John o'Groats Thursday 18 June 2015
Start: Wick
Finish: John o'Groats / Stromness
Miles walked today: 17
Total miles: 1033
Today's earworm can only be:
Thank you to everyone for your help, support, donations, messages and emails.
The final day - touch wood. Will I survive the A99? Will I trip and injure a vital part? Will I walk in the wrong direction and end up back in Cornwall...
No. The end is slightly anticlimactic. There are a couple of other walkers and lots of cyclists. And lots of "civilians" who are in cars and camper vans. There is a slight scrum around the famous sign and nobody notices me. No brass band. No popping champagne corks. No fuss... just how I wanted it. I did get someone to take my photo, of course. Then I went into the cafe and signed the register (the iconic hotel is now a leisure complex). I ordered a coffee and drank a bottle of whisky - photo below. Fifty five days after thumbing a lift to Lands End with Tina I've proved that there's hope for old gits everywhere :)
The wonderful June at the b&b served me breakfast at 7.00 and a little later David surfaced. My intentions of getting off early were undone by June's stories of end to enders. People on penny farthings, four men on a four person tandem (quadem?), and her efforts to see the naked rambler. June arrived at John o'Groats just after the police carted him off in a van. There was a crowd of women there to witness his arrival and one older lady informed June that she "hadn't missed much."
After leaving Wick the route once again led me along a wonderful beach for a mile or more. I met a woman and her dog and we talked for quite a while. She asked where I was headed, and when I told her she insisted that it was in the opposite direction. For a brief moment I was a bit worried.
Rejoining the road I shook hands with a couple of cyclists returning home after finishing yesterday. The road was ok, not too busy, and the weather was almost dry. A camper van stopped ahead of me and it was the woman from the beach and her husband. Ulla (originally from Denmark) produced an ice cream - would I like it? It was heavenly. I'd told her earlier about David, who had set off later than me from June's b&b. She'd passed him, but couldn't stop on that section of the road. Would I like another ice cream, technically David's? It was just as good as the first. I waved them off with profuse thanks.
Eventually I crested Giar Hill and there in the distance were the Orkney Islands. To the right was Duncansby Head with its lighthouse. After enjoying myself at the little harbour and assorted attractions of John o'Groats, I walked back up the road and headed East to Duncansby Head - it's a couple of miles to the extreme north east tip of Scotland. A camper van went past, I stuck out my thumb, and got a lift. There were two couples and a dog on board - Ann, Janet, John, George, and Ned. They were there to meet their son and daughter who had also just finished LEJOG.
Duncansby Head was amazing. Towering cliffs, the lighthouse, massive rock stacks, and a multitude of seabirds including a puffin or two made me glad I'd gone. I walked back and wasn't so lucky with my opposable digit. Which was lucky, as I met David walking towards me. David has completed the end to end in sections. When he crossed the fords at Glen Tilt (in the Cairngorms) there had been a lot of rain, and he had to wade through water which came up to the top of his thighs. There were indications on the banks were that the water had been even higher. This was yet another reminder of how lucky I've been on this walk. Someone up there has been looking after me... I was sad to say goodbye but we shook hands and went in opposite directions. But not before David told me off for eating his ice cream :)
A bus journey of an hour took me to Thurso, where I realised I could get the 7.00 pm ferry to Stromness on the Orkney Islands. I have always wanted to see the Old Man of Hoy - a giant rock stack. The ferry went very close to it and the view made my day complete. So here I am at 11.00 pm finishing this entry at the Ferry Inn in Stromness. It hasn't sunk in yet... but I did it!
A final earworm for Tina, whose support and encouragement made my walk possible:
