Inverness to buckie

Entering inverness from my happy cycle over the kessock bridge, initially the cycle path sign seemed obvious. Then I lost the route and just headed for steeples this always works for me when cycling into a new city. Inverness is not new to me but new to cycling in I have driven there and taken the train here, arriving by cycle was different, it was approaching that time of day when if I was going to eat out, I had better start looking, firstly though I required a place to stay? I was hoping I would find a brewdog bar to eat at? BUT turning up a street I spotted a bar/gastro pub owned by the black isle brewery. I love their beers they are organic the stout is delicious, there was a big que for getting in with a couple of guys on security, I put the bike aside to go over to speak to them they weren’t very helpful, I couldn’t leave the Daunder and all my panniers on it out on the pavement long in a city! This meant I couldn’t dine or get a beer in the black isle bar, there was a sign right next to it for the king’s highway hotel. I went and asked?

Leaving the daunder laden with all my stuff in a busy street I walked in to the hotel reception, hi do you have a room for one this evening? Yes, we do, how much is it? £35 I shall have it! Have you stayed in a witherspoons hotel before? No, I didn’t realise it was a Spoons my friend Gary would be disappointed in me, but I was delighted as I also knew they done good vegan choices and ales at a good price, they let me bring the bike into the laundry area, this was still at the early stages of coming out of the pandemic I was only allowed alcohol outdoors, I had my dinner and ales in their beer garden, then could also use the Wi-Fi in my room to update the blog

It was a tremendous sunny morning when I left the hotel, I wanted to have a slow daunder around the city before setting off south(well actually east to then go south), I seen the city in a whole new light it was fantastic, I had truly not appreciated inverness on my previous visits, I cycled slowly sometimes walking taking lots of photos, especially when along the banks of the river ness enjoying the city scape sights castles historic buildings tree lined boulevards artistic statues off all types, the long distance walk called the great glen way finishes here, the city is also on the cross country Caledonian canal route, both of which I have plans to do at some point in my life, promising myself to return, I forced myself to set off wishing I had booked two nights at the hotel

The cycle route takes quiet back roads and country paths through the woods of the town of Culloden then rises steeply! Up hill to Culloden moor scene of the last battle fought on Scottish soil, the Hanoverian’s verses the Jacobite’s, the wee Italian prince lost and ran away to Italy, the real losers were the people of Scotland, the Hanoverians used their own family feud as a way to land grab the Scottish Highlands burning peoples houses down to make way for massive hunting lodges and sheep farms, this was highly successful for them the highlands and islands populations have never recovered,

It was warm sunny day I left the daunder against a wall and had a walk around the battlefield, this was at least my third time there maybe my fourth. There is flags where the two sides lined up, I’ve read a lot about the battle and that period in Scottish history its fascinating to me, I had taken my lunch time beer to drink at the marker for where the Cameron’s were placed, I raised my beer to the fallen Cameron’s, then it occurred to me this is probably just a bit silly as there was Cameron’s on both sides and it’s my mum that’s a Cameron I’m from a long line of Kenneth Cameron’s, but my fathers ancestors would most likely have been on the Hanoverians side, so I changed my toast to all the common folk who got dragged here to slaughter kinsmen for some feudal overlord, with that I changed from being a Jacobite sympathiser to a republican like so many other scots who ended up in America after Culloden

What goes up generally goes down! It was a good downhill stretch cycling down below one of the big arches of the impressive Culloden viaduct, but then the road went up again through a decent section of forest though so it was all a pleasant cycle even with the ups and downs, I love old forest like that they turn all the ground below the tree canopy into a carpet of soft green moss

It had only been fifty-two kilometres the cycle to Nairn from inverness, I had spent a long time being a tourist though which I thoroughly enjoyed, this does make getting to my destination sometimes not far along the road! I knew from a previous visit to Nairn there was a good Inn that serves a selection of real ales, I had stayed in it on a previously taken train journey holiday round the highlands which was a great way to holiday, however I did have time to pitch the tent before I went to the inn for food and ale,

Cycling up to the campsite reception things looked promising it was a big site with a shop and restaurant lots of amenities, they wanted twenty two pound to pitch my wee tent, I felt this was too much in all fairness to them this was more a holiday park than a campsite I suppose it may well have ben that price for a big tent, I went to the bandstand CAMRA pub of the year 2020 and got a pint, their rooms weren’t ready for use yet, I checked my phone and found a small hotel and Italian restaurant, forty five pound included breakfast the owner was Italian and extremely chatty, I had to apologise at breakfast as I had spilled some red wine on my sheet, he was fine about it when I offered to pay extra for laundering he told me not to worry

It was raining as I cycled out of Nairn this stopped reasonably quickly and the sun came out as I stopped to have wee daunder around brodie castle, the castle grounds impressed me as much as the picturesque castle did, as I passed through the town of Dyke on the way to Forres I picked up a pal, he was to be the first of three strangely that day, which was bizarre as I never had any other strangers cycling with me anywhere else, we went over an old railway bridge over the Spey river, it was the first of two cool looking ex railway bridges now a cycling walking route I went over that day, Ian cycled and chatted along with me out to the Findhorn foundation, where I was having lunch, I like the Findhorn foundation village and their wonderful hall which looks to me like something out a fairy tale, the lunch was excellent it was so good to have so many meat free dairy free choices, there’s a real feeling of peace to the place, I had a cycle around the village after food to admire the whisky barrel homes

while stopped to take a picture of a millennium post one of five that day, an elderly cyclist stopped to speak to me, he was eighty four he had had a hip replacement a heart bypass and colon cancer but still loved to get out on his bike, he was ex-navy and an R,O,V pilot back when they were ground breaking technology, then after he left me I stopped at a crossroads looking at where the cycle path took a steep incline into what looked like dirt track beside the road, I asked a passing cyclist if that path was the way to Elgin? and he said yes it is, but you would be much better going another way, he then about turned and cycled with me all the way back the way he had came to show me the best route right up to the cathedral, where I got my third cycling buddy John to take a photo of me

The wolf of Badenoch is one of my favourite characters in Scottish history, he was a proper bastard! One of the things he’s famous for is riding his horse into Elgin cathedral and torching the place, the visitor centre was open But I decided to make do with some photos from outside and a read around some info boards, at a shop I bought a bottle of the local brewery’s beer windswept breweries wolf dark ale named after the villainous character, I drank it near the cathedral it was delicious,

The cycle route leaving Elgin all the way into Buckie was an absolute treat. I later found out that much of it is the long-distance walking route the Spey side way, which starts or stops depending which way you head in the harbour town of Buckie, it was time for me to stop for the day there appeared to be no beer gardens selling food in town, I opted for a fish supper to eat in the village square while deciding whether to camp or find a place to stay? Taking a cycle up and down the main street it looked like there was no inns or hotels open, I stopped to take a nostalgic look down on the harbour workshops, the gas plant I used to work on was built modular style which meant, large sections were fabricated all over the world then shipped to Shetland on barges to be assembled at site, over seven years previously I had been sent to this harbour fabrication workshop area to sign of documents to say modules were ok for shipping, these modules became a corner of the MEG plant, I went on to see these be transported along a Shetland road by mega machines to a position they could be lifted in place by huge cranes,

It was a nice evening it wouldn’t be dark for another couple of hours the cycle route looked to be heading out to countryside where I would find a spot to pitch the tent easily, as I headed out I came across the old coach house hotel, at first it looked shut that was just the bar and restaurant part, they had a big sign advertising rooms for twenty five pound, I went in and the very friendly girl Sam confirmed I could get a room for the night at that price, I went for a shower after asking her if there was a beer garden open which there was, it was a pleasant walk down to the Harbour bar`s beer garden,

Tain & Inversneckie

I heard the two young cyclists pack up their tent and leave the crask Inn early, I went back to sleep for an hour as I was booked in to have breakfast with the hotel guests, Jackie and connor chatted throughout breakfast it was all interesting stuff, I was mostly packed just the tent really to pack before breakfast, this was a mistake it was dry outside before breakfast but I had to pack the tent wet due to a shower, the Crask has a millennium post outside it which is very scenic they even sell postcards in the inn of it, I should have bought one! I took a photo of the daunder in front of it and set off,

The weather was drizzly to begin with but really brightened up later, the road from the crask inn to the town of lairg was excellent mostly slow downhill gradient I started to then follow rivers it was great to be alongside rivers again there is none on Shetland or Orkney it was a joy for me to see rivers again, I stopped in lairg for some lunch at a nice café where connor and Jackie appeared! So we said our goodbyes twice that day, there’s a strange wee house on the loch in town with a notice board telling the interesting story of it and the family that had lived in it, I stopped at that which is also at the road junction to go towards the town of Rogart, I did briefly consider going that way as I love to stay at the mega cool sleeperzz train carriages there, BUT NCN1 heads down the river shin from here that is what I am following, this is a link to my you tube video of my last visit there

https://youtu.be/2fI0WIO7WPQ

The river shin cycle was excellent there was a shoogly bridge to have a wee daunder over, then a cycle on quiet roads through forestry, which opens out at a visitors’ centre at some waterfalls where the salmon leap, the visitor centre is in the shape of a salmon and there is lots of information about the fish which are these days sadly threatened crazily by the farmed variety of salmon, the centre was shut but I had a walk down to view the falls

Rivers mostly flow down to the sea not always sometimes they flow into lakes or lochs, the river shin flowed swiftly down to Bonnar bridge, the daunder also went swiftly downhill with the river right up until the NCN1 gave me a choice of routes at Carbisdale castle, the story of this castle is amazing I must revisit when it reopens, the route choice was stick with cycling main roads into Bonnar bridge town then continue main roads, OR? haul the fully laden daunder up four flights of steep stairs over the river shin bridge next to the railway bridge? I opted for the hard way mostly to get a closer look at the castle. But also to be on quieter roads on the other side of the river, this turned out to be a good decision, but the shoving the fully laden daunder up those stairs was a sair fecht!

The trees and forests around this road into Ardgay were a pleasure to cycle through, then once at Ardgay it was back to cycling alongside busy roads, I was glad I didn’t have to cycle up Struie hill though! At the bottom of this steep hill is a beautifull old AA phone box which made me smile this was a blast from the past perfectly maintained, when I was a child nearly all motorist were in the AA or the RAC both of whom had telephones near problem areas for breakdown recovery, hills like this one were certainly problem areas in those days for old engines,

The last time I cycled up this way I had cycled over the Dornoch firth bridge, this time I approached it on the south bank and made enquiries at the caravan and camping site? They had no on-site shop or restaurant and also a bit out of town, I opted to cycle on into Tain stopping to buy a bottle of whisky at the glen morangie distillery whilst passing my second visit to the historic distillery, at this stage I was cycling on an extremely busy road where there was a slight edge of the road area for cycling usage, it wasn’t as wide as the good Irish side of the roads style but was better than nothing

I cycled into a beer garden in Tain and got fish and chips with a pint they had rooms at this inn but they were all booked, I asked the helpful barman about options of places to stay he recommended some local B&B`s they were all closed. I went into the large regal looking centre of town royal hotel, they had a room I took the easy option of staying there and having a walk around town, the inclusive hotel breakfast was the usual fair a bit wasted on me loads of dairy and meat! I had cereal with fruit juice in it and some toast and jam,

It was a Saturday there was a market in the town centre gardens, I had to go in as the Cromarty brewery had a stand, I tried a couple of their beers while having a good conversation with the brewery owner (I think he was anyway) then bought three bottles, placing a bottle of happy chappy ale into my bike bottle cage and cycling off, I passed the sign where the route splits, during the summer you can get a passenger ferry from Nigg over the Murray firth. That ferry wouldn’t be starting for another three weeks, it was the longer road round to Dingwall for me

There were some scenic pathways to cycle on and the back roads out to Dingwall were picturesque, the sun was out all was good in the world, in the afternoon I cycled into a busy country hill top farmhouse shop and café, I was going to stop and have something to eat but just a look in the window menu then at the busy staff, I decided there was no point there was nothing for me to eat there anyway Scottish farms are all about meat and dairy not fruit and veg,

I stopped to take a picture of the millennium post at Dingwall train station and admired the war memorial which had an actual sign post from the first wars trenches, it was glorious weather as a I cycled out of dingwall into the black isle, the cycle over the large kessock bridge into inverness made me smile with joy