I have to confess, I like the ‘Long Way …’ Round, Down, and Up series’ that Charlie and Ewan did all those years ago. I know the hard core adventure guys out there tisk tisk them, but what they did was open the eyes of many to the possibility.

The first series, Long Way Round, came out in 2004 while I was recovering from a serious motorcycle accident. So watching these was an escape during that time.

For me, they also fed my need for adventure, venturing out further, and going longer.

Today, sitting at John-O-Groats reminded me of that and it was a little surreal. Seeing all the other biker riders stream in for their photo of the sign … were they here for the same reason.?

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Today we start our journey on the North Coast 500 (NC500), a tourist road from Inverness around the west coast of Scotland and back to Inverness, a total distance of 500 miles.

Glenmorangie Distillery

Confession number two, I know very little about whiskey … but I know that the Scott’s make a lot of it and 10am on a bike is too early to try a wee dram when you have a lot of miles to do.

So we just bought a small bottle of their standard single malt, which was the same price as a testing session.

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Dunrobin Castle

Walking through the castle today, they have it all set out with objects that would have been used in all the different rooms in its heyday … the dining room, sitting room, drawing room, men’s room, women’s room, sewing room, military room, and the list just goes on and on and on. It’s hard to fathom how to live in a place like this and how many staff you’d need to run such a household. And wouldn’t you just stick to the same few rooms all the time?

A few pictures of the castle

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John-O-Groats

John-O-Groats is the most northerly town in Scotland and the sign post is iconic. For me I first learnt about it from the second Long Way series, Long Way Down, where they started at John-O-Groats and headed all the way south to Cape Town in South Africa.

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Dunnet Head

While John-O-Groats is the most northern town in Scotland, Dunnet Heads is the most north part of the United Kingdom.

We went for a little wander, and when we went out on the ledge and looked back down, we saw a couple of little puffins.

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Tonight we are tucked up in a lovely B&B with lovely hosts – Westlea House B&B, in Thurso.

Interesting sidenote on Thurso – this is the birthplace of Sir William Alexander Smith, who founded the Boy’s Brigade in 1883. I was heavily involved with Boy’s Brigade when I was younger and was presented the Queen’s Badge by the NSW Queen’s representative, the NSW Governor General, in the early 1980’s.

It was also the reason Deb and I met as she attended a parade to meet up with a friend. That was nearly 40 years ago.!

Today’s total distance – 160 miles