Woke at 5.50 to a hard frost at ‘base camp’. Breakfast, load the kit and away to Perth station. Roads were icy – several car accidents along the route, so Bry takes it easy. Arrived at the station with a few minutes to spare. Feeling good, waiting to load the bikes on the train when I notice the destination board says “train terminates at Aviemore’ – not Inverness! Turns out that there’s been a landslide and it’s a bus service from Aviemore to Inverness, with no guarantee that they’ll take the bikes. As we only had a ten minute transfer window at Inverness to get the Wick train, things begin to look bleak…! As the train pulls into the station we decide that, in the absence of a “plan B’, we’d better get on it and take our chances.

Managed to persuade the bus driver to stow the bikes in the luggage hold and we finally arrive at Inverness ten minutes after the Wick train has departed. We now have a three hour wait for the next one and the prospect of a twilight pedal to John O’Groats and no evening meal.

Things can only get better…..

Bry’s bike, ready to load..

Pheasant in the frost at ‘base camp’.

‘What do you mean, this train terminates at Aviemore?’

What have they got to look so cheerful about?

Blog you later……