Got on the road by 6 am, still raining and very cold but managed 30 miles before breakfast. Stopped at Wick for petrol and reached a very windy and showery John O’Groats at 11am, having covered 112 miles this morning compared with only 100 in total yesterday. To John O’Groats I have clocked 1,334 miles so far.
I had some food, dried out my kit, posted off some post-cards and rested. There were heavy April showers out towards the Orkneys, it was very cold with snow on the mountains. At least the Honda is still going well – apart from a dud battery. I will vary my journey of 800 miles back to London and should do it in about 4 – 5 days (all being well). I certainly would not think of getting in for a swim here, although I did see one swallow, the last I saw were in Cornwall at the start of this trip. Also heard a few cuckoos on the journey.
Westwards now to Thurso along the A836 on the north Scottish rugged coast, a very good secondary road, not a lot of traffic. On to Tongue and then southwards through the mountains, a very minor road with even less traffic. Along by Loch Goil and lucky to have been able to fill up with petrol at a single remote petrol pump, taking me on to Lairg – towns very sparse. Heavy showers are perpetually having in the clouds on the mountaintops. Only two cars passed me on this single-track road of about 50 miles. I have done a further 114 miles today – in all I did 226. Camped for the night in a forest overlooking a loch and Bonar Bridge. The mountains are rolling away to the south, a splendid view. Had a good night, a few showers, owls and rooks, with Scottish accents no doubt, a touch of the Gaelic lingo. In the morning I heard a cuckoo. The morning was sunny and I managed some initial kit drying. It weighs a ton when wet. It promises to be a fair day, there is less wind. The radio packed up but the Honda is OK – the battery still dead.
Wednesday 12 May
A week out on this trip now with 1448 miles behind me. There are plenty of sheep everywhere, even on the roads (some dead) and cattle too, grazing on minor roads.
On the road at 9.00am, through Bonar Bridge and heading south on the A9 to Inverness, where I picked food and sent a card to Mary. I was lucky enough to get petrol, as I was running out. The A9 to Perth is like a motorway – dual carriageway most of the way. Lots of juggernaughts to blow me off the road and getting drowsy in spite of the bitter winds and showers. Having done 140 miles so far today (3.30 pm), I am putting down for a rest and some grub about 30 miles north of Perth. Weather is picking up here and it’s a little warmer. I may get to Edinburgh tonight and pass through while things are quiet!!
Now on to Perth but get bogged down here drying to keep off the motorway for 38 miles to Edinburgh. Eventually failing to find another way through Perth, have with some trepidation decided to try the motorway. On it for about 10 miles and – yes – run out of petrol. Stranded on the M90 motorway. I find it best to walk with the bike until I find a slip-road, which I do after a mile or so. I try to cadge a couple of pints of petrol off of a farmer but no dice. He does however direct me to a village about 3 miles away. It was 6.30 pm and they closed at 7 o’clock – half an hour to get three miles and I was not too sure of the farmer’s directions. I managed to hitch a lift from a posh guy in a swell car. He brought me right to the petrol station, with a few minutes to spare before closing time. I got a gallon can of petrol and what’s more, the chap at the petrol station gave me a lift back to my Honda. I gave him back his empty can and thanked him kindly and was ready for another ‘bash’ at the motorway again. Very gusty, especially with large trucks speeding by. I see the Forth Road Bridge from about 5 miles out – two bridges actually. It was quite an experience crossing as the bridge is about 400 feet high and the buffeting from cross winds and trucks passing me – was not something I would want to ever try again. At the other side of the bridge is a toll barrier – I asked the chap collecting the tolls if pensioners on mopeds were free and he waved me on as though I were a well known celebrity..
Edinburgh City was lovely but regrettably I was not on a sight-seeing tour and it was now 9.00 pm and I very much wanted to get through the city before dark – this I managed to do and I took the A1 road to Berwick thinking it was a direct link to the A1 road going south to London. Looking at the map now, I discover I should have taken the A7 leading to the A68 to Jedburgh. Somehow I shall have to re-route – the story of this tour, alas.
Anyway I stopped for the night in a wood about 20 miles southeast of Edinburgh. At first I was disturbed by farmers working with tractors, sowing seed or something, by night, but they stopped around midnight as the rain, again poured down, all night. By now all the camouflaged tea/coffee stain I had painted on my tent had washed off, leaving me with a bright blue tent.
