Dai's slow LeJog

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Day 36 Tongue- Thurso ( and Orkney!) 45 miles 1211 miles

The previous evening the weather had dried up and I had enjoyed good views on a short stroll around Tongue. Was the wet weather finally over? - No Chance!!.
This morning the rain was falling like stair rods although the wind had gone - so by the time I got to the top of the long hill out of Tongue i was soaked through once again. This was to be the first of many hills on what was possibly the hilliest route since North Cornwall. Initially the rain was so hard that views were poor again, but thankfully by eleven it had stopped and after a change of clothes in a bus shelter I was able to carry on in comfort.
The road initially varied between one and two lane but as I headed east became more improved and busier. Lovely coastal scenery which would be worth spending more time on. Some good plants by the road side although I didn't see much bird life.
After the crofting township of Melvich the road passed in to Caithness and the landscape became softer and the crags disappeared. The coastal view was dominated by the Dounreay Nuclear facility. By now I was in a farmed landscape with large fields of grass and barley with distinctive stone hedges . As I passed the entrance to Dounreay it was going home time and the next half an hour was rather unpleasant with continuos traffic of the several hundred workers going home to Thurso.

Arriving on the outskirts of Thurso I cut down a side road to Scrabster past the Caithness County Show.

After a short wait I caught the evening ferry to Stromness, Orkney

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Photos

more dreech!
Set off in steady rain - again!

beach at Bettyhill
despite the rain could see there are some splendid beaches on this coast

Melvich
25 miles on and the road has a white line in the middle!