Day 5 - Mellon Udrigle Beach to Ullapool / Lochinver / Drumbeg / Durness

Tuesday 07/05/2019
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Krysia and I slept brilliantly to the sound of crashing waves, all cozy in our sleeping bags. Dino struggled to sleep due to the 'noise' of the sea and apparently my nearby snoring. For me the best night of sleep that I've had in ages. We woke to minimal wind and lovely sunshine. What a place, looked even better this morning.
The beach camping was very basic and my first job of the morning was to empty the chemical toilet that the farmer kindly lent us. Think I got the short-straw on that one! Still we packed-up quickly and were in Ullapool in no time. Nice little town. We fuelled-up our bikes and ourselves with sandwiches and coffees before heading back onto the tiny roads and Lochinver. We passed Clachtoll beach which was our Plan B campsite in case of bad weather. It was set in a great location and would have been a lovely place in which to rest.
We made several small stops today to check-out viewpoints and to see some old ruins of castles and other buildings. The coastal route kept surprising. I kept thinking the nice stuff must be over but the views kept coming. Snowy mountains, hilltop lakes, forests, the sea, cliffs, sandy beaches with turquoise waters, small-holdings, valleys - truly amazing. I would say that the West Coast compares with Norway - very similar and equally beautiful.
We passed through Drumbeg and onto the Kylesku Bridge which has lovely views and made a good place to take a break. We then continued to Laxford Bridge with the road once more offering breathtaking views. Dino decided to do a bit of off-roading to pass a campervan that was blocking the single-track road and holding everyone up. Pretty spectacular but I took it steady not wanting to risk a crash!
We made it into Durness which is like a quiet wild-west town. I love it - a real community sense about the place. We stopped in the shop to pick-up supplies (and drinks) before checking into the Sango Sands Oasis campsite. So nice here - just above another beautiful beach but not so windy and really sunny. In the shade it's not warm, but it the sun it's perfect. The campsite is a bit of luxury after last night - great showers and other facilities (including decadent luxuries such as flushing toilets).
Dino was exhausted when we arrived so set-up his tent and went straight to sleep! We walked on the beach and took in the sights, it was very pleasant indeed with very little wind. We had a load of ciders and made some food before getting into our tents and crashing-out.
Tomorrow we continue across the top of Scotland on the NC500 to John O'Groats. It's a short day, but first we plan to check-out Smoo Caves (some massive sea caves). West coast of Scotland - a must do, it must surely be downhill from here.

Mileage: 1015
Country count: 2 (GB - England, Scotland)
Beers: 30.5
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 2/10
Mechanical issues: 0.5 (well Dino's sat-nav fell-off and I had to cable tie a water hose to stop it rubbing)
Accidents: 0
Wetness: 1/10
Coldness: 2/10
Midges: 1/10




























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