Day 7 - John o'Groats to Loch Ness


Thursday 09/05/2019
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It was freezing last night, literally, at John o'Groats. The wind made it difficult to stay out after dark so after a warming shower it was time to wrap-up warm and sleep. We all slept well like dead men after yesterday's exersion and woke to sunshine. We watched the piper play at John o' Groats, had a great fry-up breakfast, did the tourist shops and packed-up just before the rain started.
The rain wasn't bad, it was on/off all day. We saw the ruins of loads of cool castles along the way and rode into Ackergill to see the tower / ruins and a better preserved castle opposite. We then rode into Wick but kept moving as it had started raining again. We rode-up to Dunrobin Castle which was styled on the palace of Versailles and quite different to the other castles in the area and has beautiful gardens and grounds. We didn't do the whole tour we just took a couple of snaps and rode-on along the scenic route to Durnoch and Durnoch Castle which is a hotel now.
Our next stop was the Glen Morangie distillery which was great. We went to the visitor's centre, had a good look around, considered purchasing a £30k set of 5 rare whiskey bottles before settling on an £18 bottle. It was a much welcome stop and the weather had much improved by the time we left.
Today's sights were pleasant, especially as we got closer to Inverness where the snow-capped mountains once again came into sight. We tanked-up in Inverness, stocked-up on cider and had coffees and some warm food before heading on to Loch Ness. We chose the 'quiet' side to stay on and it was really pretty and more unspoilt than I had expected. Eventually we found another high quality 'Caravan Club' campsite on the shores of the loch. It's a very nice location and the facilities are top notch. We splashed-out and rented a small wooden barrel house thing for the night. What luxury and warmth, all for £65!
We went for a hike to a nearby waterfall which was a bit of a trek but well worth the effort. The views were magnificent and there was nobody around. We got back made use of the internet at the camp reception and got through our ciders whilst eating some noodles, corned-beef Smash and sandwiches that Krysia prepared. Lovely.
Tomorrow we go around the whole of Loch Ness before going through the Cairngorns and into the Kielder forest. Gonna be a long day, let's hope the weather stays reasonable!

Mileage: 1279
Country count: 2 (GB - England, Scotland)
Beers: 38.5
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: 4/10
Coldness: 4/10
Midges: 2/10

















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