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| Mist over Castle of Mey |
The weather was looking better today, and it was mainly sunny as we rode through land dotted with farms, with good views of Dunnett head and the lighthouse. The tour of the Castle of Mey was interesting. This was the Scottish retreat of the Queen Mother, which she purchased and had furnished herself, so it has many touches that reflect her choices and personality. We think some of the guides might have worked here while she was still alive (she died in 2002 at the age of 101), and they had informative stories of life in the castle. When we arrived the castle was in bright sunshine, but then the mist swept in, making it even more atmospheric. An unusual feature of the visit: filming for an episode of the BBC's "Antique Roadshow" was just about to begin.
We cycled on a couple of miles to have lunch at the Creag-na-Mara. After that, it was only 4 miles mainly downhill to John O'Groats - we had made it! We checked in at the End-to-End desk in the hotel, swapped stories with a couple of other cyclists, and took the obligatory photos. We had about an hour until we needed to board the ferry over to Orkney where we had reserved a bed and breakfast at Mowatt's B&B on South Ronaldsay, so we cycled to Duncansby Head to see the cliffs and look for puffins (none were there). This involved more ups and downs than we anticipated, and we didn't have time to stay there very long.
The journey from Land's End to John O'Groats took us 21 cycling days, not pushing very hard, plus one day off in Edinburgh. Our total distance cycled was 1078 miles, including the 14 miles from Penzance to John O'Groats and various small sightseeing detours. We averaged about 51 miles per cycling day. We had expected the journey to take longer, and had allowed four weeks. This meant that now we had 5 days to enjoy the Orkneys!
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| We did it! |
We took the 4 o'clock passenger (plus bike) ferry over to Burwick on South Rondalsay, Orkney. It's a short trip of about 40 minutes. We had booked a room at Mowatt's Bed and Breakfast very close to the ferry. There was no address, just the house name. We asked the Orcadian helping to tie up the ferry directions, and he pointed to a pair of houses a mile or so up the hill. There were no B&B signs there, and we cycled on until we met another local, who got out a detailed map, and indeed confirmed it was one of the two houses. Nobody was home at the B&B, so we called up the number again. It was answered by the mother of the proprietor, who told us that he was out, and would not get back for about 2 hours. He and the B&B were in one of the two houses, she in the other. So we settled down to wait.
There were no shops or places to get dinner in Burwick, and we hadn't eaten in John O'Groats. Luckily, a grocery-shop-on-wheels stopped at the mother's house, and we were able to buy a few things for a picnic dinner, which we ate in the garden, sheltered from the wind by stone walls.
Route and more pictures
Elevation
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