Day 18: Dunbeath to John O'Groats - 39.14, 1611ft of climbing
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| The day I rode the last leg! |
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| Getting ready for our last day's ride |
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| And we are off!! |
After a night in which the camper was getting thrown around by the wind (I slept through it though😁), despite it being parked in the shelter of a big building, today’s ride started a bit like yesterday’s ended. We rode onto the main road, onto a hill and into the wind. Dad said it was like Groundhog Day (another film I need to add to the “movies I need to watch list!).
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| Weather didn't look too great! Very windy and rough seas! |
But thankfully the road wasn’t too busy and the hills were small compared to yesterday. The wind was horrible though. But after about eight miles, we turned off and headed inland. I couldn’t get my head round how we had turned away from the see but we’re headed towards the sea😫😫. Dad was trying to explain it as we zoomed along. Yes, zoomed along. We’d not really noticed but suddenly we were flying with the wind behind us.
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| Turning off onto a much quieter road than the A9 / A99 |
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| Flying along with the wind behind us for a change |
We passed an amazing prehistoric site called The Camster Cairns where ancient tribes used to bury their dead. We stopped and had a look around but I think both of us had our minds on finishing the ride. The road we were on was a country lane over bleak and barren moors but it was dead straight for miles. Dad told me that the Scots taught the Romans everything they knew about building straight roads but then had to build Hadrians wall to stop the “nasty Romans coming up here and stealing our haggis” (his words). Don’t worry, I can tell when dad is winding me up because I can see his lips moving🙄😂😂
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| Prehistoric site called The Camster Cairns |
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| Couldn't have a day when I didn't stop to stroke animals |
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| These horses were very friendly |
We continued to the end of the dead straight lane, turned onto a new one and got half a mile before we found the lane was completely blocked by a huge yellow pipe. I don’t know what it was but we had to divert around it and saw one end go into a factory (and later in the camper saw the other end go into the sea). The diversion didn’t add much distance to the route but meant when we finally got to the sea (yes, ok, he was right that we were still riding to the sea😡), we had a mile or two longer to battle into the wind. The wind was horrible, dad said we were struggling to do 5 or 6 miles an hour on the flat bits. Dad tried to ride in front of me to block it but it was gusting from all around and we just had to battle on for 5miles.
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| Finally the John O'Groats sign |
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| John O'Groats 1/4 of a mile! |
And then we saw the sign for John o’Groats. We coasted slowly down to the car park and saw the twins, mum and nanna and grandad and Jess the dog waiting. They were all wearing hats and gloves and big jackets and still freezing!
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| Mum and the twins arrived before us and got their pictures by the sign! |
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| Even Nanna, Grandad and Jess got their picture first |
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| The twins got the flag and balloons ready in the warm cafe while they waited for us |
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| The twins waited at the corner cheering and showing us the way |
We cycled straight up to the famous sign and had our pictures taken like we had two and a half weeks ago in Cornwall. There were countless photos with everyone, with and without bikes but I just wanted to get a hot chocolate! As soon as we stopped cycling, dad and I began to feel cold so eventually we managed to get into the cafe for some lunch and warm up.
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| Emily and Tom helping us celebrate with balloons - it was VERY windy |
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| With the Grand Appeal flag - one of my charities |
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| We made it! |
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| Dad and me lifting our bikes in celebration |
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| I did it! |
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| The iconic lifting bike in celebration photo! |
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| The whole Killick team! |
We decided not to stay at John O’Groats as the campervan park was so windy and exposed and so headed down to Wick.
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| The river in Wick where we are staying for the night |
We found a lovely site on the river with a huge children’s play area next door so me and the twins spent an hour there while mum and dad tidied up and sorted out the van. We then walked down to town and hand a nice meal in a pub. We all had burgers which were lovely except Emily who had scampi.
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| Celebratory meal! |
The final mileage is 971.59miles in 18 days (okay, 17 and a half days!) with a massive 44,170 feet climbed in total (that's a lot of hills!!!). The shortest day was 38 miles and the longest 68 miles. We’re about 29 miles short of 1000 which is bugging me and dad as well so we’ve already talked about going out and finishing off that distance. Not tomorrow though - tomorrow is a family day with no cycling and lots of relaxing!
The day after LEJOG - no miles cycled, but some walking across fields and small climbs on foot!
Mum said today felt like the start of a holiday and the fact that we had smashed our timescale for the ride means that we now have bonus days too! Nanna and Grandad are staying up near here for a whole week (because they weren't expecting us to have arrived yet!) so we've decided to stay here another day too. The weather has also improved again and was beautiful all today.
First we popped into Nanna and Grandad's cottage so they could do some washing for us and we could all have a look around... it's very nice! Then we headed to the Castle of Mey which was bought by the Queen Mother in the 50s and she then restored it and used it as a holiday home. Price Phillip still visits for about 10 days every August. We had a brilliant guide who showed us around and told us loads of funny stories about the Queen Mother. Then we had a picnic in the gardens just like she used to do every day!
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| The view to the sea from the castle |
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| Family picture with the castle in the background - One of the castle wardens even gave me some money for my charities after hearing that I had cycled LEJOG |
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| Waiting to go on our tour of the inside |
After lunch we got back in the camper and drove to Dunnet Head which is actually the most northerly point on the mainland (not John O'Groats like everyone thinks) - It was stunningly beautiful. Mum said she could have sat there for hours just looking out to sea. We were very excited that we could see puffins mixed in with other sea birds through the binoculars on the rocks and in the water.
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| The most northerly point in mainland UK |
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| Mum and Dad were matching today with their coats, hats and sunglasses - Dad says like 'Howard and Hilda' another programme I've never seen! |
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| Me puffin spotting |
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| Beautiful sea views |
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| The weather was glorious |
Then we headed off to Duncansby Head which is the other side of John O'Groats. On the way there we stopped at a petting farm (I needed my daily fix of stroking animals of course!) they had pigs, donkeys, chickens, goats, ducks, rabbits and sheep and I loved it all. Tom and Emily really enjoyed it as well. Jess kept trying to chase the rabbits.
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Emily and Tom loved feeding the goats carrots the most
I liked the lambs! |
Then we drove to Duncansby Head, parked the van and walked across the headland to see the famous stacks. They are rocks which have been eroded over time by the sea (I've learnt all about erosion in Geography!) and they look like witches hats.
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| Birds were nesting in this cliff face |
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| The stacks which look like witches hats |
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| Another picture of Howard and Hilda!? |
Then we headed home for a pasta tea after a play in the play ground - clearly we've not had enough over the last 2 weeks!
I had to do the washing up tonight - Emily says that now I'm not a VIP anymore I have to pull my weight and do the chores as well as them! Mum says that she will need a social media holiday after all of this! - Twitter and Facebook have been going mental today with loads of lovely comments about my achievement. I have also 'almost' doubled my fundraising target so I'm now hoping to build a football pitch with a fence at Jong school, Cambodia (which was another of UWS targets for this year) as well as train 4 teachers. Music Therapy staff at the Bristol Children's Hospital will also be able to visit more sick children - I am hoping to be able to shadow one the the music therapists one day to see what they do.
We are going to leave here tomorrow and head south a little bit. Dad wants to take us to Loch Lomond and Loch Ness and mum loved the scenery in the Cairngorms National Park when she drove through it, Emily wants to swim in the sea so who knows where we will end up over the next few days.... and there is that small matter of 29 miles still to complete to reach my 1000 miles target!!...
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