What a difference a day makes! Woke up to blue skies and, for the first time, a south westerly wind. Spirits were high as we left Carrbridge and headed North trying wherever possible to avoid the A9 and take B roads instead. This involved some climbs rewarded with spectacular views across the Highlands. It made us realise what we missed yesterday.

Covered the first 25 miles to Inverness at an average speed of 19.8MPH with a top speed on the decent to Inverness of 43MPH. I realised that I could not keep up that pace all day and stopped for a well earned coffee in Inverness. We crossed the Moray Firth and then the Cromarty Firth before leaving for B roads again and hugging the Cromarty Firth through Alness and Invergorton.
We arrived at a spot saying “road closed” presuming we would some how be able to get through on our bikes. In fact we came to a river where the bridge had been swept away so had to retrace some of our steps and reach Tain for a late lunch. Unfortunately the winds then changed once again so we made slower progress up the coast to Golspie where we were staying for the night. In fact we were staying inland at a hotel where the owner proudly pronounced he had “no stars”.
A fantastic day, the best so far in contrast to the day before which was undoubtedly the worst. 82 miles covered today and only 75 to John O'Groats!