The lie in did mean that the weather cleared for the start which was good, since we had only just finished drying out from the day before. Then we were off along the lochs. Today we turned and headed north east and crossed the country. The first part of the day along Loch Lochy..... ok, I can't let this go. Apparently it means "Lake of the Dark Goddess", what rubbish. What really happened was that some civil servant was given the task of establishing names for all of the lochs, since saying "I want to have a clan war by the loch" without being more specific, was leading to all sorts of problems. So off he set working from West to East. First couple were fine and then came the first blunder. "Wow that looks big, I'll call it Loch Long". This was fine until he cossed into the next valley. "Doh". He probably considered "Loch Longer", but then settled on Loch Lomond. Fine. Few weeks later,back at the office he thought alll was sorted until his boss noticed he had missed one. With the budget gone they needed a name so they came up with Loch Lochy and then thought of the above definition. Let's face it this is like calling a lake "Lake Lakey".
Anyway, back to the trip, after Loch Lochy, we moved onto Loch Oich and then Loch Cloud decided to burst its banks and we were soaked for the last 45 miles of the day. Past Loch Ness, where we just had time to take a photo of the monstor before moving onto Loch Mountain. I was starting to think that I could complete the trip without using the lowest set of gears and then we hit a mountain. Wow this was like a Cornish hill on steroids. It didn't help that it was the end of the day and that there was a river runnning down the road, but even so it was a monster. With that over after many attempts, we then sped down to the B&B in yet more rain.
It looks like it'll probably be rain until the end now and the prevailing South Westerly that was meant to help us along looks like it'll now be a North Easterly head wind. But on the trip tomorrow, providing we don't drown en route, we have a detour to visit Alison's uncle Sandy in Brora.. I hope he's ready for a couple of drowned rats.
Matt- Wet wet wet. Not just a Scotish group but a desciption of Scotland and the two of us. Still it was bound to happen sometime on the trip.
The day became a bit of a slog to get to the end but we did manage to get mistaken for competitors in the Highland Cross. A 20 mile run followed by a 30 mile bike ride. Still the applause and cheers were very welcome.
Laying off the Scotch at the moment but I can review the beer I had last night. It was callled Kelpie and is made using seaweed (funnily enough). It tasted like a cross between a Guiness, Old Peculier and a good dark mild. Sounds dreadfull I know but it is actuallly very nice.
Elayne: Last night's meal at the Alexandra Hotel was a bit of a disappointment. I went for one of the 'Healthy Options' (thought I should make an effort). Curiously, this involved a large mound of mashed potato with smoked haddock on top. Not the best meal we've had, but relatively cheap. However, the live act, a very scary blonde woman playing the organ and singing a mixture of classics, was quite possibly the worst we've seen. Still, the locals seemed to like her. Tonight's meal at the Ord Arms Hotel, next to B&B - Chestnut Villla in Muir of Ord, was extremely good and has restored my faith in Scottish cuisine. Very friendly service too, although we didn't stay to join in the kareoke.
Pleasant rooms and good shower in B&B. Landlady met Alan and Matt with towels at the door and has taken soggy things to spin dry, so hopefully they might be able to start the day in dry clothes tomorrow. Note to future end to enders - however hot it is in Cornwall, you do still need to take jumpers - you will need them in Scotland.
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