June 27 - Cromarty to Brora

Well, the daily rain has now shifted to daily wind. Yesterday was quite windy; today started out even windier. The ferry across the Firth actually stopped operating on the previous afternoon. So I was relieved to see it coming across the Firth. This was a funky little ferry; only able to take two cars and with a fold-out entryway. Even though it was quite windy and the water had a significant chop, it was mostly a smooth ride across to Nigg. I passed the assembly plant for the oil rigs. What a huge building! And, from there, headed down to the coastline and the tri-towns of Shandwick, Balintore, and Cadboll. After passing through these quaint little seaside towns, I stumbled upon an ancient chapel (or the ruins of one). It had an interesting reproduction of a Celtic monument; I guess the original is in a museum somewhere. But the outlines of the chapel were clear in the grass, with a few stones poking out here and there. I am constantly amazed by the sheer number of ancient ruins that are in decent shape here in Scotland.

Mothballed drilling rigs

On to Tain! When I first started looking into a trip to Scotland, I of course started trying the different brands of Scotch. Until last winter, I had never tried any whiskey, let alone any single malt Scotch. Well, the first one I tried happened to be Glenmorangie. And as it so happened, Glenmorangie is distilled in Tain. Which was right on my route. A happy coincidence? I think not! Serendipity? or Fate? Whatever...

So I stopped in Tain for lunch. I had Fish & Chips. OK, I guess. They made me pay for my ketchup packets. 10p for each one. I can't think of another instance in my entire life where I had to pay for ketchup packets. Oh well... the fish was tasty.

Back on the road, I battled the increasingly hostile wind for a couple miles to the distillery. I had not planned to take the tour, since I already took the tour at the Ben Nevis distillery on Day 2. But there was a tour starting shortly, and I just said, what the hell. So I joined in with a group of Norwegians who were sailing around Scotland, and had stopped in for the tour and a day in Tain. We had a pretty cool lady showing us around. The highlight of the tour was probably when she opened up a door in the fermentation tank, and asked us to stick our nose inside. Wow, was that strong! It smelled like ammonia, though I don't really know if that was what actually burned our noses. Yowza. The tall distilling tanks are supposed to insure that only the lightest of the alcohols are distilled; the heavier alcohols condense in the tall stacks and fall back into the wash (the term they use for the fermenting liquid). I bought a sampler of the scotches they call "wood finishes", that is, whiskys that are aged in barrels that previously held port, madeira, and sherry. I already had a bottle of their 12-year single malt whisky. (Notice the difference in spelling? In the US, it is usually spelled with the "e", in Scotland it is never spelled with the "e".)

Glenmorangie Distillery (tallest distilling tanks in Scotland)

OK, a sample dram and it's back on the highway. Well, maybe I waited around the distillery for a while to make sure my head was clear before I headed back out again. It wouldn't do to be arrested for drunk cycling while on a bike tour, now would it?

Once away from town and the distillery, the road opened up and the wind really hit me in the face. It was quite an adventure crossing the Dornoch Firth, with the wind coming from the left with a vengeance. Fortunately, just after crossing the bridge, I turned to the right and the wind became a quartering tailwind. Whew... Unfortunately, this was about the time that I noticed the rear wheel had quite a wobble, and my suspicions were confirmed when I found a broken spoke. On the freewheel side, of course. D'oh! I guess this bike was not built for carrying full packs and a 190-pound rider!

OK, so I'll hobble through the rest of the day, then see what I can do with the bike this evening. The owners of the B&B said that they were cylists. Maybe they have some tools that I can borrow to fix it. Anyway, I passed through Dornoch (nice town, another on my list to visit when I can spend more time). Passed Dunrobin Castle, a much-admired and much-visited castle. But I'm not all that interested in visiting inhabited castles. It feels like I'm intruding, and I don't really have a thing for ogling other people's opulence. So I just breezed on past the castle and on to Brora. Stopped for dinner and shopping for a few snacks in town, since I knew the B&B was
out of town.

Passed another Broch along the coast. Not too much of it was left, but I must admit that its location was excellent, right on the coast. I wandered around this one for about an hour, trying to imagine what it looked like when it was at its full height of 30 or so feet. Impressive!

Got to the B&B, no worries, and very nice people. I got to watch part of an episode of the Simpsons with the host, and as luck would have it, it was the episode where Homer and Groundskeeper Willie go to Scotland to snare the Loch Ness Monster for Mr. Burns. The scene where Willie meets his parents is a hoot, and my host thought it was hysterical. Well, they were very nice people, but they didn't have any bike tools. They did, however, mention a Bike Bothy (bothy is a shack) in town, so I guess I'll head over there in the morning.