J.O,Groats to Melvich

Gills and J,O,Groats While departing Orkney on the ferry from the hoap to Gills I was standing beside another cyclist, she was a commuter who works on Orkney but chooses to cycle and use public transport! Good on her I was impressed, on telling her I had planned to get to john o groats (JOG) for the start of the mainland NCN1 route for me, she suggested there would be a bus at the ferry port I should take it to john o groats! What a great idea? I didn’t even consider that such a thing could be possible for a cycle tourist? Sure enough as I left the ferry a big bus rolled on, I asked the driver two questions are you going to J,O,Groats? Yes! Can I bring my bike? Yes! In the hold mate and then he helped me shove the daunder in, it’s a short bus journey by bus, but long cycle to the tourist mecca that JOG has become, this was not viewed by me as cheating as in not doing the cycle route? Had it been possible I would have taken the ferry from the southernmost tip of Orkney to JOG, but that ferry’s not on, I could cycle from JOG back the route that the bus took,

This was my third visit to JOGrots each time I visit it grows, I was shocked at how commercial it has become, it always was but it’s getting more and more, its actually a good thing for me! I like it as a holiday center, sometimes we need to embrace these things, I asked at the caravanning and campsite reception how much for a tent? Only a tenner so I booked the daunder and tent in, pitched up then went for a shower

The hotel up the end of the road was open for beer garden beers, I went up- there was a whole biker crew in, turns out they were all ex Met coppers, I joined in their company. Most of them left as it was late, then it was just me and one old retired copper, who couldn’t resist politics! What’s wi this Nicola sturgeon? Surely, she must know Scotland can’t survive alone you have no industry, OMG bite my tongue: I couldn’t! what industry has England got mate? Well, we have the car industry he said! Bloody hell I said jap or German cars? Because British Leyland and rolls Royce were once even made in Scotland it’s all long gone now dead like the British car industry, a long time ago made in Scotland! Erse !

In the morning after my shower, I had a walk around the tourist area as nothing opened until 10AM I was needing coffee, the site had no kettle I had sent my camping stove home, I decided to walk along the beach path to ducansbay head, when I got there, I had a look at the beach, before I knew it I was searching through shells for bloody groatie buckies again! And yet again To no avail more time out my life wasted dam you mark and Sheila lol!

Back at site the weather was gorgeous, it had been all morning I finished packing up the tent after a quick mental decision to move on, it had been a consideration to spend another night camped out here? It was by then time for the cafes to open, I bought mum a postcard and wrote it out in in a nice restaurant where I had breakfast, I went to post it but there was a big scary wolf barking like hell at me as I approached the post box! I opted to have a beer at the excellent john o groats brewery right doon at the oldest hoose,

JOG brewery was a great place nice people perfect location, I was delighted it was open, I bought a couple of bottles of beer and ordered a draught pint, the lovely girl brought my draught beer out to my table, we exchanged a few laughs about how wonderful it was draught ale in a big dimple glass perfect, I was sitting waiting in glorious weather, for my beer , when it eventually arrived I took photos of my braw pint next to my sunglasses, and wrote a postcard to mum, I had only had one or two drinks out of my beer on the picnic table and taken the photos, then the sky’s opened up properly! I lost mums card somewhere and got all my waterproofs on finished my beer and set of in the rain

The cycle route unfortunately follows some parts of the NC500, this route gets mega busy with motorhomes motorbikes and camper vans its not a place for cycle tourists on narrow roads with any volume of traffic, BUT yet again I was lucky the roads and hospitality were only half open to tourism, only a couple of weeks ago there was no campsites open no hotels etc-except for essential workers like I once was! the mainstream tourism was still only slowly reawakening, I got there at the exact right time open but as yet not too busy, that said not everything was open it was a weird mid world existence between a social life and a sterile social distancing world,

That first day was planning wise all still a bit of a shock, I set off with absolutely no idea where I was heading? Wondering to myself if I shoulda stayed at JOGroats? once I had cycled five mile in the rain that choice was gone, I cycled on the back roads towards thurso, stopping of to take a photo of a millennium post in the lashing rain, by the time I got to thurso I was soaked, still with no plan, thurso being a big town I coulda/shoulda stayed somewhere there! But I didn’t! I only stopped at the train station for A photo at the mega cool millennium post. There was Not many photos taken that day though! the phone was in my trousers in a bag below waterproof breaks, even taking it out in the rain was a layer peeling pest,

The cycle route is not a dedicated cycle path but back roads, sometimes these weave ways out of the desired destination route that you think why bother? But even with the shitty weather I stuck to the back roads and was delighted in the sites seen, well away from the main drag, one of the highlights of my day was finding out about the flagstone industry awesome, I had wondered even while travelling through Orkney what was the deal with these flagstones? Around this area they are so available they use them as roof slates and fencing! Which I think is cool,

I was hoping to get to tongue that first day! This turned out to be an Absolutely ridiculously outrageous dream, the coast undulates horrendously, if I wasn’t soaked from the rain externally, I was ringing internally from sweat on the big uphill cycles, at the top of one I looked back to see the nuclear power station I had forget about that! WTF it`s doing in the north of Scotland I will never know, it made me sad,

It had been a long hard day cycling when I approached Melvich on yet another uphill I knew my dream of getting to tongue that day was unrealistic to say the least, I cycled towards a place called north coast touring park, all wet and tired I looked at their camping pods bar restaurant toilet and laundry area! I didn’t even know what time of day it was but knew it was getting late I should consider finding a place to stay, this was a stroke of luck beyond belief, the woman at reception who turned out to be the owner said a pod is usually £60 but seeing as your on your own I will give it to you for 50 braw says I, she then went on to say they stopped serving at 19:30 she would book me in for dinner at 7. Magic said I then looked at the time I had 45mins to shower and get there,

This was done of course my dairy free dinner had to be fish n chips which was grand, there was no real vegan option, they had put me at the table right next to the blazing fire what a smashing place to stay and eat, drying my stuff in and around my camping pod wasn’t easy, the pod heater was mega high temp so I couldn’t leave stuff unattended, much of my stuff was still damp in the morning, my breakfast was fine I sometimes hate being meat and dairy free when its nice people dealing with you, they only want the best for you and worry they are going to offend you with some normal practice, like milk with coffee or butter with toast things that to me now are bizarre but to them normal,