Inverness to Aberdeen (2)

Friday morning now - can you believe it - the worse nights sleep I've had all trip - far too hot despite heating turned off in our dorm and the window open - after the sub zero nights we've been camping out in....

Back to camping at Nairn - after picking out the best of a bad bit of land for pitching the tent we cleared it of cigarette ends, lots of stones and some dog crap (hard and from a small dog thank goodness) (.......)

Discovered that there was a laundry room which protected us from the worst of the wind to cook and eat in - but with a slatted door through which the wind howled - was heaven though because for some reason there was a red sofa in it we could sit on. Tea is invariably a pan of pasta with a tin of tomatoes and a tin of salmon plus some veg if we've managed to get them eg mini sweetcorn plus or minus a sliced up courgette. Would be a nice healthy meal if it wasn't for the biscuits or cake we eat after it, and the large snack we invariably eat when we first put the tent up... I blame it on the cold and keep saying will stop eating as much once it gets warmer - may be on a sticky wicket on that one seeing I read that some wether guru who is 90% correct on these things says we're in for a cold and wet summer - what a wonderful thought!!!

Left the next day in cool, overcast and miserable weather and the occasional sleet and hail shower, but by mid day the weather had improved to sunny spells, and if you could find a sheltered spot was actually very pleasant. Wonderful scenery - rolling hillsides (a pain for cycling with the loaded bikes though) full of bonny looking cattle, calves,sheep and lambs, beautiful looking pasture and lots of arable reparations going on with tractors bombing around all over the place. I wish I knew my flowers, birds, bugs, trees etc better as there is so much to see. Via the small city of Elgin with its equally small cathedral - we were aiming for a campsite at the mouth of the river Spey - over a very spectacular and wide old iron railway bridge - the northerly wind was horrendous and freezing here, straight off the sea. Also there was no obvious campsite - it appeared to have been built on. A lady driving past said that it was OK to camp on the grass by the sea - but no where sheltered enough except in the rough areas on the golf course next door - didn't think we would be welcome there though.... There was a water point which the lady said might have been turned on for the summer - was a bent over piece of pipe - Roger went to investigate it and unbent it - boy was it on all right - a strong stream of water came straight at me in the face.

As it was still relatively early we decided we'd cycle on to the next campsite on our cycle strip map at Cullen Cove, 10 miles or so away - a delightful long downhill into town - an interesting place with an impressive high viaduct with an old railway line integrating very well into the town. Unfortunately the campsite was back out of town on the other side, up long steep hill with good views over the town and the sea - but when we got there, even though lots of space we were not allowed to camp there as they'd made the decision last year to stop taking campers - caravans only now..... Seemed very unfriendly to not let us camp out there for the night as was getting very cold and miserable. Back on the bikes again, and another 3 miles or so of up and down took us to a campsite at Sandend - an old fishing village- and a delightful place. Only us there and a spot overlooking the beach - we were either much more sheltered here or the wind had dropped - a lovely if cold evening. If you think we are mad - there are madder people - out surfing in their wetsuits looking like seals bobbing around in the freezing cold water. Also there was lovely warm laundry room- not drafty door this time, but also no comfy red settee to lounge on. Had to cook, eat and read stood up lounging against the washing machines. Our longest days cycle yet - 58 miles.

Rained hard overnight but Wednesdaywas a lovely morning when we woke up - the first time I've woken up warm and 'toasty' on the trip to the joy of the warmth of the early morning sun. A lovely days cycle, but very hilly and hard work, so we'd had enough by the time we got to Turriff - there was definitely a campsite here, the next one was over 10 miles of hills away and I had a sneaking feeling that it wouldn't be there when we got there, and there was no real alternative to where we could spend the night if it wasn't there. The campsite was where the old station must have been - all grassed over now thought, but a raised area with a wall that would have been the platform area. Very useful wall anyway for cycle campers wanting to sort out their stuff. The coldest night yet - temperatures down below freezing I would guess - not good for getting me out of my pit in the morning. I'm very reptilian - Roger gets up first and goes for a shower/shave, and depending on how warm it is/isn't I either start my 'emerging and shedding' process then or wait till he brings me a cuppa half an hour os so later. The first task is to put Rogers bedding away - still wrapped up in all my own - deflate and roll up the blowup pillow (much better than it sounds...) and put it in it's bag; Stuff the silk inner into it's bag; stuff the black fleecy liner into its bag; then stuff the 2-3 season sleeping bag into its bag. These all then go into a black waterproof liner,and along with a lightweight towel and the book we are reading makes up one of the front panniers. Bit by bit after this I start shedding my own bed clothes and packing them away - at some point having a break to drink my cuppa and eat my dish of mixed cereals and blueberries if we have any (no milk which I don't like)which takes a bit of time because it is so dry.

Our clothes for the trip go the second front pannier - one each, along with wash bags and the very important hot water bottle.

Roger's two back panniers have the cooking stuff; stove, pan,knives and forks, wooden spoon, sharp knife, cups, plates etc and thermos flask, plus any food we have.

My two back panniers have the notebook pc (very well padded), the first aid kit,the very heavy maps and route descriptions (and only for the first half of the trip as Janet and Barry have the rest to bring with them when they meet up with us in Denmark in July for 2 weeks cycling), the 'electrical bag' - full of all the chargers and other stuff eg ipod, nintendo etc, two pairs of crocks - very lightweight but bulky and a pain to pack, plus our fleeces if we're not wearing them.

The final bag we each carry is a large backwater proof bag - one with the tent and ground sheet in, the other with the bedmats (thermorests) and tent poles and pegs.

Oh - and then we have a front box each with the day to day essentials in,and I carry a small rucksack on my back - when it's hotter it carries water to drink on the way,but is usually relatively empty unless we've called it to do a food shop etc.

We're getting into the ritual of unpacking and packing up - each of us has our own part to play so goes quite smoothly usually.

Thursday (yesterday) was the hardest and most challenging day yet for us. A lovely, if hilly morning ride took us to Maud by lunchtime, and the start of a 30 mile section of old railway line that took you to within 7 miles of the centre of Aberdeen. We expected this to be a doddle - but was incredibly hard work - into a very strong and unpredictable head and sidewind along exposed bankings on a narrow gravel track that had had fine loose sand like gravel infilled into it - which stopped the bikes dead (would have been fine on lightweight mountain bikes)if they took you by surprise. Felt like we wouldn't be able to make it at quite a few points, but no real choice but to carry on as in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was very pretty at times, we were following a fast flowing narrow stream for much of the way through field full of animals. Must admit that after the first hour or so of the difficult riding the going got so tough I didn't really spend any time looking at the surroundings - all my energy went in keeping the bike going forwards and staying upright - sometimes felt like we were crawling along.

And then suddenly we came round a bend and there were loads of people walking fast along the path - just finished for the day at a factory or equivalent and walking the half mile to the end of the disused bit of the railway to where the last 7 miles into Aberdeen is still in use, the station situated next door to the airport. Wham bang, we went from the desolation of a wind swept countryside into the busy commuter traffic of a very congested outer suburbs of Aberdeen. Forgot how tired we were and how much our legs were aching from the ride along the disused railway line as had to duck and dive through the traffic and find our way into the city we had left 3 weeks ago. Very useful that we had a feel for the city centre so we could navigate our way across to find the youth hostel - shame we stopped off at a food shop to stock up for tea and breakfast as meant we got caught in a heavy rain shower that had been threatening all afternoon in the last 5 minutes before we arrived.

Very busy here - full mainly of young folk backpacking around the world - plus a group of 3 mopeds and backup group - they are mopeding around the coast of the UK for 'Help our Hero's'. As I said earlier, Roger and I had to go in separate dorms, he was sharing with 5 or 6 other blokes, I was in a smaller 2 x 2 bunk room with only one other person - she works in Aberdeen and lives in Edinburgh so stays over during the week here.

As I've been writing this Roger has been out and bought some crumpets and bread, and been feeding me with cups of tea and crumpets with freegon blackcurrant jam (delicious). Time to pack up now and go back into the city centre to try to buy a windshield for the cooker- forgot to bring it with us - tried to get one in Inverness but couldn't get one. Not sure how much go there will be in the old legs today after yesterday - so may not end up cycling very far today - a grey looking day outside, but Roger tells me it's not too cold - damp but not raining.

So, in summary of the 500 miles we've cycled so far - the Shetlands were 4 seasons in 10 minutes, the Orkeneys 4 seasons in an hour and Northern Scotland was 4 seasons in a day. Wonderful scenery - and look forward to coming back with the campervan to explore alot more of the area. We both really liked the 'bulge' from Inverness east to Aberdeen - an area you never really come to as it's out on a limb - well worth a visit though if you are up this way in the future.