Walk 203

Munlochy to Cromarty 21.5miles

Due to the buses not running on a Sunday until 11.55am I decided to do today in reverse!  The day was very drizzly as I made my way out of Munlochy on the A832, fortunately the road was quiet because it was Sunday morning! I decided to take a more sedate road into Avoch turning right at Corrachie.

Avoch

Like all seaside towns the picture I took would look a lot better had the sun been shining!. So I made my way out of Avoch (pronounced Och!) towards Fortrose, the road itself is busy but talk about narrow! I had to hold my breath on a couple of occasions!!!  Eventually I made it to Fortrose and I decided to walk all the way our to Chanonry Point because I can't resist a lighthouse!!! And what a fine example it was too!!!

Chanonry Point Lighthouse

I had to leave the lighthouse eventually and I made my way along Chanonry Ness where you are flanked by a golf course on either side of the road, so it was a case of keeping my wits about me so as not to get hit by a low flying golf ball!!  The next village was Rosemarkie where I stopped for my first ice cream of the week!

Rosemarkie

I got chatting with the owner of the cafe and they told me I could walk along the coast to Hillockhead and then cut inland to pick up the minor road to Cromarty, so I tootled off along the very nice path and a mile or so later the said path just ended!!! the cliffs were high at this point but I could see a way up to the top so off I went, eventually I made it to the top and after a couple of false starts I manged to find the road.  Once I was on the road I made good time as I was aware that I had to catch the last bus back to Munlochy!  The road was giving me great views over Inverness Bay. Just before I reached the A832 I took right hand turn with the idea of taking a look at the Sutors Stacks but when I arrived at the coast they were no where to be seen! The final mile of the walk was along a great path which hugged the coast all the way into Cromarty and my bus back to Munlochy.

Cromarty