Day 12 - Kinklochbervie (80 kms) - "The Gods smile favorably at last " !

After yesterday's tough "gig" i awoke to find a registered letter (remember them) sitting on my bed signed by Monika indicating that a divorce was likely to be on the cards if such a day was repeated - what really worried me though was that it was co signed by the lower half of my own body (dont ask how) - i made a mental note to placate Monika while convening an "all body parts" meeting to sort out their relevant rievances !

Daring to peak out of our 2nd storey window I noted that while the sun was out revealing a beautiful set of 1,000 meter peaks with smatterings of snow, the wind also appeared to be on the go although how strong and in what direction we wouldn't know until we got on the bikes.

A home cooked breakfast, some bike maintenance and we were on our way across the causeway in Tongue on a steepish but gradual 5 km climb. The wind while noticeable was thankfully no where near as strong as yesterday (yes we were going forward!) so the cycling was almost enjoyable as we passed through the nearby high plateau before descending for an undulating 15 km circuit around beautiful Loch Eribol.

The beauty of cycle touring is that you're often engaged in conversation about where you've come from or where you're going to usually with some descriptor about the weather you're experiencing. What I've learnt is how many people that have stayed in Melbourne as well as how many that recognise the brand of runners that I'm wearing the old favorites KT 26 ers well suited to cycling !

The cycling on the car side of Loch Eriboll was sensational with gentle gradients and the wind at our backs. It didn't take long before we reached the wild looking outpost of Durness with its magical looking white sand beaches. With the sun still out we raided a nearby store and had lunch almost in the form of a picnic overlooking this beautiful area.

With talks of changing weather we were quickly back on the bikes heading now inland towards distant mountains. The single track road required some good judgrement as to who would get to the passing bays first - being stuck midway with a loaded truck or camper van coming head on was not advisable.

The route contained one significant 3 km climb with the surroundings almost as wild as it gets and definitely too cold for kilts ! Monika took it easy on this section with her knee beginning to play up.

Once reaching the summit we had an amazing series of single track downhill all the way to the turn off to Kinklochbervie.

From here it was a testing 3 km ride to our accommodation a converted school house overlooking Loch Inchgard where we collectively breathed a sigh of relief after yesterdays effort.

Day 11 - Tongue (92 kms) - "Oh the inhumanity of it all"!

They say that even through the eye of a needle Scottish scenery looks pretty "speccy" and today was a chance to prove that theory as through fogged up and rain splattered glasses we took in a fogged up and rain splattered landscape where the grey colored buildings were perfectly camoflauged !

This day was tough as it gets and had Monika thinking she'd signed up for the "Tour D'Hell" by days end !

We knew our sunny weather had left us as we departed our lovely hosts at Dunnet Head. Mick the owner, in a dry Lancashire accent, said to us we departed " son the forecast is for rain and then some heavy stuff, but you should at least have the wind helping you" !.

Mick was part right as the rain started as soon as we jumped on the bikes and the cold winds while not directly behind us were at least not in our faces ... yet !

After 25 kms we passed the decommissioned nuclear power station at Dunreay and gave passing thought to asking the caretaking staff to power up so we could stand round the fire to get warm !

The rain by this time was soaking through our clothes and had me thinking I was experiencing some form of hypothermic delirium after I swore I saw the same group of 4 cyclists pass us that I'd seen an hour before - the fact that one of them was wearing shorts really made me think I was hallucinating !

With the hills to come we pulled in for a much needed break giving us a chance to spill water all over the pub floor and at the same time take on board a lifesaving bowl of sweet potato, parsnip and carrot soup - delicious !

Putting our gear back on after lunch was akin to rolling around in your bed after you'd just wet it (.. woops too much information) , damned uncomfortable.

We'd left the pub smiling talking to a pair of cyclists heading in the opposite direction they suggesting they would now have a tail wind - we thought we knew better until we hopped on our bikes and found that we were in fact now riding into a ferocious headwind and it was to stay like that for 45 bloody more Kms !

With the icy winds winds, rain and the never ending hills on our 2nd leg i decided to stay just far enough in front of Monika a) so i could encourage her  b ) so I could avoid being skewered by her bike multi tool !

Km after painstaking km went by with our speed barely topping 5 km /hr ! With our hostel accommodation only open till 8pm we were in real danger of not making it !

At the slow speed I was able to examine my surroundings in minute detail - single lane roads cutting through wild bracken and heather filled landscape with brooding Mtns (some with snow) behind them .. oh and did I tell you about the damned wind !

To cut a long story short, after 9 hours in the saddle and just short of15,000 curses from Monika, we made Tongue just shy of 7pm with the wind still as strong as it had been  since lunch time !

Our accommodation at Tongue in the beautifully situated youth hostel was ideal in that the warm rooms allowed us to put our wet gear out to dry and the shop sold frozen meal dishes - ideal as both of us had barely enough energy to eat let alone ride the 2 kms back to the towns pub !

Day 10 - Dinner Head (70 kms) - " Following the Sun"!

It might have taken nearly 2 weeks but we finally got a glimpse of what spring might look like as the sun finally  appeared on our journey to the Scottish mainland.

We left our late night partying pub to wind our way southwards through the main Orkney Island enjoying a beaut series of downhills

Our route took us along the historic Churchill barriers a series of rock fill and sunken ship debris used to block small channels on the Orkneys to protect the British Fleet during WW1 & WW2.. These barriers were enhanced under Churchills orders in 1939 after a Uboat snuck through defences torpedoing the British battleship HMS Royal Oak causing a staggering loss of 843 men most still entombed.

The military history enroute also included the amazingly POW painted Italian Chapel. On the outside just 2 simple Nissan huts joined together but on the inside elaborately painted walls recreating the design of a chapel - incredible given its affect.

We pushed on to St Margaret's Hope for our catamaran like ferry to the Scottish mainland in breezy but now sunny conditions . I thought Monika had somehow planned her escape when I heard a chopper buzzing directly above us but apparently the huge Coast Guard helicopter was conducting a simulation drill attempting to winch one of its support crew onto the ferry while both were in motion !

Having to shed one of our 14 clothing layers upon docking on the Scottish mainland at Gills Bay, we headed the 7 kms to John O'Groats the celebrated UK end to end finishing point of cyclists  of walkers including ourselves in 2011.

We took time to have lunch in one of the more modern of the many gaudy buildings and sat back to watch some back slapping cyclists open champagne to celebrate the completion of their journey.

Retracing our 2011 steps we headed inland back past our ferry's landing point now into a headwind which Monika thanked me for. Finally we reached our beautifully positioned and designed b&b on Dunnet Head 4 kms shy of the real most northerly land point on mainland UK

After taking a quick culpa and scones, as you do in the UK, we completed the final 4 kms without panniers to take in the magical ocean views looking back to the Orkneys from the top of the head.

Another day on the bikes completed and near to 400 kms cycled so far with a tough day forecast for tomorrow of 100 kms in the rain !

Day 9 - Skara Brae (60 km's) - " A history lesson on the Orkneys " !

Buildings with furniture and shelves to show off family collectables, an  organized family commune that contained not only providers but also craftsman who fashioned jewellery and fashion items and all of this over 500 years before the pyramids were built - this was Skara Brae over 5,000 years ago !

I knew Monika was back into the "rhythm" after our days rest as the "mutter meter" was in the red zone quickly into our days cycle. She had a good reason i guess as her seat post kept sliding down making her look like she was auditioning for the role of a circus clown on a bike !

We made our way across country in the cold breezy conditions with rain showers ever threatening. The first noticeable difference about cycling the Orkneys was a) the scenery was much greener and b) the hills were no where near as severe as on Shetland.

Cutting inland we arrived at the amazing Stones of Stenness with its 6 meter high monolith's and the nearby Ring of Brodgar a beautiful circle of standing stones both UNESCO listed and over 5,000 years old, hundreds of years older than Stonehenge and a few years older than my good mate Kev !

A further 10kms on through lovely farm scenery though was the amazing highlight of Skara Brae one of the Neolithic gems of Europe and only discovered in 1850 after a storm exposed its stone buildings.

Situated perched overlooking windswept Skaill bay this village of 10 stone houses is not only famous for its age (again some 5,000 years) but also for its amazingly preserved evidence of a structured society with orderly buildings that provided for comfort as well as day to day living.

With Monika taking a breather I quickly also took on the nearby Estate building of Skaill House built in 1620 and like the all UK estates with its own fascinating history this one even containing a dining set straight from Captain Cooks fleet after they returned to the UK after Cooks death stopping first in Stromness in the Orkneys.

Overdosed on history we returned to Kirkwall blessed with sun and for the first time on trip some beautiful tail winds !

As luck would have it though we crossed Orkneys only hill on our return just to get Monika's "muttering" going once more before a terrific 5 km descent into Kirkwall to finish a great cycling day and our time in Shetland and the Orkneys

Tomorrow, with more sun on its way, it's time to jump to the Sottish mainland as we cycle our way over to the West coast of Scotland.

Day 8 - Kirkwall - "Caught by the tourist hordes"!

After our late night cycle from our Shetland ferry into Kirkwall we decided to take a well deserved rest day and take in the local sights

Following our first full English breakfast on tour we walked the narrow streets of Kirkwall surprisingly caught right in the middle of a tourist invasion not because of any startling overnight weather improvement but coincidentally because of the arrival of the 19 storey 3,500 passenger ship the Royal Princess complete with a wide mixture of nationalities.

Kirkwall's quiet streets were turned into bustling tourist hubs as the hordes attempted to get full value for their short stop over period

We went with the flow briefly visiting the beautiful 12th century St Magnus Cathedral with its towering cloisters and stained glass windows

With the icy winds most though took to indoor activities such as the gift shops and the many street cafes limiting our ability to take in the quaint towns normal ambience.

For the rest of the day it was some welcome r&r time and an opportunity to plan tomorrows Orkney ride

Day 7 - Lerwick (30 kms) - " Hitting the Cycling Jackpot" !

If you surveyed a group of cyclists about their pet hates you'd find that high on their top ten would be - cycling in teeming rain, cycling against strong headwinds and cycling on high speed traffic roads with no road verge ! Today we amazingly scooped the lot on our difficult 30 km ride to Lerwick to catch our Orkneys bound ferry.

After a good rest following yesterdays heroics we said goodbye to our talkative & genial b&b host Robert who not only has built boats, house extensions and set "taties", but is also a bit of a Shetland Country & Western music identity with his own cd and claim to fame of being a member of Billy Connelly's first ever band !

As it was we timed our exit beautifully to ride straight into a teeming downpour and after only 5 minutes we were not only wet but also having our first road rage event for the day when a following truck demonstrated to us that he knew how to use his horn ! We signalled to him politely that we were impressed by his knowledge by raising our middle fingers in praise !

The wind on the exposed high speed main road was incredible. Some corners required you to lean your bike into the wind while some uphill sections were just too dangerous to ride as the wind at our slow speed caused our bikes to lift and veer towards traffic - not an ideal situation with quite a few drivers doing their own Lewis Hamilton F1 impersonations in the wet conditions.

While we had only 30 kms to cover and 5 hours to reach Lerwick and our ferry, an early assessment indicated that at the pace we were going we weren't going to cover the distance in time!

Thankfully the wind gusts became less frequent although the rain downpours did not with the significant wind chill causing our end bits to really start to feel the cold !

With our heads down and some good ol Aussie persistence we eventually covered the 30 kms in 3 hours with the final few hills into Lerwick being real testers !

In town we headed straight to the Co-op supermarket partly because we were famished and partly because it was heated allowing us to shop and eat our lunch inside while restoring some badly needed body heat.

Joining the ferry's embarkation a kindly NZ company officer allowed us to board our bikes early so we could secure our seats, dry out and relax after a really tough short days ride

On board we met a fellow cyclist who we'd bumped into near Voe who had decided that after 10 days of battling headwinds and rain in Shetland he was heading home to enjoy (tongue in cheek) the sunny Newcastle UK weather !

The 5 hour ferry trip to Kirkwall on Orkney passed pretty quickly for me although it was a tad too long for Monika who spent most of it trying to avoid throwing up because of the heaving swells that caused the ship to steeply pitch. Getting a seat for Dinner was easy as it appears that drinking is the number 1 past time for Scots with food only an after thought !

We disembarked at 10.30 p.m. and yes there was just enough light to cycle our way into town some 3 kms away to be well received by the St Ola pub !

Tomorrow is a rest day with a wander around Kirkwall on the agenda and some time to allow those Shetland wind related nightmares to disappear !

Day 6 - Voe (75 kms) - " Battling the Shetland wind" !

2&1/2 days just to get to our Scottish end to end starting point but there we were yesterday standing with our bikes on the beach at Skaw contemplating the beautiful scenery, the 1500 km southwards journey ahead and how the hell the Vikings accessed Google Maps for their journey to this out of the way place !

One of the great "unknowns" heading south is trying to gauge the effect of the infamous Shetlands wind which  can reach ferocious levels without too much effort ! A news article yesterday in the cafe at Saxa Vord confirmed this highlighting one event in the late 1990's where winds from a storm picked up a hut and its two sleeping tourist inhabitants depositing them sadly deceased some 400 metres away !

As it turned out our glorious spell of sunny weather (12 hours) had in fact disappeared to be replaced with chilly overcast conditions and an energy sapping headwind that plagued us for nearly all of today's distance.

The first 15 kms back to our ferry at Belmont was doable but the 40 kms on the Island of Yell (aptly named because that was exactly what Monika was doing !) was slow torture against the unrelenting headwinds. We stopped at Mid Yell for lunch and a wind respite finding shelter on the beach standing directly behind a sea shipping container !  The rest did though give us a wildlife "gem" when an otter calmly exited from the Sea heading across the beach to his burrow - apparently it was too cold and windy even for him !

Replenished by our somewhat nauseous microwaved pie we headed along a series of wild never ending undulating single track roads to our next ferry port.

An international incident was narrowly avoided en route  when an 8 foot wide truck attempted to pass Monika on an 8 foot wide section of single track rather than wait 10 seconds in a passing bay to allow Monika to cycle by - with the truck inching forward Monika used her knowledge of the Australian vernacular to stun the truck driver into halting to allow her to safely pass - it's not often that you hear someone out swear a truckie so full marks to Monika !

Finally off the island of Yell we made our way to Voe along beautiful loch side scenery albeit now competing with high speed traffic on the main road to Lerwick.

With aching leg muscles we eventually arrived back at our scenically positioned accommodation in Lower Voe. A quick shower and it was out to dinner to the nearby pier pub with fellow B&Bers Judith & Simon to thank them for looking after us 2 days previous when we were stuck without food. The pub was was cleared of the drunken bodies and refuse that had been evident during the Viking festival and served up a good array of food with the fisherman's basket and Valhalla brewed beers clear winners.

Back at our B&B there was time to discuss the world's issues while watching the lovely sunset - if you can call it that given it seems to be still light at midnight !

Tomorrow sees us leaving Shetland as we cycle to Lerwick to catch our ferry to the historic Orkneys.