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After a good night on my comfortable carpet, i open my eyes and go on the outside deck to have a look at the coast. It's pretty cloudly, but...it's beautiful! Boat sails under Forth Bridge, well known 19th century bridge linking Edinburgh to the northern bank of Forth river. Nice, isn't it ??
I get off the boat, and begin to prepare for the greatest challenge of the day : ride on left, and especially don't forget to do it. Well, I'm still not off the docks area that I'm already on right : a coach arriving far away reminds me of it. First stop at harbour exit, keep left, round about, look what's arriving on the right, easy, isn't it? So, I go on a bridge, and, 30 meters from the top, I see a truck arriving on the right. Continental reflex : 'I'm dead'...oh no, it's OK, as I was on the left lane... So, I think I'll need a few time to adapt totally. Every stop is a funny moment where I have to look carefully on both sides and both lanes...let's also be careful when leaving a parking, especially those on right side of road.
And, in order to make things a bit more complicated, distances are in miles, money in pounds, and, the most disturbing...to shift gears up you have to push up the shifter. You will tell me it's normal, but since the beginning of the year i ride with inverted gears on my racing bike : totally focused on keeping left, i made a lot of gearing mistakes all day long. So, I took the decision to never shift up too fast, in order to not go back to first gear during acceleration ,which could be a bit hazardous on a 1100 XX.
I follow my left way to the north, in Perth city and then in Grampian mountains.
Here are the first typical scottish landscapes. Moor, mountains, heather : here we are !
I reach a pass called 'Devil's elbow'. I am surprised to see that the mountains are equipped with ski and chair lifts, which are of course not working in this season. Then I cross a valley, with a far away view on Balmoral castle, summer residence of the Queen. Little photo stop near a bridge :
Which leads to another pass overhanging deserted landscapes, even located in the hearth of Scotland.
I decide then to reach the side of Loch Ness to spend the night there. Road is still criss-crossing in mountains, before it reaches softer hills.
Where sheeps are mixed with bikes !
And I will have my evening break in a farm camping, near Loch Ness. Unfortunately, we can not see it.