Day 11 (14th Sept) Dalnacardoch to Inverness

Lovely night at the Bluett's - thank you! Started in ok time despite long journey to get there. Our first entire day of rain - real, wet, Scottish rain! Victoria fully prepared (not that that is possible in Scottish weather, as we discovered) head to toe - leggings and 2 pairs of socks to the knees - quite a look! Set out over the Highlands for lunch at Aviemore, with its very unhospitable hotel (who kicked us off their terrace for eating our picnic, in the pouring rain, despite having been told it was ok to sit there :-( ! Real struggle to get going after lunch due to general freezingness! Soaked through literally to the bone, had to change clothes (not that they stayed dry for much longer!) Weather had deteriorated but battled on, as our legs turned to lead due to the cold. Victoria's speedometer decided it disliked the rain more than we did and totally packed up, which leaves an afternoon's blank in our calculations. We were all doubting that we would make it all the way to Inverness. Ended up on the new A9 at the end, which seemed to turn from a fairly busy dual carriage way into a four lane motorway! Fairly hairy! Made it to the door of our very cosy B&B, the proprietors of which very kindly tumble-dried our clothes and put our sodden shoes in the airing cupboard. Definitely our least enjoyable day!

Total distance: unknown exactly due to broken speedometer - approx 67 miles