Bikers' Banter

Day 8 - Friday.

From gairloch, picked up part of the NC500 again, but headed to Eilean Donan castle.
Free parking for bikes. Nice man showed us where to go. As we were sorting ourselves out, overheard a coach driver saying that invergarry was blocked due to an accident. We will chill here for a bit then.

Drink in the café, then old fart price tickets for the castle. If you have some time to kill, genuinely recommend it. Sort of one way around inside, but loads of stuff in there. Still privately owned!

Headed off towards Fort William, and we both realised we hadn't filled up. Next fuel stop was a rather pricey self serve put your card in, in the middle of nowhere! Hey ho.

Caravans and mobile homes were a bit of an issue. On the tiny roads, they tend to pull over and let you pass, but on the proper A roads, they want to keep going. Stopped at a lovely viewpoint, and while getting my drink out, discovered that something had leaked in my pannier. Bottle of beer had ended up on its side, and, with the rattling about, had spewed out, even though the top was still on!
Empty everything out, clean up and carry on. It's all part of the adventure.
Invergarry was now open. Tragic incident overnight.
Traffic into fort william was awful. I suddenly had an idea and turned off left. Gondola up Ben Nevis!

We parked up, and there was some sort of downhill cycling event on. By the time we figured out where to go, the gondolas had closed for the day! To be fair, we might have been an hour too late, as it wasn't something we had looked into beforehand.

Boring chain hotel for the night, but fantastic view over the loch. The following morning it was do still, it was like a mirror.

Day 9 - Saturday

Southbound today.
Past the Green Welly yet again, and back past innishewen farmhouse!
This time, we were heading towards Falkirk. Stopped in a tiny carpark on a loch that had a little cafe. Seemed to be a good spot for mad people wild swimming. And kayaking. And paddle boarding.
Asked a lady and she said the water was about 14⁰. I think she was lying.

Got to Falkirk and the infamous boat lift.
What a clever bit of engineering.
Very impressed. Less so, with the fact that was a bank holiday weekend and there was a kiddies event on, with music, face painting and balloons. Watched it go round a couple of times, then off to The Kelpies.

Had a nice walk around, then it was time to face the traffic for the last night, at Moffat.
Not sure what happened, but there was no traffic.
Very easy ride down.

Stayed in a beautiful victorian house that was tastefully converted to a B&B. Hartfell House. 100% recommend.
Had a nightmare trying to find anywhere to eat, and ended up having a pizza in a chippy!
I think that was our biggest mistake - evening meal planning. We did book in small villages, but Saturday night in Moffat was apparently sold out!

Roughly 1500 miles covered

Would i go back?

Yes, but i don't really know what else i want to see.

Iona looked beautiful, so maybe island hopping next time. I did like Mull, so Tobermory?

No real interest in John O'Groats, as I've been there 3 times now.
If i could guarantee sunshine, then Applecross again.



Next trip will be around Elan Valley and south wales.
Or the zip line in north Wales.
Or the Lakes...

If you get to Elan valley let me know, i'll make an effort to meet up to show you my new bike.

Great trip and pics NC . I have always fancied going round the islands but the ball-ache of the M6 and M74 for hours + hours before really starting the tour keeps putting me off.
If you do head for N.Wales to do the zip line , re-mortgage the house first or rob the bank .