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Day 24  Monday 17^th May 2004

East Mey to John o’ Groats and around

I had planned today as a leisurely cycle seeing some of the sights in the area.  The first target was obviously to complete the official part of the trip and get to John o’ Groats which was only about 6 miles away.  There was also Duncansby Stacks close by, where I might be rewarded by seeing some more varieties of birds.  And finally there was the area around Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of the UK mainland.  I had travelled through the town of Dunnet yesterday but this was about 5 miles south of the lighthouse at the most northerly point of the headland.  The total distance of about 35 miles should present no problem.  Last night I had spotted an advert which indicated that it was Caithness Walking week and there were a series of walks in the area led by local people.  Today there was to be a seven mile walk starting at the Dunnet Head Lighthouse at 1pm – maybe I could join them?  

Well off I went in the morning to John o’ Groats.  There was a strong wind behind me so I had arrived by 9am.  The place was deserted.  Perhaps the tourist season hadn’t started.  Perhaps it was too early in the day.  Perhaps it was because it was a Monday.  The main hotel called the Groats Inn was closed and had been for 3 years.  I had expected to find the book here to sign myself in as having completed the ride.  I found the book instead at the Museum and Souvenir shop.  I bought postcards, took a photo of myself under the signpost which marks the end (there was no-one else to ask this time – not even the Japanese!) and wrote the postcards by the harbour wall with spray from the waves falling within feet of me.  My knees were turning purple, I was beginning to shiver and writing was becoming increasingly difficult.  It was time to put on extra layers again.  I posted the cards with first class stamps wondering whether they would arrive home before I did on Wednesday (they did!) and then found the only café open in the town for a cup of coffee in an attempt to get warm.

There was nothing else to keep me at John o’ Groats so I then made my way to the Lighthouse at Duncansby Stacks (the furthest to the north east of the UK mainland that you can go) and on towards the Stacks themselves which involved a walk over the headland of about ½ mile.  There were lots of nesting birds here but the only new ones I spotted were the Guillemots.

I turned to make my way back to Dunnet Head for the afternoon walk calling in at the only food shop in John o’ Groats, which was also the Post Office, to buy myself a very basic lunch.  It had then just turned 11 – that gave me 2 hours to cycle 15 miles and eat lunch before the walk began.  With the strong wind, which was now blowing in my face, the ride had become very hard and energy sapping.  I eventually arrived dead on 1pm just as the party of walkers was about to leave.  They asked me if I was joining them – I wanted to go, but I needed something to eat and I also needed a rest!  I said that I might join them later so they gave me brief instructions of their itinerary.

The wind was howling over the headland and I would have soon cooled down after the exertions of the ride, but fortunately there were some derelict buildings left from the last war – one of these gave me some protection while I ate my lunch.  This area used to be a very important look out point to watch for enemy ships – Scappa Flow, Pentland Firth and other well known names.  At just after 1.40 I was ready to start again – I could see the party of walkers as specks on the headland to the south of me.  I followed the same route that they had taken and within another ¾ hour had caught them up.  To be truthful they had also seen me coming as I got closer to them and had very graciously slowed down to allow me to catch them.

We had a great walk with glorious views from the highest point on the headland and along the cliff edge to the west of the headland.  The wind right on the cliff edge was blowing so strongly we could hardly stand up – it was a good job it was blowing in off the sea otherwise it would have been very dangerous to be anywhere near the edge.  We were fortunate to have some eagle eyed people on the walk with us who pointed out unusual plants that I would never have spotted.  Things like Sundew.  I eventually got back to my bike at 4.30 and the ride back to the B&B was a joy with the strong wind at my back again.

The owner offered me tea and scone as soon as I got back in – I refused the scone (am I feeling well?).  In actual fact they were providing me with an evening meal tonight and I didn’t want to spoil my appetite. It was a superb meal of local heather reared pork, roast and boiled potato, carrot cauliflower and asparagus, followed by homemade cheesecake and ice cream.  They also served home baked bread (made this morning) which had a very distinctive taste.  I asked for the recipe but was told that it was a trade secret.  It contained parmesan and sun dried tomato.  After all the energy expended today I certainly needed that meal.

Today I have cycled 5.7 miles to John o’Groats making the end to end mileage 1131.3.  In total today I cycled 34.6 miles at an average of 9.1mph and did a walk of about 7 miles.

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