Dunbeath

A beautiful start to the morning, after a night of strong winds and rain. As we lay in bed, we could see the birds darting back and forth across the blue sky. A hay coloured sun finding its way into Marge.

In the nearby bay we could see the tide was in, only a band of golden sand visible. The landscape in this area is not what we were expecting, which was large rocky outcrops and crashing seas. Instead it was flat and green, with sandy coves. Marge brushed out, envious that the neighbouring van had been cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, we, decided to drive to Dunnet Head, the most northerly point in Britain. The road down to the lighthouse was well tarmacked, fairly wide with passing places, but in comparison to the many miles we'd driven on this type of road, it was luxurious.

The views from the lighthouse were fantastic, we couldn't believe how clear the coast was. Less than seven miles away lay the island of Orkney, and we could see the top of The Old Man of Hoy. Out in the North Sea the car ferry sliced through the water, on route back to the mainland from the island.

Then the ultimate destination, John o' Groats.

What a surprise, not too touristy, fairly quiet, a lovely picturesque harbour and more fantastic views. There were very few cyclists, and the couple we spoke to, who were a similar age to us, were cycling the north coast 500 in the same direction as Marge. We were a little awe inspired that they'd covered the same ground as us by pedalling. They told us about other cycling trips they'd been on, including one in Cambodia, as we did. The man said he'd written a book about a cycling trip to the Balkans, and it was now for sale on Amazon. We wrote down the title so we could pass it on to Chris and Kirsty, (Angela's son and his wife), as a Christmas present idea.

Late afternoon we passed through the town of Wick, which now has a nice new Tesco, its presence evident as we passed through the main town. Our destination was Dunbeath, a tiny village with a pretty harbour. We arrived around four o' clock, but soon after a few other vans arrived, and it proved to be a popular overnight stop.

There are public toilets and the grass areas and floral displays were well kept. We will put some money in the donation box before we leave tomorrow to show our appreciation. John tried his hand at some fishing, whilst Angela took the opportunity to put her feet up, as she has not felt well all day. We need to slow our pace a little again. Our fellow van owners are all travelling east to west on the north coast 500, so we warned them that their drive would become a 'little more interesting' over on the west side. Marge as usual is attracting interest, particularly from the owners of the small VW vans.

Tomorrow we will continue south in the direction of Inverness, probably stopping at a point recommended to us by some fellow travellers from Norfolk.