Pentland Hotel Thurso

... verge repeatedly, sapping energy and morale. <br><br>I'm intrigued by how huge all the animals are out here - cows, sheep, even the flopsy bunnies are all enormous! Must be something in the rain! <br><br>Stopping for tea at the Portland Arms Hotel in Lybster, the lovely barmaid offers me some of their home-made shortbread. It's buttery and very sweet and gives me a much needed energy boost, especially as my right foot is ...

... says "an easier walk is back along the surfaced lane" and opt for an off-road route from the tough Cicerone End-to-End guide. The Stacks of Duncansby and the cliffs are spectacular but it is a tough option and my energy starts to fade as I wade in and out of peat bogs and try to stride over streams swollen by heavy rain.<br><br>After a few miles the route heads back to the road at ...

... Helmsdale scare me. <br><br>Worrying isn't going to help though and I'll just have to take each day as it comes - there aren't any shortcuts! Inspired by a friend who cycled across America and who talked about having specific milestones for every day (alarm going off, getting on the road etc), I decide that as well as milestones I'm going to focus on what makes me smile each day - anything from a silly placename ...

... Scottish (church of Scotland) rule- now any church can hold a service there) until the 1400's when they were given to Scotland as part of a dowry for Queen Margaret of Norway. The flag of the Oarkneys is very similar to the Norwegain flag (yellow stripe instead of white around the cross) and they don't speak Galic/Celtic. <br><br>After seeing the cathedral at Kirkwall we then headed off to Stromeness, a very picturesque old town which has ...

... suburbs of Edinburgh the rest of Scotland is surprisingly sparsely populated, with lots of little towns along the way. The towns here tend to have one high street, or main street, along the "highway" here and that's about it. Some of them are downright adorable like Creif with it's little flags and hanging baskets of flowers. The natural scenery is also amazing, with awe inspiring bens and glens. We hit what we think is the edge of the ...

... the most riveting of lectures. Our lecture theatre has the fatal flaw of providing free wireless internet to all students with a laptop &#8211; and thus access to magicseaweed. There was a seductive area of red circling towards North Scotland - the perfect swell! After 17 hours on a train and 3 hours sleep we found Thurso, perpetual lines of swell pumping from the horizon, breaking mechanically on the reef below. Our escapade north had paid off! We suited and booted and paddled ...

... and thought maybe I could treat myself at some point. Then I remembered how much I'd spent on all the kit I was carrying with me that was slowing me down. No B&amp;B's yet!<br><br>Chatted to a girl at the campsite who had just finished the trip from Land's End in 2 weeks and 2 days. Wow. I'm going for the more leisurely approach. And the scenic route. Why not, I've got the time to spare. There, that's my excuses done!<br><br>Time to get a move on.<br><br>

... banner and flags up the two big hills at Helmsdale and Berridale. Rain all day until mid afternoon when it cleared. Got quite tired after the two hills and with fifty miles still to go stopped for half an hour for a rest. The last fifty miles were more hilly than I had expected but managed to press on and arrived in sunshine at John o'Groats at 7.50pm welcomed by Sue and the children with the ...

... to put our bikes in a carriage that wasn't going to be used during the journey as none of the platforms were long enough for 4 carriages (and boy they weren't...some of them were only 2 slabs on a bit of grass)...no sooner had we got seats on the train (more difficult than you would imagine as the wrong reservation cards had been put on every seat) than we all had to get off again as there had been a fire ...

... showing. I remove my waterproof s to show of the PROSTaid Tshirt that I had proudly worn only long enough to have my photo taken at the JOG sign, which was long enough for me to get drenched. Photo shoot over I redress and head to the start line (yes it does exist, a start/finish line for LEJOGers and JOGLErs) stepping over I turn south take a deep breath and ...