Inverness to Golspie 55

Inverness to Golspie 56
Last night in Inverness had a good meal in the Hootenanny a Thai meal - very tasty. We also bumped into Ron Culley and spent a pleasant and entertaining time with him. 
On our return to the hotel noticed an Oyster Catcher and Herring Gull roosting on the building beside us very strange. 
Today was windy as expected not a problem except we had to cycle into it all the way which was a real problem. Not only that but we had wanted to take the Cromarty ferry. Why was that a problem? Well there's no ferry at the moment. But that shouldn't be a problem you say. Well it could have been because we checked the website and there was no warning except for the information that they had ordered a new ferry due to be delivered in June but no indication it had not arrived. We phoned but there was no reply and no voicemail information. We did have the presence of mind to check with the tourist information office which, while not being able to inform us of the cycle route did save us the bother of making the journey to Cromarty to find no ferry.
So a slightly longer day than originally planned cycling to Tain by lunchtime into a 30mph headwind. Not a pleasant prospect - the journey took about 3 hours rather than 2.5. Doesn't seem a lot but you try it! 
A fulsome lunch of lentil soup at Tain sent us on our way. We met another cyclist there who had gone to Cromarty last night and had to redo the journey today - not a happy German. We saw a lot more touring bikes today and a walker doing the same route. Didn't get a chance to chat but on reflection it could have been difficult because he seemed a bit confused - we saw him walking back into Tain as we were leaving. 
The 15 miles to Golspie were slow but we made it via a diversion to see the wonderful example of Victorian ingenuity at the Fleet estuary. It's also very picturesque and clearly a haven fo birdwatchers. 
A long hard challenging day let's hope tomorrow is easier.