|
What do you do when people all round you are becoming 30 and getting married? You all get it into your heads that it's a good idea and take a week off to do John O' Groats to Land's End. Well it seemed like a good idea when we were in the pub.
So that's it, we're going to do the length of the country in a week. Holidays and flights have been booked. We fly to Inverness on the 9th June. Blimey. Three quarters of the intrepid adventurers met today to try and for a plan of action. Our first stab at a route plan is here.  Due to a slight error in the planning department where I managed to book the flights for one week and the car hire for another the plans have been modified.
The original plan has been thrown away and we've bought a 1995 Renault Traffic minibus called Arnold. It's a rock and roll lifestyle! Now we drive to Scotland on 4th June and hope Arnold makes it! The journey has begun! From a 7.30 start this morningh at Bicester we're going past Carlisle at approx 1.30pm The sat nav seems to think we'll get to Thurso at about 8.00pm. We're no so sure! Come on Arnold!
We arrived at Thurso at approx 9pm, had a very nice curry and slept! zzzzz.
 Time to get to John O' Groats and start the journey proper.
First stop was Dunnet Head, which is really the furthest point north, but it was so foggy we couldn't even see the sea! Next up was John O' Groats itself for photographing the touristy sign and general purchasing of postcards.  The final northerly stop was Duncansby Head where Si and Alex chucked themselves in the sea! A tour round Loch Ness and then on to Edinburgh for the second longest day of driving.
The night's accomodation and dinner was kindly provided by Henry and Rosie at their place in Edinburgh, making for a nice relaxing end to the day. Today started with a quick trip into Edinburgh to see the sights like Edinburgh Castle and Si proved himself to be popular with foreign tourists getting asked to take photos of them twice! Off then south, stopping breifly at the border to see the big rock with 'England' written on it one side and 'Scotland' on the other. Next stop was Hadrian's Wall, which is indeed a very long wall! We ended the day in Coniston for a pint of their nice Bluebird ale and a walk down to the lake to throw stones in the water. The start of the drive from Coniston was punctuated with a bit of drama as we were driving along the lanes and had to stop as there was a huge low loader with a tank on the back trying to get through. We ended up parking Arnold in a farm entrance and watched the tank go by! First stop was Ulverston to visit the Laurel and Hardy museam as Ulverston is the birthplace of Stan Laurel The drive through the Lake District and into the Yorksire Dales was particularly hilly on the way to Thirsk to see where James Herriott ran his practice and then onto York where we got stuck in a traffic jam and didn't really stop at all! The stop in Liverpool was bristling with famous people. We saw 'some bloke from Brookside' who we recognised but couldn't name at a function in our hotel and then in town where we had some beers we saw Darius. wow.
Time to hit the motorway and get down further south today. A quick stop in Cheltenham on the way and then on to Bath to see the Roman Baths. On to Stonehenge from there to see the stones and take pictures from outside of the silly fence as they were about to close and then to Avebury to see more ancient stones,but ones you can get to this time! Then off to Dad's place to camp overnight. Almost at the other end now! We drove to within a few miles and camped for the evening. Si and Alex repeated their getting in the sea trick from John O'Groats but this time there was no need for wetsuits.
We made it! Another quick dip in the sea first thing and then off to the Minack Theatre which was round the corner from the campsite.
Then off to Land's End to see the famous signpost and for Ian to visit ther Doctor Who exhibtion.  Next stop was the Lizard point as the most southerly point of the mainland and then to the Eden Project (which was closed). We then dropped Si off at his place in Plymouth and headed back to Cheltenham for 10pm. |
