I’ve met very few people all morning but now, as I’m eating my lunch, the traffic begins to hot up. This father and child toil past me, going up hill.

The child’s bike is connected to his fathers by a metal contraption. Near the top of the hill, I can hear the father say he is exhausted. The child says that he is exhausted too. I’m not sure why, because the father was doing the pedaling for both of them!

Back on the road, I stop to admire the view over the Moray Firth. Is that Fort George over there? Large ships and lots of sand. One day, I will be walking there.

But, today, I need to get to the end of this road… and a lovely road it is too. Only the occasional car to disturb my steady progress, and the sweet smell of gorse fills the air.

A weathered finger-post, covered in lichen, points the way down to the shore. “Be aware – tidal”, warns the sign. I’m tempted to follow the path, but the shore route leads to Rosemarkie, and I’m not going as far as that.

My car is parked in the forestry car park somewhere inland of here, and going to Rosemarkie and back is further than I can manage this afternoon. (Once it would have been no problem, but my cancer treatment – and increasing age, of course! – had limited the mileage I can accomplish comfortably.)

The views from the road are really beautiful. I may not be beside the water, but I get a great view over the firth from here.

The first part of this road was empty – just a few farm houses. Now there are scattered houses on either side. Mainly new builds. A lovely place to live in the summer, but I’m not sure if I could cope with the cold and darkness of winters as far north as this.

As I approach a driveway (the house on the right of the photo below), a golden retriever rushes to the gate and barks loudly at me. Its tail is wagging madly, so I slow down as I get nearer and then walk up to the gate. “She won’t hurt, she just wants attention,” says the owner, who is busy gardening.

I let the dog sniff my hand. It wiggles its body in an excited greeting and tries to lick my fingers. I do love golden retrievers. One day, I will get a dog – but probably something smaller than this one.

My little road has been steadily going downhill. Now it curves round to the left, and I begin my descent towards the main road.

The final house has a red telephone box parked on the driveway. I nearly walk up and check if the phone is working (something I usually do when I see one in these remote areas), but then I realise the location is too far inside someone’s private property and it can’t really be a public phone box.

A few more yards, and I’ve reached the end of my quiet lane. Here, it joins the A832. Turning left would take me down to the shore, and Rosemarkie. Turning right would take me to the car park where I have left my van and, eventually, back to Cromarty.

Preferring not to walk along the road, I turn round. Somewhere, off this little lane, is a footpath that should take me down to the car park. It isn’t any longer than the direct route along the A832, and it will be a much nicer walk.

Walking back the way I’ve come is – as usual – rather disheartening. “Wasted walking” is the term I’ve always used to describe backtracking along my coastal walk. And now I’m going uphill too!

Here is the path I’m looking for. A bright yellow sign marks the entrance and, at first, I think the path might be closed, or private.

But the yellow sign turns out to be a police notice. “Help us! Report illegal motorbikers and drivers.”

I probably will, if I see any. Luckily the grass surface seems undisturbed, and the path turns out to be a lovely route. Sometimes wide and grassy, sometimes narrow and crowded by bright broom and gorse flowers…

… sometimes meandering through shady woodland.

The path turns into a track – and a route obviously used by some vehicles (presumably forestry lorries). Easy to see how this would appeal to adventurous motorcyclists or off-road vehicles.

I don’t meet any vehicles though, and the track takes me gently downhill towards the A832. There, through the last of the trees, I spot my van in the car park.

Another successful day of walking. I might not have been walking close to the coast, but it has been a beautiful walk nonetheless.

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Miles walked today = 8 miles

Total distance around coast = 5,228.5 miles

Route (morning in black, afternoon in red):

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