Setting off from Perth this morning it was drizzling and miserable but the clouds soon burnt off to reveal blue skies for the whole day.

Today’s destination is Inverness, only 200km via the old military road. So we have heaps of time to stop and look around.

Braemar

The site of the highland games and a lovely old village.

Balmoral Castle

Having seen lots of photos of Balmoral castle over the years it was good to see it in person to get a sense of scale. When you think of royalty you think or ornate and lots of gold. But from the outside you don’t get that sense.  But somehow it still feels regal and the grounds are nice but not over the top.

From the front gate, it is a decent walk through the forest driveway, and then the castle emerges from behind the trees and you’re drawn in.

Corgarff lookout

From Balmoral we take a series of backroads and stop at an overlook of Corgarff castle, which is absolutely stunning.  This place must be amazing when the purple heather is all out. The patchwork on the hillsides is where they burn off patches to encourage new growth.

Then, coming around a corner, we spot our first highland cow … actually bull. I’m sure he was thinking … great, another tourist… but he played along and just sat there chewing his cud.

We’ve been having a rethink about our packing, and while I’m a big fan of inner bags for panniers, these BMW inner bags waste so much space. Space we can’t afford to lose.!Loading the panniers without the inner bags we can also fit our shoes, giving us more room in the top box.

So tomorrow we’ll post the inner bags and some souvenirs back to Emma (north of London). That should free up our space nicely … for more souvenirs.

Today’s distance 130 miles.