St Clair Hotel Thurso

... cake and tea - "Will you not be having another cake Charlie?" If you insist!

An inspection of my right foot reveals a two-inch blood blister all down one side! That'll make the going easier...

What made me smile today:

Sunshine
The nice barmaid at The Portland Arms
Their delicious shortbread
The names of the villages - Thrumster, Occumster and Lybster. Must be because they are Norse!

... 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.

After a few miles the route heads back to the road at ...

... in itself. There is no direct bus from Inverness and the quickest route seems to involve a slow bus to Wick and then another even slower bus (from the other side of Wick, of course!) to J O'G itself. Gazing out of the window I try to take in some of the landscapes I'll be walking over the next week and ponder why on earth I thought this was a good idea! The narrowness of the A99 and the twists and turns north ...

Signs with this phrase are up all around our B&B (love the no smoking!). Today we headed off to the Oarkney Islands which are home to many Puffins; however we sadly saw none. We did manage to see some seals though and many old monuments. The Oarkneys are home to many quaint villages as only 18 of the islands (there are about 70) are inhabited with just 19 000 people.

Today started with breakfast overlooking the sea from our ...

... 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 ...

... A deep channel meant you could paddle out without getting your hair wet. Surfers are a bunch of intrepid muppets when you think about it. Days of travelling in exchange for literally seconds (if you’re lucky) of wave time. What is wrong with us? Is surfing nothing more than a bit of shameless escapism and a quick adrenaline fix?? What I do know is that afterwards there is genuinely nothing better than a fat mug of coffee and hot shower to regain the feeling in my face.

... but I still had 4 hours on the train past Inverness. I did spend a lot of those 4 hours thinking, 'It's an awful long way back down....'
Passed the time by reading and staring out the window, intrigued by all the people who like to wave at trains. Is it the train or the people they're waving at?

On the cycle from Wick to John O' Groats (about 17 miles) I spent a bit more time wondering what on earth I'd let myself in for. Passed a few B&B ...

... in between but still managed to lose 10 lbs...stuff weight watchers, this is the way to lose weight! (Sue has put on 2 lbs) Hope to post some photos in the next few days....Thank you for visiting the site and to everyone who sent us texts and messages. Unfortunately my phone broke after the first three days and I made a typing error putting my new number on the blog (one 7 too many)....sorry.

... of us. On arrival we were greeted by the rest of the guys: Kevin, Anthony, Stuart and Chris. After the usual attemot at youth hostel sleep; being subjected to trying to sleep in the same room as 7 other men with all the snoring, ******* etc that entails we managed to dodge miss busybody and all the hoorah Henries that were staying in the hostel and get straight out to John O'Groats for 9am.... Day 0 Miles: 15

... as good a time as I have been having here. I have been shown around the lovely countryside of Northern Scotland and introduced to some fun Scotish traditions. One of which being the Haggis. For those of you who don`t know- Haggis is a very tradional Scotish dish eaten a few times a year and esspecially on Robby Burns night when they celebrate the famous Scotish poet. What is a haggis you ask? Aye should you only be so ...