. Day 109 Tongue to Durness

 

 Date: Wednesday 25^th July 2012   Distance: 31.28 Miles

 

We liked our room, especially the views. Breakfast of smoked- salmon and scrambled eggs was decadent and lovely. We left later than usual just before 10, calling at the village shop for something for lunch. I always wondered what the puffins diet of sand eels looked like and there were oodles pre-packed in plastic but here, for the fishermen.

 

We retraced a bit of the road to get to the causeway. It was much windier than promised by the forecast. Under cloudy skies we went up a 4 mile hill of which we

                                                                                                            

walked 3! Around us the land was peat bog with some cut and laid to dry

Occasionally we heard a duck but there wasn’t much wild life apparent to us up there. There was a trickling stream of cars, caravans and motor bikes and then more so in the afternoon. It is such a pity we have to use the main road even if at times it looks more like a track-it’s the only route.

 

We came down gradually to a river where there were some fishermen and trees! After going round the headland we started following the road around Loch Eriboll. During the war a battleship was hidden here and the bored sailors climbed the rocks to write their names on them. Only a handful of cottages line the shores. We were in Sutherland where sheep outnumber people 20 to 1.

 

We were now on the opposing side to Ben Loyal and the high crags we could see from the Bettyhill Summit. This is golden Eagle territory and we thought we saw one, though it didn’t seem large enough ,it didn’t look like a buzzard. This area is designated as a geo park. We have never seen so many different types and colours of rock in one area. There were sparkling mica encrusted rock, pink granite, striped grey and black rock, quartz and some tinged with green, like copper. Sometimes the rocks were dappled with lichen in round patterns. The strata lay diagonal to vertical. This place would be a geologist’s paradise.

 

We stopped for lunch at a council stockpile of little rocks maybe used for road repair. We could sit on the bigger rocks which were dry and a granite stone slab gave wind relief. The cloud came down so low we had to put our capes on and it was the only time we were wet this day.

 

As we cycled to the end of the Loch we turned and came up the other side and out of the wind. Still some steep sections but less so than previously, we passed salmon farms with the salmon leaping up within their frames. We hope their life is better than that of battery hens.

 

Further on we passed some houses and a B and B- not many but more than the other side. Later on was the house of a ceramic artist Lotte Glob and pieces of sculpture in vibrant colours and original shapes (inspiration drawn from the local geology) decorated her loch-side garden. If we had been in a car I would have certainly liked to have looked at her work but we didn’t seem like credible buyers on the tandem.

 

 

In another garden was a little cafe which served the strongest of instant coffees and black treacle tart made with coconut at 1000 calories a slice. Still it kept us going for the last 9 miles. We passed 2 beautiful sandy beaches and the sea was the most beautiful blue. A yacht hugged the coastline which looked treacherous and a few people ran about on the sand.  A huge granite boulder, amongst other smaller ones , sat on a grassy mound. It looked impossible!

 

We reached The Durness sign before 9 miles but the village stretched out a long way. We cycled by the Youth Hostel where we will stay tomorrow and the sign for Smoo Cave. Our B and B was situated up a hill at the far end of the village. Set back a bit from the road it is a modern log cabin, Aiden House and no one here seemed to know of it, even neighbours who could see it from their garden. We had a nice welcome and it is very comfortable inside with under floor heating.

 

Bob discovered a problem with the front wheel rim- a crack from unnoticed wear and tear. Not good news for the terrain and weight of us plus luggage. We crossed our fingers that a little bike hire place down the road would be able to help in the morning. We eat in Sango Sands Oasis which seems very popular with people from the camp site. Durness has its Highland Games this Friday and for its size it is really busy.