relax, cycle less and enjoy it more. It’s a holiday.

We arrived in Ullapool. Had a good look in the tourist information. Had a strange desire to buy Scottish tea towels. Then went and found our B&B which was in a lovely position on the sea front. The evening was spent in a local bistro overhearing a pair of local ladies telling the chef how excited they were to be going to see the Simpsons movie in the mobile cinema that evening. It was the talk of the highlands.

We then enjoyed the local bagpipe band and highland dancers put on a performance in the ferry carpark but retreated to the B&B when the midges got too much.

Friday 07

Ullapool – Achiltibuie – 28 miles
Accommodation: 192 B&B

Getting to Ullapool meant we had some pretty amazing views but it all stepped up a notch when we turned off the main road to head towards Achiltibuie and the Coigach peninsula. The weather wasn’t amazing in the traditional sense of it being full sunshine but it was Scottish amazing because it was so dramatic and constantly changing. The first view of the coast not only included coast but also had sunlit mountains in the background, a river in the foreground and heather a rusty ferns covering everything else. The single track road with hardly any traffic on it went past an incredible sandy beach just as the sun came out.

We arrived at our B&B – up a big hill and past the Polbain stores – and we were greeted by the owners Midge and Peter. Over tea, cherry cake and shortbread we heard all about the village, the village hall and its advanced accoustics, met Harry whose honey we would eat for breakfast and too many other things to mention. Immediately I felt like we weren’t staying in a B&B but in someone’s house. Making it more lovely was the amazing view of the Summer Isles from our bedroom and our bathroom.

In the evening we went to the local pub for some food. Local as in a mile down a remote single track road, past lochs and harbours and heather. The most beautiful trip to a pub I have ever had. Then we had homemade scampi made with locally caught prawns. The best I have ever had. Then a dark cycle ride back up hill.

Saturday 08

Day off in Achiltibuie
Accommodation: 192 B&B

We were planning on a boat trip around the Summer Isles organised by Ian in the Post office but when we woke up and looked at the view there wasn’t really a view and the islands had disappeared in the cloud. So we decided to get on our bikes even though it was our day off and we started off with the Summer Isles Smokehouse just down the road from the B&B, next door to the pub. We bought salmon, trout and cheese and I recommend a visit becuase it’s a third of the price of mail order.

We then just made our way through the village visiting the Polbain Stores, Di’s salad and egg stall in her garden, the beach, the harbour, the village hall to look at the floor which had a massive bump in it because they had switched the underfloor heating on and it had warped – it was the talk of the village – and we ended up at the Hydroponicum.

What an amazing place. I recommend a look at the website to read about it but basically it is a greenhouse in which they grow produce without soil to sell and to provide for the restaurant opposite, and for their own cafe. It was threatened with closure last year but the community and local businesses bought it and now it is run by three locals. We spent a couple of hours there and enjoyed a delicious luch of homemade tomato and herb soup made with tomatoes grown in the room next door. Oh and Lizzie (Midge and Peter’s daughter) worked there and was very helpful in explaining what it was all about.

Then we slowly cycled back to the B&B via the circular route the locals apparently sometimes cycle to get their exercise. The sun had come out and we were treated with a slow climb with the views behind us growing more and more spectacular, and then when we got over the hill the Summer Isles greeted us on the other side.

We came home to enjoy some beer made on the Isle of Skye, oatcakes, cream cheese and big chunks of smoked salmon.

Sunday 09

Achiltibuie – Achmelvich Beach (25 miles)
Accommodation: Achmelvich Beach hostel

Breakfast at 8.30am was a bit painful for Midge as she and Peter had been at a village do until 2am but even so breakfast was still the best we had all holiday, especially with Di’s eggs and Harry’s honey. It was a bit hard to get away as it was slighly rainy and we just chatted in the kitchen until about 11am.

I was about to say the cycle to Achmelvich beach was uneventful but it wasn’t. We first stopped at a little cafe/bookshop and enjoyed hearing about a wedding everyone had been to the night before. We were just listening in, they weren’t actually telling us. Then the whole journey over the 20miles was punctuated with the wedding. The wedding car was parked along the route. The pie shop in Lochinver everyone said we had to go to was closed because of a wedding. Things are so much more spread out in the highlands and if there is something happening then it seems everyone is involved.

But the worse thing about our cycle was coming round a corner and finding a herd of cows on the road. Cows and calves (I tried to keep stories of people being trampled to death out my mind). We were adventurous and dinged our bells and they did actually clear off the road. They all cleared except for one who just stood still, staring at us. As we got closer we noticed it had a ring through its nose and it was massive. There was no where to escape. I momentarily stopped breathing and tried to hide behind Tom. Tom – with no other option – just kept going. Cycled on by (quite slowly) and the bull moved on. I started breathing again and I have never cycled so fast out of a situation.

We arrived at the hostel on the beach and managed to upgrade to a private room which was nice. Our room was next to the female dorm and a lady warned me that a day before there was a man staying in our private room who didn’t realise that the room with the sinks in was mixed sex so he had walked in without knocking and found her there with her top off. So I was to warn Tom that she might be in there with her top off. We were confused. We nicknamed her Tits.

Tom cooked a lovely meal of pasta with a creme fraiche, mushroom and smoked salmon sauce served with Di’s salad (it had flowers in it). Tits had corned beef and mashed potato (not made with real potato) mashed together, formed in a ring with baked beans in the middle. She had to open the window because Tom’s garlic was too smelly. I don’t think Tom was impressed and I was glad I didn’t have to share a room with her.

Monday 10

Achmelvich Beach – Scourie (35 uphill miles)
Accommodation: Fasgadh

This was the hardest day cycling with about seven steep arrow climbs marked on the map so we were prepared for it but it was still worse than we thought. There were some 25% climbs and some we were unable to cycle because our front wheel would just come off the ground in a wheelie action because it was so steep. I had a sense of humour failure towards the end because there was no flat ground. It was either a hill or a downhill with a headwind meaning you still had to cycle. Knackered. One highlight early on in the day was meeting a man we called Mr happy because – yes – he was just so happy. He was on holiday with his very happy wife who didn’t say anything but just smiled. He was very happy to hear about our travels.

But we arrived at the B&B in Scourie eventually. It was called Fasgadh but I’m afraid it earned the nickname Fagstink. It was a bit smelly. But it had a bath which was welcome, even though the water was yellow. I hope it wasn’t nicotine stained water.

We went to the pub at the back of the Scourie hotel for dinner and had the best haddock and chips ever. The haddock had been caught just up the road and it was tasty fish.

Part two of the holiday is now available.