Another murky start to the day, but fortified with a good breakfast, I had Scottish Salmon and scrambled eggs, we packed, took a walk around the Glengarry Castle Hotel grounds and packed the car.
Today we were heading for the Isle of Skye!
I had also come down with a heavy cold, and was sneezing and snotting everywhere, both of us were a bit of a sorry state!
We both agreed that being on a motorbike at this time would be no fun at all!
Last night we had looked on line and booked ourselves into another luxury hotel on the Isle.
We were heading for the Skeabosh Hotel on the banks of Loch Snizort Beag - We had the Honeymoon Suite booked!
But first we had to get there. Retracing our steps and our first stop was Eilean Donan Castle. It was raining but still breath taking in it's rugged beauty. Steeped in history it was painfully restored to it's current state, which is unbelievable.
We parked up, bought a ticket, walked over the bridge and into the castle. Still family owned it was a place where history just oozed from every brick.
We were not allowed to take photographs inside, but take a look at the website, the banquet room was absolutely splendid!
The journey onwards saw us go back through Glen Shiel and her Five Sisters following the A87 over the bridge and onto the Isle of Skye.
It was pouring down with rain, but all this did was make the scenery even more dramatic!
We noticed on the map a little road that curled around the coast, so we took this road and at Loch Ainort we headed for Moll. At the head of Loch Ainort is a waterfall, and as it was chucking it down it was in full flow!
For the first time we saw the Salmon Sea Farms just off the coast, from now on we saw many of these as we toured.
The road was narrow, flooded in places and had some fairly good drops to my right to the sea! But the views - spectacular!
Back on the main road we managed to catch our breath and decided to do a bit of a tour of the Western side of the island.
We branched off onto the A863 and we headed for Dunvegan Castle. Another castle steeped in history.
We stopped for a quick brew in the castle cafe, but did not go in to the castle as it was late in the afternoon.
It was only a 10 minute drive to the hotel from here.
On arrival the hotel looked very grand, we checked in at the desk and were shown our room. Wow! The bathroom was bigger than the bedroom. The bedroom had a four poster bed and the most amazing view over the Loch!
It's a shame we were both feeling a little under the weather! But we did have two nights here!
Kiera had a soak in the roll top bath and I snoozed.
That evening we went down to the bar, and as I was stood ordering drinks I noticed that the bloke and his wife who had just walked in happened to be wearing a New Milton Rugby jacket!
This was too much of a coincidence surely! I asked if he was from New Milton, and in an Aussie accent said "No mate, we were staying with friends of ours who live there" He told me their names and I knew them!!!
Small world indeed! We both had a chuckle about it, and after a fabulous dinner we joined them for a few beers. Great night! Thanks Kev and Francis if you are reading this!!
The journey continues.................
We woke to mist and drizzle out side of our window, we could barely see the other side of the Loch.
We were spending another night at the Glengarry Castle Hotel, as Kiera was still suffering from her cold, we thought today we would take a boat trip on Loch Ness which was just up the road and then go for a drive.
But first breakfast! As in all the hotels we stayed in, breakfast really did set us up for the day. We ate well, which meant we only snacked at lunch time, ready for our evening feast!
We got away by around 1000hrs approx and drove the short distance to Fort Augustus. Last time I was here I was surrounded by bikers as I refuelled my little Honda C90!
Felt funny being back again, but good to be able to point out all the things that I had forgotten about and failed to talk about on my last adventure to Kiera.
We found that a boat was due to sail in just over an hours time, so a quick look around the tourist tat shops and a brew taken as we watched the boats go up and down the lock gates on the Caledonian Canal.
The canal is fully operational and connects the East Coast of Scotland to the West Coast and is approximately 60 miles long.
The boat pictured is the Harvest Anne - more info on this boat can be found by clicking on the link (HERE)
Our boat trip lasted around an hour, it had commentary and for the money was pretty good with some spectacular views! Thankfully the rain held off with only a few spots falling, but it was a bit drafty out on the Loch so wrap up warm if you intend to do this trip!
Kiera feeding the ducks by the locks
I had decided that as I could not be in France then France would be with me!
Looking the part with my French Beret!
After our boat trip we decided to go exploring, I looked on the map and we roughly decided on a bit of a circular tour.
We headed North on the A82 right up along side Loch Ness, where at Drumnnadrochit we turned left on the A833 before turning right onto the A862 towards Beauly.
Same route as I took on the C90. Now just after you turn right you are faced with a 25% gradient, which in a car is steep, but on my little C90! Well, all I can say is, if I had driven it in a car first, there is no way I would of attempted it on "Lucille".
The hill goes on and on and on! Kiera was really surprised with the roads I travelled on!
At Muir of Ord we swung left on the A832 and at the "T" Junction of the A835 we should of turned left. However Kiera wanted for no other reason than it was "there" to go take a look at a viewing point at Loch Ussie at Knockfarrel.
If you have not clicked on any of the links it may be worth clicking on "Loch Ussie" (wink wink)!
Loch Ussie we found, as well as Knockfarrel, some dead end tracks and a few locals! But definitely no signs to a viewing point! We did see some Red Kites flying high though.
Back on track and onto the A835 before turning off again onto the A832. All the time the scenery was amazing.
At Achnasheen we picked up the A890 and passed Lochcarron - stunning views again!
This road took us all the way down the the A87 where we turned left and hugged the shore of Loch Duich before we drove through Glen Shiel with the Mountain Range of the Five Sisters towering above us!
We passed by Eilean Donan castle on Loch Duich, probably best known for the BBC trailer which it is shown on and many other films.
We did not stop here, we knew that the next we would be travelling back along this road and this would be our first port of call, with a wander around the castle.
Now Glen Coe may be breath taking and probably the best known, but to be totally honest Glen Shiel not only takes your breath away, but leaves you speechless as well. In my opinion the finest Glen in Scotland!
Just past Loch Cluanie we turned right but still on the A87, all the way to Invergarry where our hotel was just 5 minutes away where a roaring fire and a G&T awaited!
What a day!
That evening we fine dined in the hotel's restaurant, and once more the food was divine.
The journey continues.....
We woke early, and decided that as we were awake we would get a move on and breakfast North of Glasgow.
So with a quick coffee from Costa, we set off Northwards.
Our rough aim was to travel till around 1500hrs then take a look to see what hotels were nearby, then call it a day and relax.
We made it through Glasgow, it felt strange being back, travelling on roads I used to know so well.
I lived in and around Glasgow for 5 years, moving back down South in 2005. I had various jobs whilst up there, from Debt Collector, to Courier then a Driving Instructor.
We passed over the Clyde and then over the Erskine Bridge towards Loch Lomond.
At Alexandria we pulled into get breakfast at a pub adjacent to a travel lodge, we feasted on a full breakfast with loads of coffee. It was inexpensive and very good.
Ready now to hit the road, we filled up with fuel and and followed the A82 along side Lock Lomond.
This is where Kiera started to come down with a cold, in fact we were lucky we were in the car as I really do not think that Kiera could of continued on the bike with the amount of sneezing and nose blowing which came on suddenly.
At Crainlarich, we swung left still following the A82 and followed this all the way through Glen Coe which is spectacular.
This was also the route I took on "Lucille" my Honda C90 when I did my Corner to Corner - Lands End to John O'Groats and back again challenge.
It was great to see the roads I travelled on, and a new deeper respect grew for "Lucille" How she coped with some of those roads is still a mystery!
At Fort William we stopped for cold remedies, and a quick look around the town. Not much to see to be honest.
After Fort William we came across the memorial to the Commando's or Royal Marines. Here is where a lot of their training took place when they were first formed during World War 2.
We continued on the A82 and finally decided on the Glengarry Castle Hotel just outside of Invergarry looking directly over Loch Oich.
It was that good we stayed for two nights, as we felt it wise to rest up and we simply could not fault the hotel!
Below is the view from our room.
Kiera choosing what to have for dinner - we were spoilt for choice!
Within the grounds of the hotel is the ruins of Invergarry Castle, you cannot get in to it, but it is clearly visible from the track going to the hotel.
Our room was wonderful with a four poster bed and luxurious bath room. The staff were attentive and it was a joy to stay at this fabulous hotel.
The following day we planned a circular route to drive and a trip on Loch Ness hunting for Nessie!
The journey continues.............................
Well, not as planned, but what could we do?
After checking the bike into the garage we dashed home where we had all ready emptied the panniers and repacked our clothes into more suitable luggage.
We had decided that we would not take the VW T25 but take our Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4.
More for the comfort than anything else as we had also decided that we would not be roughing it, but when we could, we would find some rather posh hotels to stay in.
So with no real plan than to head North we set off around lunch time.
We made good time, and with no hold ups made it to the Lakes before we had our first pit stop.
Not hanging around we wanted to at least hit Scotland before we stopped for the evening.
Around 1800hrs we decided that we were ok to travel on a bit further and guessed this would be around 2000hrs.
As this day and night was just travelling time we thought we would just check into a Travel Lodge/Premier Inn type place just to get our heads down before an early start the next morning.
We were soon approaching Annandale Water Services near Lockerbie, and as we pulled in we spotted a "Days Inn". A room for the night was £45.00 so we took it and settled in for the evening. I must admit it was clean, modern and did the job perfectly for the money. No complaints from either of us.
Not having eaten properly all day we thought we would go to the restaurant in the service area, but to our amazement all that was there was a Costa Coffee and a McDonalds!
Our first night of honeymoon and we dined out on Mcdonalds burger and chips!
Well, things can only get better!
The journey continues.......
We had a fantastic wedding, nothing went wrong it was a perfect day!
I will write more about the wedding at a later date and also include a few pics, but for now I will concentrate on what happened when we set off on honeymoon!
Monday afternoon
Our ferry was at 1130hrs leaving from Portsmouth and arriving in Le Havre approx 0830hrs the next morning.
We had a cabin booked so we would be rested before our long ride down through France.
Late in the afternoon, we packed the bike up and strapped everything down.
We looked all set for a proper adventure and we were very excited!
I even managed to get a Just Married number plate made up and strapped on the back of the bike!
Leaving home at 1900hrs we set off, the bike felt very heavy and a little different to when we took it out across the forest a couple of days ago.
I think we added a few more items to the luggage during the day, even just a couple more kilo's made it feel a little awkward when moving off and stopping.
On our way we stopped at Kiera's Mum's house to say goodbye as her kids were there along with her sister and family, so we were to get a big send off!
I pulled up with no problems and put the side stand down as I thought this would help with Kiera getting off.
However, what I did not take into account was the camber of the road! As Kiera stood up on the peg to climb off it upset the balance of the bike and with the camber and Kiera standing I felt the bike go over.
I shouted to Kiera to lean back over to the right, but by now it was too late and the bike went over hard. There was no way I could hold the bike up.
My inexperience of a big bike showed through!
Neither of us were hurt, not a scratch or bruise, and we righted the bike straight away.
I moved the bike forward which is when I found that I could not turn the handle bars!
The crash bar had done it's job and protected the bike, or so I thought, but it had bent in and was stopping the forks from moving. Not only this but the fairing was cracked and damaged.
We had travelled less than 2 miles!
To say we were gutted was an understatement, I had spent hours planning, and getting the bike ready for the trip for this to happen now was gut wrenching.
We both instantly knew that the trip on the bike was now over, we would miss the ferry, and we were unsure how long the bike would be off the road, and if there was any further damaged to handle bars or forks that we could not see.
As we were at Kiera's Mums, we went in for a cup of tea and to work out what to do next.
I've also got to be honest that it shook me up, the feeling of responsibility that I have for Kiera on the back is possibly too much for me.
Over a cup of tea, we looked at our options.
These were simple, drive to France and Italy in the car, look for a holiday leaving the next day, or revert to our original plan and honeymoon in Scotland.
We chose Scotland, before I had the bike we intended to travel up and tour around in our VW T25 campervan.
I called out the AA and made the necessary arrangements for the bike to be collected the next morning and taken to my garage.
I stripped the bike of it's luggage and we were taken home where instead of being on a ferry we spent the night in our own bed!
The next morning the bike was collected by the AA and taken to Bursey Engineering for repair.
We were at the garage when the bike turned up, it was a sad sight!
I could also clearly see the damage to the fairing, which was cracked and broken in a couple of places.
So we left the bike in the capable hands of Paul and we returned home to repack and get ready to head North!
The journey continues...........
Friday - 3 days till departure.
The panniers were loaded up with nearly everything packed, and the yellow 40l dry bags were almost packed as well, we decided that it would be worth strapping everything on and going for a little trip through the forest for an hour
This proved to be an excellent idea as during our little hour trip we bottomed the bike out three times with the centre stand!
You may remember that I had the bike lowered to allow me to touch the ground as at only 5ft 8in it was a bit of a challenge otherwise.
Having had the bike lowered the centre stand sat low, hence grounding out.
Clearly this was not an ideal situation, and in hindsight we should of tested this out well in advance, especially as this was now early Friday evening!
I must admit to sleeping badly Friday night, I was a little worried, but had a plan!
First thing Saturday morning I called Paul and Bursey Engineering and explained the problem. Not a problem, bring it down and we will take the centre stand off!
Problem solved!
I have never used the centre stand, the bike is just too heavy for me to lift it, especially as I have had it lowered, which now makes it impossible to use without enlisting the help of some one else to lift the other side of the bike.
So once at the garage, and with a limited amount of time, as I was due at a family lunch at 1200hrs which required me to be suited and booted and not covered in grime from a centre stand that had been on the bike since day one! We cracked on.
However, nothing is as easy as it sounds, a number of bolts came off, with a bit of a struggle but there was one which to gain access to required the exhaust and a few other bits to be removed!!!
This is when I suggested just cut the bloody thing off!
Paul kindly obliged and 10 mins later the centre stand was in half and removed!
Phew, I was much relieved, no more grounding out with the risk of being thrown off!
My next encounter with the Honda Varadero would be after the wedding on Sunday when we set off for France and Italy on our Grande Tour!
The journey continues...........
