We’d all been studying weather forecasts for what to expect today. Yesterday’s weather had been so fabulous that we were praying for another good day. We weren’t (largely) disappointed.
It was quite cool as we gathered after breakfast but the sun was trying its hardest to break through the cloud cover and the first 40 miles gently undulating, certainly in comparison to most of this week. Morning gatherings have been a bit of a challenge for our guides as due to the small towns we have stayed in we have been spread across as many as seven hotels and BnBs.
We took a back road from Lairg to Bonar Bridge passing Falls of Shin where migrating salmon can be seen (not by us) leaping the falls.
The landscape opened up as we reached Bonar Bridge
The roads were much busier than the ones we enjoyed yesterday – not surprising as we gradually neared Inverness – but our relative tranquility was shattered as we spent about 2 miles on the A9 passed the Glenmorangie whiskey distillery before we turned off towards Tain and Nigg.
The countryside morphed into open farming land just like Suffolk and we definitely felt some warmth from the sun. Today we were travelling in a couple of groups as we savoured the weather and our final day of the trip.
Lunch was in Balintore on the water’s edge overlooking the North Sea and from there we headed for Nigg and the passenger ferry over Cromarty Firth. There is a massive oil installation in Nigg and there were lots of oil rigs and exploration vessels in the Firth itself.
We had a long climb after the ferry which led us through pine forests up onto a ridge with fabulous views out over the sea. It was here we started to see dark clouds in our direction of travel – would we make it to Inverness rain free?
The answer was ‘No’,
At our final tea stop we dug out waterproofs just in case, but during our 10 minute stop the wind picked up and we felt the first few drops of rain. We had about 14 miles left to go and about 3 minutes after we left the heavens opened and the temperature dropped. No pictures of this section!
The sun reappeared was we entered Inverness via a confusing mix of dedicated cycle tracks and the A9 but once over the Kessock Bridge we dropped down to the quiet coastal road and followed that into the city centre.
The weather and limited capacity of the Cromarty ferry had split the group so the best laid plan of a mass finish didn’t’ happen but with sparkling wine in Peak Tours mugs we still celebrated.
It was a great tour but the Highland 500 is a definite challenge!
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