Log No 45. Wed 22nd May 2013 - Evanton to Nigg Ferry, 21 miles (763 miles walked)

It was to be all road walking today and I made an early start at 07.25 in the sunshine.

With a lighter rucsac I expected to make good time and the wind was behind me.

The only thing that slowed me down was having to keep putting the waterproofs on and off.

Aside from the black clouds the showers were generally preceded by the wind picking up and they were very heavy.

It took 2 hours to reach Invergordon and there was a different liner in today.

Invergordon seems a strange place to me for liners to visit but I'm sure the locals and tour operators will tell you different.

The tide was high in Nigg Bay, not that I was going to try to walk across it anyway, I took the minor road round getting to the crossroads at Arabella at 12.25 where I stopped for lunch.

I had no idea of what the bus routes were or any times, the bus shelter at Arabella had no schedule listed. My smart phone also refused to show me any information.

Plenty of cars passed me but no buses.

I had a shower of hailstones on this stretch of the road.

Walking past the Oil Terminal I got to Nigg Ferry at 14.10.

To say I was disappointed with the place was a gross understatement, it looked abandoned, no buses ever come here and the ferry across to Cromarty is supposed to run in the summer, it is obviously not summer yet.

I turned right around and started walking back the way I had come, luckily after about a half hour a car from the terminal stopped and gave me a lift into Tain.

After checking bus times for tomorrow I got the bus back to Evanton.

Walking back into the campsite I found my tent surrounded by the army, there was a support group in for some members cycling from Land's End to John o' Groats and back for Help the Heroes.

It was an easy 21 miles today.