Today we left Lybster and headed for John o’Groats
Today we had Mike and Barath walking the whole day, Lynn joining us at Wick and the new CEO of Catering and Logistics, Elizabeth, doing her thing.
As per the last couple of days, we got in the car to be dropped at the point where we finished the day before. This strategy has been effective and means we haven’t had to walk 50 km plus on any single day of this adventure. Today we were dropped about 10 km outside Lybster, leaving us with approx 38 km to complete the journey to John o’Groats. From the weather forecast and radar images we knew we would get a bit of a soaking later on, but for the start the weather was fine and the morning sky provided its usual range of sunny, cloudy and moody images.
As we walked into Wick the promised rain started – we did try to get coffee and scones but of the three options on the Main Street, one had a queue, one looked like an undertakers and the other only took cash – so on we walked. On the way out of town was a Tesco petrol station so we stocked up on lunch. The person behind the counter insisted Paul bought a chocolate bar (which he didn’t want) so he could benefit from the “meal deal” – so he gave the chocolate bar to the young lady in the queue behind us.
By now the storm was well and truly overhead as we trudged through the roadside puddles and passing car spray – luckily the wind was slightly behind us and not in our face – but it was very cold. We passed a field of swans just doing their thing and then then reached our penultimate milestone – 1,400 kms.
Past a couple of herds of Highland Cattle with the weather improving all the time and then back to within sight of the sea – past Keiss Castle (late 16th century) and Keiss House (1755) and then the final few kilometres into John o’Groats itself.
It was a fitting sign that there just happened to be a full rainbow over the town sign as we came down the road but still a couple of km away from the actual signpost.
Tired but happy we posed for our picture 35 days after posing at the other end of the country at the start of our journey. Incredible to think we have walked the length of the UK twice in two years – I’m fairly certain this is the last time though! As we walked into the bar for a well earned beer, the young lady from the Tesco station was serving – a free beer for Paul as a result!
The generosity shown by everyone who has donated, either directly via the website or of their time / expenses by joining us during the walk has been incredible. The company and support gave a huge boost in getting the journey done, and has helped in raising a good sum for two incredibly deserving hospices.
And finally, a last map of our progress:
Very well done on a fantastic achievement for a second time. It was nice to meet you both in Penrith and I hope you enjoy getting up tomorrow and not having to walk. 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Brilliant effort. Well done to you both.