Blogs from Caithness County, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 3

The day started very early having to get up and cycle to the station to catch a train at 6.30 am to John O' Groats. Getting on the train was a great relief because it was the culmination of lots of plannng. I had arrived in Edinburgh the day before and the bike was assembled and i had all the gear in my panniers. This first part of the trip involved my daughter's partner Ewen, who was coming with me for the first four days. We got to the station on time and it was a great relief. The train looked deserted when we got on it but at subsequent stations we became surrounded by a group out for the day celebrating the birthday of one of their number. They were going as far as Golspie, ... read more

After a 17 hour train journey on the rather grandly named Caladonian Sleeper , i arrived in Thurso , i had pre booked a taxi mini bus to transfer me to JOG, as i didn't fancy an additional 20 miles ! .On the train I had met up with a couple of lads also soloing the jogle albeit on differing routes they agreed that the taxi was a good idea .We arrived in JOG at approx 3.30 pm and after a few pics round the sign post (i refused to pay the £10 quid for an official pic).We all set off , this was a bonus as any miles today were "extras" as my ride was scheduled for Good Friday.The weather was great ..a bit blowy but warm , sunny and clear , some of the ... read more

I will try to remember all of the things that have happened between our last update and now. We spent 3 fantastic nights in the Cinque Terre. We hiked the hardest part of the trail between the towns, stopped for lunch and then decided that we were done. We met a lot of fantastic people, especially Molli from Philly! We returned to Venice for our last 2 nights in Italy. On the last night we went out dancing...let me just say that I am not ok with the fact that Italian men can move their hips better than I can! Now for a little travel disaster story: So, Hannah and I got up to leave Venice and easily got our train to Milan. However, when we reached Milan we realized that we had no money for ... read more

Geo: 58.5926, -3.52461We took the ferry back to the mainland. The trip was a bit more choppy, but I focused on this blog to keep me from getting to queasy. We had abiout 30 minutes before dinner so I collected my laundry (nicely done, they even presses my undies!) and went to prepare for the morning. Since the hotel that we are staying at tomorrow has no lift or porters, we have to pack an overnight bag and have it ready in the morning. We had dinner tonight at 7:30 at the hotel's restaurant again. I had mainly sat with Barbara and Shirley (the Canadians) most of the day, so I went and sat by myself to see who I would get. I ended up sitting with the 3 sisters and a married couple (all from ... read more

On June 21st, me and my Brother-in-law, Geoff, set out on the mammoth journey from John O'Groats (at the North-Eastern-most tip of mainland Scotland) to Land's End (the South-Western-most point of mainland England), travelling only under our own steam - hopefully fuelled by some of the British Isles' best ale. Cycling, on average, 75 miles a day we'll hopefully make the entire 860 mile journey in only 12 days, travelling through the Highlands of Scotland, the slums of the North-West and the cider-making regions of the West country. My charity of choice is the NSPCC, who do great work protecting those who can't protect themselves. Geoff will be collecting for the British Heart Foundation, another extremely worthy cause, who pioneer research, prevention activity and giving care and support to those living with heart disease. http://www.justgiving.com/Geoff-Maguire... read more