Left in the early morning to cycle the few kms to Ballicastle and catch an early ferry to Scotland. Well, when I get there it appears that the ferry isn't operating this year... My alternative is to take another ferry at Larne to Cairnryan... a day to cycle to Larne and at least two days south of where I wanted to be in Scotland... Oh well... I have lots of time...

The road from Ballicastle to Cushendall was just grand through green hills and misty forests along a deep valley and from Cushendall I hugged the coast south to Larne.

When I came to Larne, there was a ferry leaving shortly and after a couple of hours' on the ferry I arrived at Cairnryan, Scotland in the early evening.

Cycling north out of Cairnryan, I found myself in familiar territory. Much like Northern Ireland, the scenery was one of high pastures, luscious green and misty forests, hills and cliffs on the sea. I settled down for the night at Ayr.

I got up to a beautiful sunny day. The wind was from the south and I expected to be pushed by it all day... Well, it didn't last. Soon the wind changed, from the northwest, and with it came cold air with clouds and rain. I didn't have much to cycle though... The first 40 kms to Androssan went pretty quickly and I took the ferry to Brodick, Arran Island. Arran is basically a mountain pointing out of the sea... So, from Brodick, I cycled up the mountain, to the pass, and then downhill to Lochranza, the northern tip of the Island, where I settle for the night. Arran's pretty, but very touristy. If it hadn't been raining, the view would've been superb.

In the morning, I took the first ferry to Claernaugh on the Kintyre peninsula (where I wanted to be in the first place) and upon arrival I cycled north up the peninsula (and uphill through mountains). Each village is basically at the head of a fjord and going from a village to the next means cycling uphill to a mountain pass and then downhill to the village.

The first village I passed through was Tarbert. Just beautiful... and a little further on I had a glimpse of the Carnaghi castle across the little river.

Continuing northward, I settled for the night at Oban and in the evening setting sun I was treated to a beautiful view of the town.

On the left side of the picture above you can see what looks like a huge stadium on top of the hill... It's called McCraig's Folly. McCraig started the building of it 150 years ago, during a depression, to offer employment to the Freemasons... To this date, it remains unfinished.

From Oban, I cycled along the Great Glen and its four Lochs northeast to the eastern coast of Scotland

It was a nice, warm sunny morning and as I reached Loch Linhe I was treated to this beautiful view of the lake with an old castle on an island. Around noon, near the head of Loch Linhe, I reached Fort Williams and had a lunch of pastries listening to this bagpiper playing traditional tunes.

I decided to push on in the afternoon to the head of Loch Lochy. And cycled along this beautiful view.

What can I say... All day the weather was fine... the scenery breathtaking, the villages quaint, the roads very cyclable... It was like a little piece of heaven on earth. A particularly pretty area was at the southwestern point of Loch Lochy, between Stronenaba and Glenfintaig where the forest was filled with scented rhododendrons, their magenta flowers in full bloom, neat little house lakeside... I took a break there as well...

Near the head of Loch Lochy, I settled down for the night at South Laggan.

Another beautiful day. I started out early and cycled the length of Loch Oich pretty quickly (it's the smallest lake of the Great Glen) and reached Fort Augustus at the south end of Loch Ness. I was fortunate to catch a glimpse of Nessie (and a photo) before she disappeared in the lake. Nessie's a good thing for the area as the mountains have run down to mere hills and the view is less grandiose.

A bit further on, as I crossed the Invermoriston river, the scenery was so appealing that I stopped for my lunch break.

As I cycled on toward Inverness in the afternoon, a loud rattle bothered me on the back of my bike... Well a couple of welds on my rear pannier rack had failed... I however made it to Inverness without problem though I'd have to stay here a couple of days, this being Saturday, as I'd have a lot of trouble finding someone to re-weld my aluminium rack during the weekend. So I settled down at the Inverness Youth Hostel over the weekend and spent the Sunday wandering around town and the Monday getting my rack welded.

It took quite a bit of running around on Monday to find someone capable of welding aluminium... But in the end, at a truck repair shop, I had it done for free as the welder said that "anyone having cycled 7,000 kms deserves a little help !"

Having decided that I wanted to push forward to the Scandinavian countries, I should get to the very north of Scotland and catch ferries to Norway via the Orkney and Shetland islands. So I cycled my way up the northeastern coast of Scotland, through a grey and foggy day, along a scenery of tundra, and settled at Helmsdale for the night. The picture on the left is an oilrig I could see in the North Sea.

In the morning it was grey, cold and drizzling... So what else is new ? I continued cycling northward along the coast this time, though, with a Swiss cyclist, Simon, whom I had met the night before. We cycled the 30 kms through fog and rain together to Latheron where he continued on the coast to John O'Groats, while I cut due north inland to Thurso and spent the night there.

In the morning, I cycled the short distance to Scrabster and took the earliest ferry to the Orkney Islands. Arriving at Stromness, I settled down for the night. I would be spending two days here waiting for the next ferry to the Shetland Islands.

The main Orkney island is just beautiful and it was fun cycling around and taking in the sights as I met up with Simon again who had taken another ferry from John O'Groats.

When I boarded the ferry to the Shetland Islands, I met with two other cyclists, Mark, a Scotsman, and Horst, a German, who were both cycling the North Sea Cycling Route independently. We would be sticking together until we separated on different routes leaving Bergen in Norway.

Upon arrival at Lerwick, we all settled at the Youth Hostel for the night. I met with two Norwegian young women who were going back home after a week's vacation in the Shetlands. They told me about "brunhost", a caramelized cheese from Norway, that I should taste when I get there. They said its high calorie content would make it a great cycling food. They also told me that the Shetland Islands were a dowry to Scotland from Denmark (who owned Norway at the time) for the marriage of a Danish Princess to a Scottish King. Later, when they learned that I had not shaved since the beginning of my trip, they told me the story of Harald the FairHair who vowed not to cut his hair or beard until he ruled all of Norway in order to marry Gyna, his beloved... We all had lots of fun...

The Shetlands were much like the Orkneys and we didn't spend much time there as the weekly ferry to Norway was leaving the next evening for a night's crossing. Still, it gave us a whole day to wander around Lerwick.

My impression of Scotland ?... Wow !... Scotland’s like a little piece of heaven on earth !... and I’ve talked with other travelers and it appears to be unanimous...

The scenery reminded me a lot of Western Newfoundland. Misty mornings and rugged cliffs seaward topped with luscious and high green pastures... and forests sprinkled with the magenta flowers of rhododendrons... and rocky mountains... and the people, just as warm and friendly as the Irish, but more relaxed and without the damaging obstinate passion...

I had a weld failure on my rear pannier rack and the Scots bent over backwards to find me a welder who could work with aluminium... and when the work was done, they wouldn’t even take my money... Also, In Scotland, I was due for the third inoculation of my hep A/B vaccine... so I stopped at the first convenient hospital to enquire about getting it done... well, the particular vaccine (it appears that it is important to complete the series with the same vaccine) wasn’t widely available in Scotland... but they enquired on my expected route and contacted hospitals and pharmacies along it till they secured a supply and a doctor to administer it when I got there... well above the call of duty !...

In Scotland, I did not feel lonely at all... What more can I say ?

Isn't it charming ?