One of the many pleasures of coastal walking is childlike weaving round incoming waves on a sandy beach. This happens less often than you might imagine, so it’s a real treat to enjoy a fine morning crossing Dunnet Bay. The […]
Day 326: Dunnet Head to Thurso Read More »
Finally, a glorious morning. The German father and daughter are already up and enjoying breakfast before biking over to Orkney for the day. I try to explain the Old Man of Hoy, despite our language barrier, eventually resorting to hand
Day 325: Dunnet Head Read More »
Westward Ho! First, the obligatory photo at That Sign, free of charge, unlike the rapacious owners of Land’s End. The biting wind is a shock. The photographer, a small, wiry German man cycling round Britain, has also hiked the iconic
Day 324: John o’Groats to Dunnet Head Read More »
My last trip included father-youngest-son bonding with Max. This time, it’s father-daughter, as Hayley is keen to try camping, dreaming of the John Muir Trail. The plan is a few days of coastal walking round John O’Groats, returning south via
Day 323: Lybster to Whaligoe Read More »
Altnabreac railway station … … a place girded round by peat-black lochs and dismal bogs and overshadowed by dark, anonymous plantations of doomed conifers, where nothing of any note has happened these past 70 years save for intense despondent brooding.
Day 322: Berriedale to Lybster Read More »
Skipping the section from Berriedale to Whaligoe due to the snow puts John o’Groats within my reach. Sunny weather is forecast, so what better way to finish the hiking year? My pronunciation of Keiss has improved from yesterday as the
Day 287: Keiss to John o’Groats Read More »
More snow is forecast, so I’ll take the bus north to the village of Keiss and walk back to town. Ice cracks under my boots as I cross the River Wick to the bus stop. The bus driver corrects my
Day 286: Wick to Keiss Read More »
A 7 am knock at my door. In the absence of a dining room, the owner wheels in a cooked breakfast trolley. Is he wearing pyjamas? “I don’t get this at home.” My book for this trip is Between the
Day 285: Whaligoe to Wick Read More »