LEJOG updates!

Better late than never again and all that...

As I write this I'm a bit tired, having still not recovered, so please forgive its tardiness and any spelung mistaxes...

Friday
The last part of our journey started, as usual, with the morning. This was a slightly later morning than previously; the run today was not the longest, and was probably one of the most straightforward so we got to have a lie in for 15minutes or so.

While I'd been writing the Wednesday/Thursday blog post, Julie and Gerry had been hard at work blowing up (and occasionally popping) balloons to decorate Jane's tent, as it was her birthday on Friday. They seemed to go down well when Jane got up, but there was more to come.

First stop was Morrisons for breakfast. Whilst we were eating (and after I'd managed to get a refund after being charged for two breakfasts) the shop's tannoy announced that it was Jane's birthday. Naturally we all had to burst into a rendition of "Happy Birthday" which, although possibly a bit embarrassing, also seemed to go down well.

Fuelled for the day, we set off for John O'Groats accompanied on the Charlie Browns by a trio of sweary Scotsmen. Their accents were so strong that the only recogniseable words all began with f, but that didn't help as they were every second word.

We lost them fairly soon though, so we could carry on listening to Carol's excellent route guiding and, following a flypast from several Tornados, a good description of what Carol and Michelle's plans were for the following week. Before we knew it we were past Dun[Batman and]Robin Castle, motoring up the coast.

We found some more cheaply surfaced roads on the way up, similar to our experiences along the loch roads but thankfully the tar had set and there were much fewer loose chippings to contend with. The recent improvements to much of the A9 were still going on in places and where the roads had been replaced the surfaces were much better. Unfortunately, we found we'd lost some of the best parts of the route. Some of the steep hills and switchbacks we'd encountered on previous runs have now gone, and the original road blocked off. A great disappointment to all of us who had done them before, and something missed for the newbies. Oh well.

Of course, the run up to John O'Groats also involves an incline in a hamlet called Berriedale. This incline is known to 2008 LEJOGgers as "Jay's Hill" and as the only BINI driver, Chris had been a little nervous. However, once we got to the top of the hill, Chris came on the Charlie Brown and informed us that he had actually got up the hill without issue, except for choking on Nessie's smoke. Not bad for a German tractor 8-)

Our run continued up the coast, at times with the nutty drivers we've come to expect on this road. One old gent decided to try getting past the whole convoy, and I'm still not sure whether, when passing us as car 2, waved or shook his fist. If it was frustration, he found plenty more as Michelle left him on one of the larger hills, even with Mini Jock in tow. He eventually turned off, so we could carry on in relative peace.

We arrived in Wick soon after, with plenty of people pointing and looking as we drove through, then on to our usual toilet stop at Lybster - welcomed by everyone. Chris and Tony went ahead down to the harbour, and with Tony in place for more hilly convoy pictures, we all descended.

After parking up for photos we took the opportunity for a cup of coffee/slice of cake at the Waterpoint cafe on the harbour, and Steve the Pirate - amongst others - took the opportunity to take to his natural habitat for a paddle.

Well rested, we left for the last bit of our northbound run and hit John O'Groats soon after. The usual photos at the roundabout and of course for some at the signpost, souvenir buying and so on, then we were back on our way to Inverness.

On the way back, we heard a French gentleman on the Charlie Browns. My french isn't great, but I did manage to respond by asking for a cherry ice cream. Something garbled followed from him (perhaps something impolite about English Charlie Brown users), and then he went quiet.

We stopped off just after Keiss, at Keiss beach, on Chris' recommendation. Unfortunately though it may have been an out of date brochure, as it whiffed a bit and wasn't quite the golden miles we'd expected. There were rumours it might also have been radioactive, but I didn't notice anyone glowing on Friday night, so it must have been OK.

A nice leisurely run brought us to our new toilet stop at Golspie at some of the best public toilets I've ever seen. Think that'll be a regular stop from now on.

And so we returned to Inverness, many of us stocking up on nibbles from Morrisons, of course. Half a chicken and a bit of sausage later - and of course some of Jane's birthday cake - the heavens decided to open for a short but heavy shower which largely brought the party to a close until it stopped. By this time people had begun to disperse to tents, getting ready for their drives home in the morning. Some of us said our goodbyes, knowing that they would be leaving before others, and all of us had thankful words for Terry.

A beer or two later and it was time to try getting some sleep, a long day - and a long week - mostly over.

Saturday
Well, it may be that the seagulls from Westward Ho! had followed us to Inverness. I was woken at about 0500 as some people were packing up to leave and as the seagulls were begging me to have at them with artillery. Grr.

I managed to get a wave off to Lotty and the Queen, though I missed Neil and Andrea. Terry was taking his tent down at this point but, feeling absolutely shattered, I dropped off again.

I woke up again at 0630 to find that only Barry, Carol and Michelle and of course myself and Tony were left. We broke camp fairly quickly, waiting a little for Barry who had decided to head back with us. We'd tanked up at Morrisons so we could get straight off and head down the A9.

It was a very good idea to convoy down with Barry. Setting TomTom to take us down the A9 and finding the next instruction was in 127 miles made us realise how long a drive it is when there's only two very tired people in the car, and how cool an invention the Charlie Brown was.

We made fairly good time considering our limited speed, the rather wet weather and the nutty drivers, managed to get over the Forth Road Bridge and round Edinburgh and at this point we went our separate ways. Barry decided it would be more sensible for him to take the motorways back, whilst me and Tony carried on down the A68.

With the drizzle continuing (and a lack of a passenger side wiper arm due to worn splines) we kept on going on the A68, including a slightly hairy but ultimately enjoyable moment over a blind summit when it felt like we were taking off. Switching to what's left of the Great North Road, we made it back to Leeds and to the front door at work at 1745, earlier than expected.

After unloading the trailer of Tony's gear, it was time to head home for a jolly good kip. This year has to have been the best LEJOG I've been on, yet I think mainly due to the heat it was also by far the most tiring. But that doesn't mean I won't be back for another.

And Tony? Well, after a week of driving Dennis, his reaction to his own car was little different to Paul's the years before: "It's HUGE! and I can't hear the engine!"

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