Day 8: Carbisdale Castle to Tongue

The next morning dawns windy and rainy, so windy in fact that wind catches our route map which Norman has left under his helmet, and blows it away. By the time I’m able to get across to it, it has taken off, and is sailing away already half way to Tongue. Doesn’t matter too much- there’s not a lot of choice of roads around these parts.

The rain is coming (heavily) in short spells, so we wait till one stops and then set off, though we know it’ll not be long till it start again. It’s here that the cycling stuff shows its strengths: it gets wet, it dries, it gets wet again, and it dries, and so on. The road takes us through some impressive scenery, with the mountains of the North West Highlands on either side. Norman hasn’t seen this area before and is very impressed. The weather up here is definitely bleak, and there is actually some snow at the side of the road, almost certainly recent. By the time we reach Tongue, the wind has really got up, and I’m getting quite nervous about either being blown into the middle of the road, or off the road by reaction when the wind drops.

The Hostel at Tongue is delightful, probably the best we’ve seen. It’s situated right on the sea shore, so possible to walk along the beach, though it’s too late and getting dark by the time we think of it. Our room is comfortable and we have a splendid view of the hills. Again, we meet more End-to-Enders including one lady who’s doing it on her own, hostelling or camping. Blimey. We find it difficult enough even with our excellent back-up team.

Today the back up team went for a walk around Carbisdale Castle grounds in the morning and then to Tain to the Glenmorangie (pronounced like orangey rather than Jumanji) distillery in the afternoon to learn about the Whiskey creation process.