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One Hundred Miles Up!!
I woke up late, the bunk bed was full sized, and really warm. I left the heater on all night, and the room
while not hot wasn't cold either. I tried my best to finish drying my clothes. The tumble dryer had got most of
the wet out, but they were still damp. I finally crawled out of bed at 9.00 and made myself a cup of coffee.
Last night I saw a sign for an internet cafe down by the harbour, so I free wheeled down the hill. It was
basically a nick nack shop, full of candles, jumpers, pottery, you name it, but it also had a PC.
I updated my website and had a chat. It was a beautiful morning. The Sun was out, and it was really warm. My legs
were a little sore and because I new it was a short day, I decided to stop for a coffee and take a few more pictures.
Just a long from the shop was a Gallery / Museum / Coffee Shop ( under the bridges ) which did really nice coffee and a scone too.
By the time I had got my act together it must have been 11' O'Clock so I finally decided to set off down the A9. I checked the bike,
the crack on my GPS cradle had opened up which I will have a go at glueing it tonight, I don't want the GPS to fly off!
So off we go... You guessed it, a slow long climb, wind in my face out of Helmsdale along the A9. Grumble, grumble....
But it didn't last long, and I was off along the undulating road.
The day was a cracker, it was warm with lots of sunshine. As a trundled along the A9,
I stopped to take quite a few pictures, some of the views were superb. I experienced two new firsts;
I put my sunglasses on for the 1st time, and I took my hat off, and let the wind blow through my bike helmet.
Early in the afternoon, I saw the 1st sign for a distillery. Well you have to don't you, so I took a little detour....
It turned out that this was there maintenance time, and the ( Clynelish ) distillery was shut, but I tried a whisky,
and had a bottle posted home for Rosie.
Returning to the main road I continued down the A9 past Dunrobin Castle, talk about Disney castles, it
looked wonderful. The train track and road were now running together, so I new the road was going to remain
fairly flat, and I only had 10 miles to go.
I free-wheeled into Golspie, down a fast sweeping hill, reaching 35 miles per hour at one point, and then had to brake
for the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill. This is when it happened, I musy have hit a bump, cos my GPS left my
bike and vanished backwards. I braked heavilly and looked back to watch it being run over by a car. I recovered it,
but it now looks a bit battered. It is basically still in one piece, but no longer works. My grand plan for the
holiday gone up in smoke.
I continued onto Rogart Station which was my night's stay, but I was very annoyed and upset about the GPS.
It is very funny, but I can't work the Scottish roads out. I think I am going down hill, but it is a real struggle,
and keep having to select a higher gear. Then the road flattens out and goes up hill and I find I
am coasting along at 20 miles an hour!!
I arrived at the village which contains Rogart Station. I had seen the station on Monday, but it looked much
nicer in the daylight. The accomodation was a series of train coaches, buses, and camper vans!! I was in a
1st class train coach. Each compartment had two bunks and half the original seating. The coach had a little
kitchen, dining room and bathroom as well!!
It was probably about 4 o'clock at this time, maybe a little later. I showered and washed my
clothes the best I could in the kitchen sink, and put them on the line to dry. I had a go at fixing my
GPS, but didn't get very far.
I decided it was tea time, and headed into the (tiny) village. I had a choice of 1 location; the pub.
Tea was nice, a full roast pork dinner with pudding. In order to make the bill upto £15 so I could
use my credit card I went into the bar and had a couple (more) beers and a couple of whiskies.
At this point things went a bit wrong, 8 swedish hunters decended on the pub. In a cheery mood after a good
days shooting, there were up for beer and whisky. Well you have to don't you. I finally left the pub two hours later
having drawn at pool, drunk lots of beer and whisky, and been offered two jobs by very drunken Swedes. It turned out
that there was a mixture of Managing Directors (2), Contractors (3) and other ex-Ericcsson employees who I had probably
worked with and for when I was in Sweden.
With a cheery grin and a thick head, I headed for my bed!!!
Speak to you tomorrow Phil
(I now have even more nice pictures, which I will upload when I have
worked out how to)
You can email me here. Send me
your comments and tips.
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