JOGLE 5 Day 5 Sun 13 May 12

Started  0915. Finished  1400. 12 Miles. Helmsdale to Brora .  After a disappointing stay at Helmsdale we set of for Brora in Gale force winds along the coastal road, again.  An uninteresting   walk apart from the nice views of the sea and oil rigs. We mostly spent the day dodging traffic and laughing at overweight cyclists trying to pedal up the hills, it’s quicker to walk! (I shout! along with useful advice such as "your back wheel is going round mate, but only just!!") and of course trying to  stay upright against the strong winds. We spotted some golfers doing their best  on a coastal course to play a round.  We found a handy bus stop (again) to have a lunch in , there is nothing on these roads for people to stop safely (layby with a seat/bench with a suitable brass plate on "here layeth the last JOGLE walker that argued with "'arry the Artic" etc). I suppose as this is such a short day (it was designed that way and just as well really) now is the time to comment on the fact that JOGLE is a popular thing to do and yet this part of Scotland makes no provision for the walkers and cyclists to make progress safely, a proper pathway or cycle route might be a good place to start.  The only sensible way to JOG is the main A road because it is the only road!  We stopped for a while and rested against a high stone wall in a field just to get out of the wind.  Ian used the opportunity to telephone his dad and explained the circumstances and how much progress we had made. (some days later, after we arrived  home we received an appropriate post card with two walkers hiding behind a stone wall and a suitable comment! Very funny Alan!).  Otherwise it was very quiet walking but getting stiff and sore and need to stretch as the wind was really quite tiring. The Sutherland Inn in Brora is very nice and the staff are very helpful and friendly.  The road walking is taking its toil on our boots as my soles have worn down quite quickly and Ian who has had his boots re-soled are also wearing down rapidily. As we arrived in Brora early (half day today) Ian used the opportunity to catch up on his sleep after the previous night’s disturbance.  I recced the Inn and found the washing machine and tumble dryers, second heaven and they were free as well!  The shower was excellent and the room was very well presented too. There are a few places to eat in Brora but the Sutherland Inn held its own and produced a very good evening meal and the service was good as well. There is a small harbour and nice town walk that I made use of whilst in Brora which is the only town to have a pharmacy for miles around.  Breakfast and packed lunches where very good as well.