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Good evening last night in this majestic old castle.
Supper was suprisingly good. jason had warned us about the gruel previously served. In the event we had spicy veg soup, an excellent beef stew with new & roast taters veg etc topped off with a gateau.
Post meal entertainment included table tennis - Old-Gerry once again showing his class - is there nothing this man can't excell at? Having played in the Salisbury league he showed all the class with shots from everywhere to beat all but young-David. There was a slight drop in class but no lowering of entertainment value when Nikki took on Susie.
The sitting room here is the size of a village hall, and again several took refuge from the 'vetenary' dormatory noises.
There was a nightly procession of pee relievers peaking at about 0200 as far as I could make out. Then Tim was up at 0630 as usual...but today the routine is different..0800 breakfast. So we were able to watch the dawn out of our bay window, initially grey & misty the colours increasing in definition as the sun rose to our left.
Packing up the gear - today is short in miles but the blurb says it's a tough day. Most of the route will be on a single track road despite the fact that it is an A road. We are passing through the most sparsely populated area in Northern Europe today...better fill up the water bottles...
Lucklily we are under a High pressure anticyclone, so conditions should be milder than usual (maybe even a rare tail wind into JOG tomorrow..) ..after the storms we've cycled through I think we deserve this.
from wikipedia :-
"Overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland is the early 20th-century Carbisdale Castle. This was home to the exiled King of Norway during the German occupation of Norway during World War II. This now houses the largest and most sumptuous Youth Hostel in Scotland, and possibly anywhere else"
...more at bettyhill later....
Now 1530 earlier finish than usual aloowing some reflection time on an amazing day. and whole trip from Land's End. Can it be a week ago we were speeding into Shrewsbury?
After cereal, coffee, and a mountain of toast we left the 'Hostel' and took a short cut over a wire footpath over the River Shin - then out onto the road in sunshine as we wound our way up the valley towrads Lairg.
Once past laiirg (with it's penguin house on an island complete with conservatory!!) the rest of the journey was in two halves
I was with novice, the lovers, old man, AndyH, Wirrel & one other for the bleak ride up to Creak Inn. The terrain here was wild & unfriendly with grey skies & a chill wind (still behind us - usually northerlies here I'm told) Eventually the pub was in sign & we all crammed in for lovely fresh coffe & warm fruit cakes & scones. Mad-dog & crazySimon & Andy-arsenal had pints despite the fact it was before 1100!
The slow drag climb continued until we turned right towards & down to Loch Naver. From here on in the landscape was softer & more picturesque. From just past Lairg the "A" road is now single track with frequent passing places & very little traffic.
The road twists & turns along the nothern shore with magnificent views back across to Ben Klibreck. I stopped & watched as the ascending air turned to cloud as it passed over the, out of sight, peak. A really magical & peaceful place.
For this section I hung back on my own and enjoyed the solitude, fresh air and my favourite album of all tome on my ipod (conveniantly rubber banded onto my helmet US Marine style!) - ie Lamb lies down on Broadway - GENESIS.
Yorrkshire John & Van driver dave were the last three to gently wind our way up to Bettyhill.
The whole feeling of the place being amplified somehow by the journey we have made to get there.
Eventually the thinly spaced houses at Bettyhill came into sight along with our first glimse of the sea - North coast sea that is! As usual there is an up hill 'sting in the tail' finish but at this stage we all feel strong & have no concerns, after the monsters we've takled these last 11 days.
Jason Stuat & Matt were at the hotel to greet us with food coffee etc.
After a shower Dave & I plan a walk down to the beautiful beach down below - the view from the sitting room here is fantastic.
So the run to John O'Groats is in the morning, with a 12 mile detour to Dunnet Head planned. This is the most northerly point of mainland Britain. Then onto JOG for lunch.
We are being coached to Inverness for celebratory meal etc in the evening, and maybe a small shandy or two!
Down on the beach the lovers took a chilly dip in the sea! I jumped over the river to get some rocks for a bit of a dam...on the jump back I slipped into the river soaking my shoes, much to Gerry & Dave's amusement...when will I ever grow up?
52.96m 3h55m at 13.5mph (took very easy with lots of stops) 2116ft climb
TOTAL 910m 42695ft climb
Supper was suprisingly good. jason had warned us about the gruel previously served. In the event we had spicy veg soup, an excellent beef stew with new & roast taters veg etc topped off with a gateau.
Post meal entertainment included table tennis - Old-Gerry once again showing his class - is there nothing this man can't excell at? Having played in the Salisbury league he showed all the class with shots from everywhere to beat all but young-David. There was a slight drop in class but no lowering of entertainment value when Nikki took on Susie.
The sitting room here is the size of a village hall, and again several took refuge from the 'vetenary' dormatory noises.
There was a nightly procession of pee relievers peaking at about 0200 as far as I could make out. Then Tim was up at 0630 as usual...but today the routine is different..0800 breakfast. So we were able to watch the dawn out of our bay window, initially grey & misty the colours increasing in definition as the sun rose to our left.
Packing up the gear - today is short in miles but the blurb says it's a tough day. Most of the route will be on a single track road despite the fact that it is an A road. We are passing through the most sparsely populated area in Northern Europe today...better fill up the water bottles...
Lucklily we are under a High pressure anticyclone, so conditions should be milder than usual (maybe even a rare tail wind into JOG tomorrow..) ..after the storms we've cycled through I think we deserve this.
from wikipedia :-
"Overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland is the early 20th-century Carbisdale Castle. This was home to the exiled King of Norway during the German occupation of Norway during World War II. This now houses the largest and most sumptuous Youth Hostel in Scotland, and possibly anywhere else"
...more at bettyhill later....
Now 1530 earlier finish than usual aloowing some reflection time on an amazing day. and whole trip from Land's End. Can it be a week ago we were speeding into Shrewsbury?
After cereal, coffee, and a mountain of toast we left the 'Hostel' and took a short cut over a wire footpath over the River Shin - then out onto the road in sunshine as we wound our way up the valley towrads Lairg.
Once past laiirg (with it's penguin house on an island complete with conservatory!!) the rest of the journey was in two halves
I was with novice, the lovers, old man, AndyH, Wirrel & one other for the bleak ride up to Creak Inn. The terrain here was wild & unfriendly with grey skies & a chill wind (still behind us - usually northerlies here I'm told) Eventually the pub was in sign & we all crammed in for lovely fresh coffe & warm fruit cakes & scones. Mad-dog & crazySimon & Andy-arsenal had pints despite the fact it was before 1100!
The slow drag climb continued until we turned right towards & down to Loch Naver. From here on in the landscape was softer & more picturesque. From just past Lairg the "A" road is now single track with frequent passing places & very little traffic.
The road twists & turns along the nothern shore with magnificent views back across to Ben Klibreck. I stopped & watched as the ascending air turned to cloud as it passed over the, out of sight, peak. A really magical & peaceful place.
For this section I hung back on my own and enjoyed the solitude, fresh air and my favourite album of all tome on my ipod (conveniantly rubber banded onto my helmet US Marine style!) - ie Lamb lies down on Broadway - GENESIS.
Yorrkshire John & Van driver dave were the last three to gently wind our way up to Bettyhill.
The whole feeling of the place being amplified somehow by the journey we have made to get there.
Eventually the thinly spaced houses at Bettyhill came into sight along with our first glimse of the sea - North coast sea that is! As usual there is an up hill 'sting in the tail' finish but at this stage we all feel strong & have no concerns, after the monsters we've takled these last 11 days.
Jason Stuat & Matt were at the hotel to greet us with food coffee etc.
After a shower Dave & I plan a walk down to the beautiful beach down below - the view from the sitting room here is fantastic.
So the run to John O'Groats is in the morning, with a 12 mile detour to Dunnet Head planned. This is the most northerly point of mainland Britain. Then onto JOG for lunch.
We are being coached to Inverness for celebratory meal etc in the evening, and maybe a small shandy or two!
Down on the beach the lovers took a chilly dip in the sea! I jumped over the river to get some rocks for a bit of a dam...on the jump back I slipped into the river soaking my shoes, much to Gerry & Dave's amusement...when will I ever grow up?
52.96m 3h55m at 13.5mph (took very easy with lots of stops) 2116ft climb
TOTAL 910m 42695ft climb
5 comments:
Wow Betty Hill. It brings back memories of a week there on a geography field trip, in a heatwave, over the longest day in 1983. We found it very strange emerging from a pub at 11pm into broad daylight! in fact it didnt get dark at all on the longest day, we stayed up all night to find out! Amazing beaches there if I remember correctly. I also went to Dunnet Head once, right out to a house at the lighthouse to interview a family who lived there. Enjoy your last few miles tomorrow and the well earned party tomorrow night.Well done big bro Sis xxx
great journey Clive...as they say ''they can't take it away from you''....well done mate.
Dunnet Head....take a piccy of the most northerly inhabited house on the mainland.....
Saturday 6am
No blog from yesterday, trust all is well, last day today....Clive your writings have a very bill Brysonesque style to them, but please dont give up the day job!
See you sore and beaming Monday
R&E
relieved now the blog has appeared
R&E
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