Jeez, it gets light early up here! After a very restrained night at the Seaview (don’t panic, we didn’t drink all those whiskeys), we’re awake at 5am courtesy of the light streaming in through the window of the bunkhouse. Oh well, may as well get up, then!

After a shower, hearty breakfast, plentiful application of Assos cream (carefully avoiding the mucus membrane, as per the instructions!) and an hour or so repacking the kit and making last minute adjustments to the bikes, we were ready for the off. First stop: the sign down in the village for the obligatory photo.

Apparently there used to be a bloke who owned the sign and made his living charging people for photos. Every night he’d take the sign down, before bringing it back in the morning, and if the sign wasn’t there you had to phone him and ask him to get his arse down there pronto. But as of this year, following a multimillion-pound facelift for JO’G, there’s a new, permanent sign that people can snap for free. The guy still skulks around in the car park with his sign, but obviously if you can now do it for free, who’s gonna pay? True story.

But I digress. The weather was fine, albeit a little drizzly, as we set out across the top of the North Coast. It seems a little counterintuitive, but we had to travel about 50 miles west before dropping down and starting the long journey back down south. As the miles rolled by, the sun came out and it wasn’t long before we had to strip off the waterproofs.

The scenery was pretty bleak at first, but not unattractive; at least it was flat, and with an easterly wind behind us we made pretty good time for the first 20 miles of so. Then came the first of the climbs. Now don’t get me wrong, these aren’t major hills – we all know there’ll be much worse to come – but they were our first real test of the trip, fully loaded. In fact, today was the first time Bailey had even ridden with panniers!

And with the hills came a change of scenery: whereas the first third of the day’s journey was characterised by small, rugged farming communities and the northern hub of Thurso, west of Portskerra the landscape was one of rolling moorland dotted with vast swathes of yellow heather – and in the distance, the sizeable peaks of the highlands.

After stopping for lunch at Bettyhill (complete with its Jekyll-and-Hyde cafe owner – grumpy as hell when we first arrived, then garrulous/borderline BFF by the time we left) we turned south after 50 miles alongside the river Naver. Now, the Sustrans route takes you on to Tongue, but I can’t imagine why – the route alongside first the river, then Loch Naver, is absolutely stunning. Some of the views were amazing – the pics don’t do it justice – plus it’s flat, and quiet. The perfect route!

The scenery certainly sustained us through the final few miles of the journey (and a last-minute downpour, complete with rainbow!) before we arrived at our great little B&B in Altnaharra. A couple of pints of Tennants (when in Rome/Scotland, right?) in the bar next door, a wonderful home-cooked meal of venison stew from Mandy, the owner, and we were ready for bed.

All in all, a great start to the trip. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!