I drop off quite quickly but wake up again at around 23:00.  I can now hear someone in the next room as my head is right by the adjoining wall and they are snoring.  This isn’t normal snoring though, it’s a bizarre noise which is a repetition of something like ooo – OOOOOOOO – waaaaa.  The “waaa” tends to vary in length and it is simultaneously funny and annoying.

Despite this entertaining backing noise, I drop off and have a good nights’ sleep and wake up bright and early.  Today is a relatively short day and I’m heading to Lochinver via Durness and Smoo Cave.  I’d like to get to Cape Wrath but there aren’t any roads, so I might have to make do with getting as close as possible.  I also need to go shopping at Durness as this evening is self-catering.

Breakfast is amazing – 10/10.  It’s a really good start to the day. 

While I’m working my way slowly through it, I chat with a young couple from Cornwall who are doing the NC500 clockwise.  They’re doing it in the same time that I’m taking and doing it on bicycles!  Well, that makes me feel pathetic, although the husband admits that it’s taking quite a toll on his posterior.  There is also a terribly polite Dutch couple here who are going round anti-clockwise like me.  They also hated Wick, which just goes to show what sensible people they are.

Much though I’d like to hang around here for a while longer, I do have to get going and so I start navigating through the narrow roads surrounding the hotel.  My first stop is at the Kyle of Tongue.  The road here goes across the Kyle in a spectacular curve and the aerial view of this was what encouraged me to do the NC 500 in the first place.  Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to park up to get a similar view.  However, the view from the roadside is still amazing and I get out and take some photos.  It’s definitely brisk today, but well worth it.

Just so you understand why this place inspired me to do the NC500, here is the view from above.

I then drive off, out of the Kyle and head across the Moine.  The Moine is bleak and windswept.  Again, there are very few places to stop, and when I eventually I find one I pull over.  When there are no cars, there is absolutely no noise here apart from the wind.  I stand in a flat area with excellent views of several Bens: Hope, Loyal, Tongue, Breac and Hutig.

From the Moine, the road heads back towards the coast and as I leave this flat, central area, the landscape changes.  There is only one thing to say about this section of the NC 500: What a road!

What

A

Road!

It’s single track all the way and the scenery is absolutely spectacular.  The further I go, the closer I get to the crags of the western ranges and they are amazing.  However, there is nowhere to stop, so I have little chance to stop and take photos.  I could do what some people have done and park in one of the passing places, but I refuse to do that so that I don’t become one of the people that I am currently swearing at.  After a while, I find myself behind another car, so I slip back into the standard approach that I’ve been taking and it works really well.  Until I come across some muppet who’s using a passing space to park up and take photos.

I get to Ceannabeinne Beach which has the Golden Eagle Zipline across it and I get there in time to watch someone fly across the bay.  It’s a fantastic beach and an amazing view.  The car park is halfway up the cliff and I head down to ground level.  When I get back up, a biker pulls over and stands in the middle of the road on a blind bend so that he can take a photo.  Seriously, do you want to get knocked over?

On the way to my next stop at Smoo Cave, I get a demonstration of what happens when you drive like a dick.  I pick up someone behind me who, rather than the sensible 2 passing places tactic, decides to tailgate me.  This causes huge fun (for me) when I pull into a passing place that only has enough room for one car.  When last seen, he was reversing back to the previous passing place and making a right pig’s ear of it!

Smoo Cave has a tiny car park and I’m lucky that a couple in a van pull out just as I arrive, so I snag their space.  The descent to the cave is down a switchback series of steps and then across a wooden bridge.  For a moment, I think I’m having a heart attack as the bridge seems to be moving under my feet.  It turns out that the bridge is, in fact, moving as it is not fixed at both ends.  I comfort myself by watching other people who react to it even worse than I do.

Smoo cave is a large entrance and a relatively small interior. You can access the waterfall chamber without paying – but unfortunately, the last couple of days have been too dry and the waterfall isn’t flowing.  The tour starts off in an inflatable boat and I watch a group being paddled across.  I then head back outside and pay for the tour.  The guys running the tour (Fraser and Callum) are excellent.  Both are part of a caving group that works to explore the caves and are very keen about what they do.  The money for the tour goes to funding the continued exploration of the caves.  It is short, but interesting and I would recommend it to anyone.  Which I almost immediately do, as on the way back up the steps I encounter the lady I was speaking to last night and I convince her and her sister to take the tour as well.

On to Durness now and lunch at Cheese n Toasted because they are award winning toastie makers.  I opt for the Highlander: 3 cheeses with haggis and peppercorn sauce.  Add a bottle of water and a hot chocolate and I’m golden.  Cheese n Toasted is right beside Durness beach, and although it’s windy, it’s a marvellous view over lunch.

I’m not going to be able to get to Cape Wrath.  The closest I can get is Balnakiel Beach, so I stop off there and have a little wander around.  I then grab some provisions for the evening and take a slow drive to Riconich.  The scenery is amazing and the driving is great fun.  I’m getting used to the roads now and am taking on some of the challenges with more confidence – this includes a convoy of cars and, later on, a long group of motorbikes.  All are very sensible – and very polite as I wait in passing places for them to get by.  I mention this, because some people seem to think that the road is wide enough for a car and a motorbike – believe me, it isn’t.

At Riconich, I head for the Ardbeg Guest House (Ardbeg House B&B in beautiful area NC500 (Room 2) – Bed and breakfasts for Rent in Rhiconich, Scotland, United Kingdom – Airbnb).  This is my first AirBNB and is a bit of a surprise.  It’s a lonely building, sited at the entrance to a side road to the main route.  Anywhere else, this would mean that there would be constant traffic noise – not so here, when the traffic is extremely rare.  I’ve got my instructions for getting in and am a little nervous as I’ve heard some horror stories about them.

I didn’t need to worry.  Susan, the owner, is incredibly friendly and she shows me to my room and then to the guest lounge.  She then insists on giving me Lemon Drizzle cake which is homemade and tastes absolutely excellent.  I spend the next couple of hours drinking coffee and chatting with another resident and we put the world to rights.

They are dining elsewhere, so the evening is left to me and my array of unhealthy snacks.  I have been warned that there may be a borealis tonight, so I will try to stay awake.