It was a case of ‘rinse and repeat’ for the latest stage of our NCN 1 sojourn, from Forres to Inverness. More rolling countryside, bigger hills and strong headwinds, gusting to around 40 mph, as we rode further west. We’d left Neil at Forres station before taking the road to Nairn, then cutting inland to Croy and Cullodon. Lunch was taken at the Coop – curry pie and coffee. It took us most of the day before we finally arrived at our over-night stop at Inverness YHA. My first ‘dot day’ on the birding front – probably because I had my head down most of the way. Today we turn north across the Black Isle – hopefully with wind assistance not wind resistance.