Day 6 - Durness to Dunnet Head / John o'Groats

Wednesday 08/05/2019
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We all slept well after an eventful day and a pleasant evening soaking-up the last sunshine rays of the day. The days are long here, it was still light at 10pm and wasn't exactly pitch black when I had to take a pee in the middle of the night.

First thing in the morning it was sunny but soon after I heard the patter of rain-drops on the tent. After re-checking the weather it looked like it was going to be a very rainy day.... We treated ourself to a breakfast bap and coffee at the campsite which put us in good stead for the remainder of the day. We packed-up what we could inside the tent, put out wet weather gear on and hit the road.

It was really chucking it down but our first stop was just down the road at Smoo Caves. We went down the stairs and into what I think is one of the biggest sea-caves in Great Britain. Really impressive and nice to get out of the weather for a bit. Unfortunately the boat trips into the depths of the cave system were not working so we missed that but snapped a few photos anyway. It appeared to stop raining, but as soon as we set off it started chucking it down again.

The views were great (again) but it really was raining hard and I only had my summer gloves with me so once soaked, my hands were pretty cold. I was also running low on fuel and there were no functioning petrol stations anywhere.... I crawled at an economical speed and eventually made it into Thurso where we tanked-up. Dino was struggling with visibility, his visor steaming-up due to the rain and cold, but I struggled to find a nice place to stop for a warming coffee.

We carried-on to Dunnet Head, the most Northerly point of mainland Britain. John o'Groats is the 4th most Northerly point but the furthest away from everything. At Dunnet Head we were at the same longitude as Alaska and as Stavanger in Norway. It's no wonder it's pretty chilly up here! We checked-out the viewpoint / lighthouse and found a lovely cafe to warm-up in and to enjoy an omelette and salas (and teas).

After leaving the cafe the rain stopped and the world became a better place. A short ride and we were at John o'Groats where we took the obligatory photoa and had some more food (fish and chips). Lovely afternoon but freezing cold.

We set-up camp out of the wind in the campsite at John o'Groats itself and next to the ferry port to the Orkneys that are just off the coast. As it was still relatively early we took the walk to Duncansby Head. It was super windy but we wrapped-up well and made it to the breathtaking cliffs at Duncansby Stack. Brilliant if not longer than expected walk but the views were worth it. After making some mint-tea we hit the sack, satisfied at having made it all the way up to the top.

Tomorrow we start heading South completing the NC500 and hopefully making it to Loch Ness. Let's hope is stays dry!

Mileage: 1127
Country count: 2 (GB - England, Scotland)
Beers: 30.5
Fines: 0
Bribes: 0
Ass pain: 2/10
Mechanical issues: 0.5 (well Dino's sat-nav fell-off and I had to cable tie a water hose to stop it rubbing)
Accidents: 0
Wetness: 7/10
Coldness: 7/10
Midges: 0/10