Blogs from Sutherland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Ullapool, daar waar we ons vorig jaar rond deze tijd vol stopten met alles wat er maar te eten viel na 11 dagen gelopen te hebben vanaf Fort William. Een onwaarschijnlijk mooie, pittige en bijzondere trektocht. Na deze 220 km vanaf Fort William waren er nog 140 km over, waarover ik niet kon stoppen te dromen. En dromen zijn er om waar te maken, dus liepen Martine en ik op 25 april weer onze eerste vervolgstappen op de Cape Wrath Trail. Een makkelijk weggetje leidde ons omhoog een vallei ten noordoosten van Ullapool in. We passeerden enkele steengroeves en hadden al snel zicht op Loch Achall. Terug kijkend zagen we de prachtige bergen waar we vorig jaar onze laatste dag in stromende regen hadden gelopen. Nu waren er ook buien op komst. Echter voordat een bui ... read more

This blog is written tonight under the influence of 15 yr Dalmore. Starting off leaving Peterhead we visited as many small fishing villages as we could. The winding narrow streets were a treat to drive. Some villages claim to be 16th or 17th century. We stopped when we heard the bells ringing in Fraserburgh where the minister asked us to come in for the service but we begged off and headed back onto the road. Next stop was Duff House. A manor house donated to the National Trust. We just had to have a lunch of cullen skink & tea in the tea room. This place has the best town names... Buckie, Lossiemouth, Duffus, etc... and we drove thru all of them. Stopping at the Elgin cathedral ruins. 2 of the main towers are still intact ... read more

Beyond Lairg we can't avoid the main road north any longer because that's the only road there is. But that's ok because here the main road becomes a single track with passing places, and it basically has the character of the back roads anyway. The few cars and lorries drive faster here, so we have to use all our skills to decide when to stop in the passing places, when to expect the cars to stop and wait for us, and when we can slip by each other in the limited available space. The scene is one of wide vistas across brown moors to distant mountain ranges topped with fresh snow. It is somewhat reminiscent of the American west, and even more like the south part of the Yukon territory that Kathy and I passed through ... read more

78 miles At the hostel in Helmsdale we were surrounded with LeJoG-ers on the eve of their final day of their journey so were rather excited and releived. On the ride to Inverness we encountered countless people with the tell tale bikes with panniers. This told us that there must be hundreds of people doing the same thing every week. Do you know ther are two associations to support the activity. Ths JoGLe Association and the LoGLe club. I got this from a magazine in the hostel so will look forward to discovering more about them when I can Google at leisure. The ride today was rather marred by needing to trvel along the A99 which is a rather busy road to Wick. We managed to get off it later and enjoyed some more spectacular scenery. ... read more

Homesickness. It’s something that I infrequently have to deal with. When I was leaving Australia I knew what I was getting myself into and I only felt great anticipation rather than fear or loss of what I was leaving behind. Every now and then I guess it’s normal to just crave home comforts. To be honest, most of it is related to food. I miss vegemite on toast, charcoal chicken, dim sims, roast potatoes, tim tams and on the odd occasion twisties. Home cooked meals obviously, even though I’m having meals cooked at a four star restaurant, it really can never compare to familiar tastes. Having a shitty kitchen and shitty cooking resources doesn’t help, neither does being lazy and unmotivated to really cook anything. Well that’s not entirely true. When I first came here, I ... read more