Perfect blue sky this morning although still a bit breezy. Hadn't even gotten to the end of the road before I picked up another £5 donation. Crossed the river and headed over Brora golf course, which, like Dornoch, was in the sand dunes right next to the sea. The two couple that had stayed at Kyle View two nights ago were on the first tee! Can't get away from people recognizing me.
As the weather was so nice and I only had a "short" day today, I decided not to waste the opportunity to relax and enjoy the surroundings so sat on the dunes in the sun for a couple of hours. Eventually the clouds built up which was my signal to move on, running through the undulating dunes between the golf course and the sea. There were a few "free range" cows and sheep wandering the dunes and some were in the sea which was as bit weird. A couple of arctic terns were nesting on the beach and at one point were in gander of being squished by the roaming cows. Unfortunately the beach footpath came to an end at which point I had to cross the railway line and pick up my favorite route, the A9 although it is beginning to get a bit quieter I must admit.
The road now gently rose and fell past remote houses and the odd farm. Fields of cows and sheep were separated by stone walls and I could have been forgiven for thinking I was looking at Hadrian's wall at one point, the way had followed the edge of the cliffs with occasional stony buildings looking like the turrets on the true version. A couple of cars tooted their support of my efforts but these made me jump each time!
After dropping down a hill into the village of Portgower the road became increasingly narrow and one the blind corners it was impossible to move until the approaching cars had passed as they came too fast and too close to the curb for comfort. Lots of arctic terns were nesting on the beaches near Helmsdale; the fact they are here just shows how far north I am!
Helmsdale itself was originally a Viking settlement and in the early 18 hundreds was an important fishing station. Once again my fame has proceeded me as the LEJOG cyclists I met in Drumnadrochit stayed here and I was apparently the subject of conversation! There is a group from HMS Sutherland staying here - their ship[ is currently undergoing repair and servicing so the crew do community projects within the Sutherland county and have been here since Monday putting in a footpath down to the shore for the community to use.
I'd passed on the fish and chips from one of the top take aways all those weeks ago in Indian Queens and got so much abuse via the blog comments that I haven't made the same mistake twice. The one in Helmsdale ; La Mirage has appeared on TV and been commended by "The Two Fat Ladies" as being one of the best in Britain - certainly I couldn't complain about the size of the portion unless to say it was too big; two pieces of fish and a huge pile of tasty chips for a fiver - bargain!
Mileage 12.28 Time 2.35
Total mileage 1149.99
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