Evanton

July 17, 2019

We had quite a bit to do before we left Inverness this morning. After a bit of grocery shopping (the daily chore) we had to sort out a new data sim for Leigh's phone. Then we went shopping for a new rear tyre for Leigh's bicycle. The Schwalbe Marathon Dureme she had has lasted barely eight thousand kilometers and is starting to crack and split. The previous one had lasted fifteen and was in better condition than the current one. The difference ? I'm not sure. The first one was wire beaded and the current one is a folding tyre. After first trying at Halfords, who advertised a full range of Schwalbe tyres, we eventually got something (I'm not really sure what it is) at Bikes of Inverness.

The view back towards Inverness from the Kessock Bridge.

The Moray Firth. Inverness on the left and the pretty village of North Kessock on the right.

It was a gentle climb out of Inverness for about fifteen kilometers where we stopped for lunch at forest at the top of the climb. Here we had a long chat with a hiker who was trying to convince us to visit the Shetlands. It seems that every Scot, few of whom hesitate to start a conversation, has their favourite place in their country.

The rain, which had started as we were packing up, had been quite gentle up until then but as we began the descent it started raining harder and stayed like that until we reached Evanton. The route wasn't particularly nice with a lot of it being on a cycle path next the the busy A9 and A835 and we were pretty pleased that a rather unpleasant day's cycling came to an end.

However, on checking in to the Blackrock Caravan and camping park we forgot all about it. It is a small park hidden in a little hollow on the edge of the village and is as quiet and peaceful as the last few places we have stayed at have been loud and busy, and it has probably the best facilities we have encountered in the UK so far. All for little more than half of what we paid in Inverness yesterday.

So we have decided to park off here for an extra day to allow the weather to clear a bit, get some laundry done and catch up on our work.

A view of the tarp from inside the tent. The way it is hitched over bicycle handlebars isn't that visible but it works OK. It works better hitched up higher, at about 1.5 to 2 meters, onto a tree for example, because this makes access easier. It is incredibly versatile and easy to set up (now that we have got the hang of it) and is a sanity saver in this rainy weather.

Today's ride: 40 km (25 miles)
Total: 2,272 km (1,411 miles)

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