21st

Wet and windy. We left Skye two by two just like Noahs f*****g ark it was raining that hard. Windy as well so had to give Glenelg ferry a miss because Steve was a wimp and came back to mainland over the bridge.
Drying out at Dornie





Not many pics today as couldnt be arsed to get camera/phone with it so wet. Decide to go straight to Morags at Fort Augustus and get there about 13:30. Funnily enough wer'e in the same room that we had last time!!
Fort A hasn't got much to entertain you for 8 or 9 hours so it's off to the pub!!! Would you believe get talking to a few folk who live about ten miles from me and one of them went to same school - although about ten years before me!! Small world.
Back to the bar at Morags and cheap whisky seems to be the drink of choice - we'll pay for it in the morning.

20th

226 miles today from Ullapool to Waternish on Skye. Followed the coast road through Gairloch, Torridon etc but gave Applecross a miss this time. Showers, bit of sun and drizzle was what was on offer weatherwise





Stop for a brew at The pier at Gairloch and pop into the shop for lottery tickets as it's become a bit of a custom everytime we pass it! Not sure why as we've never won anything on the back of it.


Wind getting up and gusting quite hard. Doesn't stop us heading up to Kilt Rock on the north east of Skye


Or up and over the Quairaing to Uig and then along to Waternish and the Lorgill B&B.
Stein Inn for supper tonight

19th

Today's jaunt is from Glenuig to Ullapool via the east side of Loch Ness to Inverness, then up to Bonar Bridge via Struie Hill andwest along Glen Oykel to Ledmore Junction and down to Ullapool. All in all 186 miles for the day.
Starts off grey & drizzly and first stop is Glenfinnan











You usually have to buy a ticket to go up the monument, but no one about and the doors open so up we go!!! Steve in front and it's a very narrow spiral staircase. The opening to the platform is a square hole at the top of the stairs about 2 foot square- with all the bike gear on Steve can't get through without a squeeze so after all that we turn around and go down again - we chickened out
Stop for lunch just north of Inverness and then pop over to the Falls of Shin to watch the salmon leaping the falls and fail miserably to photo it!!





We're stopping just outside Ullapool at the Ardvreck House B&B. Great location with a view out of the lounge overlooking the town










Owner of B&B takes us into the village, and it's off to the Taste of India for tea. Recommend this Idian, but bit of a crisis when we find out it's cash only, don't take cards. Squire of Epworth lends Al £20 and alls well.
Couple of drinks in the Arch then taxi back to the Ardvreck.

Location:Garve Rd,Ullapool,United Kingdom

Scotland part 2

The slackers have turned up at last, and even reported in to the boss


Time to have a drink at last

Scotland part 2

Early start to catch up with Nige & Steve at Glenuig this afternoon. Leave Lincoln at 07:00 and the first stop is the butty bar at Scotch Corner for a coffee and fried egg bun.






Weather is looking good so far, but grey skies over the top at Stainmore but no rain!! Onto the M6 and then cutting over to Dumfries and then up the A76 etc to Kilmarnock, Irvine , Dalry, Psisley then over the Erskine Bridge and along Loch Lomond.





Get a text from Nige whilst i'm stopped in Crianlarich and it seems he might have been only 20 miles away at Kilchun Castle at the time. Suns out now as I go over Rannoch moor and into Glencoe











Making good time so take a detour along to Kinlochleven - always passed by but today's the day!





Into Fort Bill for a fuel top up and then along the road to the isles to Glenuig where we're staying tonight. Been before and it's a ver y nice gaff!!





Went along the little road past the pub and came across this beach





As you can see, spoilt with the weather still but not banking on it for rest of the week.
469 miles today , nice and steady and supping at pint of Cairngorm Stag by 16:30. No sign of Steve & Nige, the slackers.

Location:Lochailort,United Kingdom

Its been a while but........

......annual back end trip to Scotland starts on Sunday. Usual suspects involved - Nige from IoM and Steve, who are going up a day earlier. I'm meeting them at Glenuig.
Will be posting daily as long as the Iphone doesn't get waterlogged - weather forecast looks like something Noah would recognise.

Norway 2011 overview

What a trip! Ive updated the daily blogs with route maps to give an idea where I was. Very good weather overall, with one wet day, and two dodging showers but mostly dry. Total mileage in Norway was 3587 miles, managing to get 200 miles above the arctic circle. Bike didn't miss a beat, the only maintenance being a check of tyre pressures and an oil top up on last day but one (500ml)
Don't think you can go far wrong wherever you go in Norway.
Using the Immingham freighter is a definite recommendation if travelling solo, perhaps not so cheap if you have a pillion but you'll have to do the maths on time & cost dependant on your situation. Me & the bike cost around £460 return for a 26 hour trip with own en suite cabin & all meals. Very convenient from north of England/ midlands.
Accomodation in Norway no problem, especially for the first three weeks in June ( Norway schools generally finish last week in June so that's when holiday season starts through to mid august). I only prebooked the first night and the nights on Lofoten, everything else was on spec the day or so before dependant on where I planned to be.
Wouldn't bother with tent next time but would use combination of hytte and Vandrerhjem hostels. 300 to 450nok for two bed hytte on reasonable sites and 300 to 500nok for private en suite room in Vandrerhjem incl breakfast. Cost depends on popularity & location. Most of the rooms I had were twins so a cost saving can be had if you don't mind sharing with a mate. Also its worth getting a YHA card as this gets you 10 to 15% discount in hostels (card is about £15 in UK - there is a tesco clubcard deal at the moment which gets you one for £5, but theyre available to buy at the hostels in Norway for similar UK price). Whatever you've heard about Norway being expensive is true, so budget where you can or start saving.
I mainly self catered, took some ready meals and used local supermarkets. I thought there was a great shortage of places to stop on the road for a snack/drink other than petrol stations, but these were fine. Not many roadside cafes like in UK. Take a bottle of your favourite tipple, managed to make my Glenlivet last until day 11!!!
Thoroughly recommend the Hardanger hostel as a base for a few days.
Buy a statoil mug on the first day of your trip and maximise those coffe stops!
I was reasonably organised and had a rough itinerary, but use the local tourist info offices for ideas on places to see plus plague the life out of the hostel staff who know the area.
Gravel roads are great fun and generally take you out of the way to the best spots. Off the main roads you don't get the choice anyway.
Definitely go to the Lofoten Islands, you'll need a minimum of 3 days to do them justice, it's just a long way there and back unless you're going to Nordkapp anyway.
If you have an iPhone get the free Viber app for 'free' (uses your contract allowance) international calls & texts to other iPhones with Viber - works via Internet so you need a connection but I got one every night as every hostel had free wifi - otherwise this blog wouldn't have been done daily.
By the way, all the daily blogs were done using my oldish 3g Iphone with an app called 'BlogPress'. There may be others but this app was even easier to use than Blogger itself!!!

Can't wait to get back there and will definitely return 2012 if not sooner!!


Posted on the go