Highland Wonders with Nigel & Steve July 2014.

[Lonewolf]

 Afternoon folks,  Well we're both back in the wonderfully civilised City of Bradford having arrived late yesterday afternoon. Nigel will be heading home later this morning when he eventually drags himself out of bed and heading back down to the smoke on the tractor, sorry beautifully engineered GS.
All in all a great little trip, which included an unscheduled detour on a ferry, both of us almost running out of fuel at one stage on Skye and then Nigel struggling to interpret the pink line dictating the route on his BMW (Superior to Garmin) sat nav as we exited Edinburgh because Nigel reckoned that the quadrophonic speaker system was affecting his sensory judgement.

Twas an early departure, up at 4am and off by 5am on Friday 11th July, hardly a soul on the road and we obviously made very good progress out towards the M6 beyond Kirby Lonsdale where we briefly stopped to stretch our legs and absorb the freshness of the air.



I was travelling with a dedicated GS fanatic so it was important to occasionally take a few pics of his bike.....



You would have thought though that he would have cleaned it before he set off wouldn't you?



From Devils Bridge, we joined the M6 North to the sound of the sat navs announcing, "Continue for 147 miles" we both chuckled, Geoff would be pulling his hair out and screaming at that instruction.

In order to break up the monotony of all those miles we had a pit stop or two on route.



And before we knew it we'd blasted past Glasgow and landed in Loch Lomond where Nigel started snapping away with my camera at anything and everything. (See what I mean)



Camera reclaimed by it's rightful owner I was permitted to take a few shots.



We got talking to this Scottish lass with her kids and a dog, a lovely tri colour Cocker down by the Loch. People are just so friendly in these parts.



A tranquil scene of a boat bobbing up & down by the jetty with a beautiful clear blue sky in the background, sheer bliss.



The Loch Lomond Cruise Ship returning.



From Loch Lomond we pushed on towards Glencoe, so far so good. We usually stop at this car park which overlooks some of the mountain ranges and gives a tremendous elevated view of the stunning countryside. Another opportunity for some 'arty' bike shots.





And one of my mush.



And a couple of shots of the stunning scenery.......





This amused us both....why would you name a coach company after a disease? Ok, ok we know it doesn't say rabies but it may as well.



As you enter the Highlands you have to take advantage of the readily available props as they provide a great photo opportunity.







We stopped off at the road side on route to what we thought was Skye and even got talking to a couple who asked us if we were going to Mallaig, not knowing where Mallaig was I just said "Yes" and thought nothing more of it. Anyway we did still get some great photos while we were there in the layby.






Not all the photos were great, some were ruined by the rather gay stance of this individual.



Anyway all good things must come to an end as the saying goes, we had realised that we hadn't gone through Spean Bridge from Fort William but thought nothing of it. It seems we inadvertently took a wrong turning due to me missing a waypoint out on the sat nav and instead of going to Skye via Kyle of Lochalsh we ended up 120 miles (round trip) off course.

We instantly realised this because we are both highly tuned & skilled navigators when we were faced with this.......



Although we had landed well prior to the 16:00hrs ferry leaving apparently it was all booked up so we had to wait for the last ferry which was at 18:00hrs. It was either that or travel over a 100 miles back and around the proper way which we didn't fancy doing for the sake of a £16 ferry fare.

So we twiddled our thumbs and made a general nuisance of ourselves parking our bikes where we shouldn't have and being told to move them while taking a few more piccies.



This rig was huge and the photos don't really do it justice, just glad I wasn't paying for the fuel it would use.





Now if there's one thing I don't like it's ferry's. I suffer from terrible sea sickness and although the water was calm I didn't feel too clever out on the water. I was extremely grateful when we docked on Skye.

The crew tied the bike down insisting it would be just fine but a precaution for insurance purposes I took a couple of pics, but thankfully they were solid and didn't budge.





Eventually we arrived on a damp Isle of Skye much, much later than intended but stage one of the journey had still gone reasonably well. We soon found our accommodation Skye Picture House and got settled in.





Basic rooms, but functional for our needs.



Stunning views from the property, shame it was a bit overcast, but that's Skye for you.







We had two nights on Skye and on the Saturday we explored the island picking out this scenic location at Uig by the Castrol 45 gallon drums for a photo or two.





We decided despite the weather to do Applecross, or Pass of the Cattle as it used to be called many years ago.



We did some filming too and at one point almost had the Go Pro run over by a Landrover using the road behind the bikes in the above photo. Thankfully I got to it in the nick of time.

Once over at Applecross we were soon met by two couples who had travelled a few minutes behind us over the pass on their GS's with everything barring the kitchen sink. They were doing a Lands End to JOG trip and like us, were intending to get to JOG the following day.



We chatted for a while and then had some lunch at the Applecross Inn before completing the return journey which I swear was worse than the initial trip over.



That evening back at our B&B we experienced the best sun set I had seen for years. Truly outstanding with its array of colours.



The following day, after yet another hearty full Scottish breakfast we set off for JOG via Ullapool, Lairg, Bettyhill, Tongue & Thurso on some great roads many of which were single track routes with multiple passing places. On route we experienced a confused German coach driver who forgot which side of the road he should have been driving on. My that was funny, or at least it was for him judging by how much he was laughing as he swerved to his left as he approached us.

Ullapool was ok, I think looking back this was the first location we were able to buy fuel after setting off. We got talking to a young woman from Texas who was shivering and trussed up in a coat despite what we thought was very fair weather. She did say though that back in Texas it was 110 degrees, so we'll give her that one.

Ullapool, a few random shots.







And the high street where we popped into a café and had a lovely lunch and some cake.



This photo below was taken on one of the isolated single track routes between Lairg and Tongue if my memory serves me correctly, not a soul in sight anywhere.



And then finally, and relatively easily we arrived at JOG and headed down to have a mandatory photo taken by the infamous sign. Numerous silly photos of each other and then we cajoled a member of the public into taking one of the pair of us with the bikes.









The chap who took our photo here had just concluded a mammoth walk, end to end with his wife which had taken 79 days. I took a few pics of them and have forwarded them some photos as promised. Huge respect to them, I'm not convinced I could walk that far.



The JOG hotel standing close by & the harbour.





Fom there we just need to get to our accommodation for the evening. It took a bit of finding, but boy...was it worth it when we did.
There's always one lot of accommodation which stands out from the rest that you have booked and this was without a shadow of a doubt it!!





My room.





The lounge area. (Our lounge area).







Nigel's untidy room.





That evening we went down to a local bar for some food and a few pints as you do, great seafood as you would expect.



We then sat out with our hosts and their dog, drinking their beer & cider whilst awaiting the inevitable sunset.......






which like all good things eventually arrives if you are patient.



The following morning we were faced with an enormous choice of food and an equally enormous helping of actual food. Needless to say....one of managed to eat it without any difficulty. He likes his food does Nigel.





Monday morning after the hearty breakfast we headed down the A9 to our next destination of Edinburgh. We arrived at just after 4pm to a rather antiquated hotel which was a bit freaky with its furnishings and décor but the bed was clean and we had a well deserved rest. Excellent secure parking facilities which were a bonus.






The rooms weren't as nice as we'd had the previous evening in JOG but they were adequate.





We did go out round Edinburgh in the evening and apart from the food we had at some venue I was a bit disappointed with Edinburgh. Its about 35 years since I was last there and it seems to me at least to have let its standards slip.

Nevertheless it was on our list of places we wanted to visit and visit it we did. The final leg of the journey saw us heading to the Tanhill Inn at Swaledale before landing back in Bradford.

As I said, we both did some filming which I'll try to turn round and put something together during the next week. Hope you enjoy reading the thread and looking at the photos.

[stoketim]

Steve / Nigel looks like you had a great trip, great photos,
Steve how did you get on with the beadrider? 

[PCPeteUK]

Great write up - very nice trip....well done guys.

[Lonewolf]

Colin, the Beadrider was great. Definitely worth the money.

[Zebedee]

What a great write up really enjoyed it. Happy to see the Bead Rider got a mention :):):):)


Sent from my iPhone by mini Elves.

Zeb

[pross]

Colin, the Beadrider was great. Definitely worth the money.

It looked like you lashed it down well on the ferry 

[pross]

It looked a good trip is your route anywhere to look at and the hotels 

[O.C.]

Great report and accompanying pictures, thanks for sharing

P.s I know that car park in Kirkby Lonsdale very well.   

[Lonewolf]

It looked like you lashed it down well on the ferry 

The crew tied it down, that way if it toppled its their fault in my book. That was another reason for me taking photos of it and I actually said to Nigel as I took the photo, this is for insurance purposes. But the crossing was very smooth and there were no issues.

[Kwikasfuki]

Colin, the Beadrider was great. Definitely worth the money.

I'm going to sell mine. Doesn't work for me

[Rusty]

Well done Steve .... Excellent write up and some great Gs piccies I thought ! Especially those helmets on the table ... Well I never !
I have to thank Steve and Mrs Steve for lodging me a couple of nights ... Very decent of you. A great few days indeed, and for me just over 1700 miles from door to door. The bikes were excellent as were the roads and scenery.
I shall get some piccies on tomorrow when I find the time ... The Gs is going to have to wait for a clean and now I'm off to bed 

[pross]

The crew tied it down, that way if it toppled its their fault in my book. That was another reason for me taking photos of it and I actually said to Nigel as I took the photo, this is for insurance purposes. But the crossing was very smooth and there were no issues.

I meant the bead rider 

[Lonewolf]

  I thought you meant the actual bike.

[Debs]

Great write up Steve..

Scotland is one place Iv'e never been on baby..

I think Nigel needs some lessons on how to stand without looking so gay... 

[pross]

Great write up Steve..

Scotland is one place Iv'e never been on baby..

I think Nigel needs some lessons on how to stand without looking so gay... 

It does look nice I've never been either