Day 22 Cromarty to Crask Inn.

 B'fast for 730 then ferry at 830. We were the only passengers across to the Nigg side. A good view is had of a Rig being repaired in the drydock. 

The route goes for 7 or 8 miles NE then NW a similar distance to reach Tain. Here we make a beeline for the coffee shop and have more fuel. Well I do, Julian had  had porridge and felt ok. 

North from Tain route 1 is on the A9, only for a mile and a half but its long enough and then its onto the Bonar Bridge road. This is quieter but one of the roughest stretches we have ridden on. 

Lunch stop at Bonar bridge, nice tearoom on the corner opposite the hotel. We meet an Ozzie, Bob, doing Lejog supported by his wife in car. He has a Garmin device for his route but has had problems with it. He is doing the end 2 end over 2 weeks. 

Checking the map its 10 miles to Lairg, mostly on a quiet road , then 13 to the Crask Inn. The B road goes past the Falls of Shin but on stopping at the carpark the dreaded little monsters make their presence felt so we don't hang around.  We get to Lairg but there is not a lot to see and the coop is closed due to a bereavement so we carry on. 

To our amazement the sun is almost getting through and we take a break at the side of the road. Several cyclists go by and none stop but we exchange a couple of cheery 'afternoons'. A group of 10 is amongst them , we meet them later at the Crask. They are all from Southend and are raising money for prostate cancer. I get chatting to one of them later in the Crask and he used to go sailing in Burnam on Crouch in the '70's. We talk about Tucker Browns and Joe the boatman.

We get to the Crask about 5 and Mike welcomes us. We check out our accommodation then have a beer infront of the stove which has been lit. We meet some of the cyclists we saw earlier then wash and change for dinner. There are 21 for food tonight so the menu is passed around as there are some limitations on choice and we decide what we want. 

The steak pie is delicious and followed by  rhubarb crumble and ice cream. 

Tonight we are 'camping' in the wendy house. Settling down i spot a couple of holes where the midges are coming in so its out with the sticky tape to seal them up. 

The overflow accommodation - the wendy house. 

I am feeling tired and am very quickly asleep. Two days to go and i can feel myself looking forward to the finish line.