Blog Index
Day 72 - Freswick – John O’Groats The FINISH!
Sunday, 27 September 2009
The weather that had been so good to us for the last two weeks, finally gave out on us today. It was a little drizzly this morning as I tried to find just where I finished yesterday. It took a few up and down the road to find the ‘Westlands’ sign where I finished walking yesterday. We started filming and got some good shots of Rexie appearing over a ridge and passing me as I walked on. Sadly the weather took and turn for the worse and the rain got harder. Just half a mile from the finish, I jumped into the motor home and underwent a quick change into my smart ‘hunter’s ‘ outfit and then to my total surprise I was greeted by two pipers from the Wick RBLS Pipe Band and was piped the final couple of hundred yards to the famous John O’Groats landmark sign and the end of my 1,000 mile trip. During this time there was a tumult of emotions going through my head as I thought of the previous 70 days, the good times, the not so good times, the people we had met, the youngsters we were helping and the project overall. One of the most satisfying feelings I feel about my projects is turning the seemingly crazy ideas I have into reality when I start a project, not so much the finish – that’s my goal, that I have to achieve. On this occasion however I did feel like I had been on a real journey!
After the photographs at the finish, we travelled just 7 miles down the road to the Castle of Mey, where we had been invited to have a little reception and to stay the evening. A royal privilege indeed. A long stepladder was provided and I honoured my word by climbing up on to Rexie and sitting astride him. The pictures looked good, by my leg muscles and hips were so tight from walking, I felt a little like a chicken’s wishbone!
After spending the afternoon editing the footage and sending out some pictures to the press, we all went out for a meal with James and Edward from the Castle. I went to bed this evening with the knowledge that although I don’t have to walk tomorrow, there is still plenty to do in order to reach our fundraising targets!
Day 71 - Wick to Freswick (within 4 miles of the finish)
Saturday, 26 September 2009
A glorious day today! The weather was just beautiful today. We met O’B at Tesco’s and then I set off to walk to put me within striking distance of a couple of hours from the finish, which I hope we can do tomorrow. The problem with this stretch of the A99 is that everybody feels they are so near their destination that they just go as fast as they can (I myself have been guilty of this previously) and miss the fantastic countryside and views at this the northernmost part of the UK. Some of the cars and motorbikes must have been doing 100 mph! The view across Sinclair’s Bay was amazing, so were the small castles that dotted the route. There is a far more relaxed air to my walking now that I am within a few hours of my final destination (well that’s only taken 990 miles!). I finished today at Freswick just about 4 miles from the finish.
Fiona and her Mother came to pick me up and as if just to emphasise my point, we were passed by a cavalcade of motorbikes coming towards us at an unfathomable speed! On arriving back at Wick, we continued to do some fundraising and were visited by Mark from Jimmyteens TV who started filming and will record the finish tomorrow. A wonderful relaxed evening in Wetherspoons – unfortunately Geoff and Fiona had been invited out by the staff of the Castle of Mey (unfortunate for us, not them!) and so we missed out on their company.
The last night in the motor home this evening and so the last night of a number of rituals, with laundry, shower block, waste disposal, oh how I will miss all of that. Actually in a strange way, I probably will!
Day 70 - Lybster to Wick
Friday, 25 September 2009
The weather improved again today and I was able to dispense with my Berghaus Goretex jacket that I have worn all week. The walk into Wick meant that I have really nailed the Trek now and that we can now think about the finish and the next couple of days will not be about how far I need to walk. Our campsite is alongside the river and Rexie has been parked between the railway and the Police station, so he should be ok there!
I finished walking just after lunchtime today, which meant that e had time to visit the Old Pultenay distillery. I had a bit of a dilemma here, did I get a specially labelled and personally bottle of specially distilled scotch straight from the cask or buy Lu a bottle of her favourite 12 year old and a sweatshirt. Let’s put it this way, Lu is very happy this evening and warm as well!
Day 69 - Badbea Clearance Village to Lybster
Thursday, 24 September 2009
After a 20 minute warm up walk this morning, it was into the Berriedale Braes and undoubtedly the toughest couple of miles of the entire walk. The hill, down and up, is so steep that there is an impossibly sharp hairpin bend that I struggled to walk up, so I was relieved that O’B had already managed to get Rexie up, round and over the hill. Lunch was at the campsite, before striding out to Lybster, where I met O’B and Lu returning from Wick on a recce mission. We are all set up for our stay in Wick and will be collecting in the Tesco Car Park on Saturday.
We had tea at the Portland Arms and met a number of guys who worked on the oil rigs, where O’B is staying this evening. O’B had checked out this morning from his B&B with the pink sheets, and has set his heart on owning a Bed and Breakfast up here (‘it will be a little goldmine’) and also made us laugh when he told us that he had seen a sign that had said Caithness, but couldn’t see any sort of town anywhere! We gently had to tell him that Caithness was in fact the district of the furthermost northern part of Scotland. Lu and I returned to our campsite and really feel quite at home in the motor home – one of the reasons being there is so little house work to do. The motor home, which has been provided by Marquis Motorhomes has been a real ‘mother ship’ for us and has kept the costs of our accommodation to a real minimum. They have been wonderful to have sponsored the Trek and their contribution has aided us immensely.
I now have only 13 miles to reach my finishing point tomorrow in Wick and the last major town on the trek.
Day 68 - Brora to Badbea Clearance Village
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
After going to bed and falling asleep at 8.30pm last night, I suppose I have to assume that I am now getting a little a fatigued and tired after 67 days on the road – 66 of which I have been either walking or fundraising (or both). Fortunately with only a few days to go I should be ok.
Setting out it was noticeable that the further north I head and tick off the towns, the traffic is definitely getting quieter, a good thing after over 900 miles! The weather is still very blustery, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Long sweeping hills as the terrain changes and becomes a little more remote and extreme.
I finished listening to The Kite Runner (absolutely brilliant and highly recommended) and started The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Although Lu told me that I only needed to do about 15 miles today, I did an extra hour and finished at Badbea Clearance Village (an amazing deserted settlement, where folk were driven to live on cliff edges as the landlords preferred to use the more fertile and safer land to graze livestock, which was found to be more profitable!).
We have booked into a camp site in Dunbeath for two nights and although the wind has dropped a bit, it was still strong enough for Lu to lose a towel and bath towel from the washing line. They are probably somewhere in the North Sea by now! The wind is rocking the mobile home and although we feel a little sea sick, we are also hoping it will rock us to sleep!
