Date: 02/08/09
Time: 21:00
Miles Travelled Today: 255
Location: John o'Groats Campsite
Weather: Was sunny, now clouding over a bit
What a difference a day makes. Although the first day was fine, it was mostly motorway driving and then camping in the rain. It did let up long enough for me to cook dinner and then came back with a vengeance. I didn't get much sleep, I don't sleep that well anyhow and a combination of being on a roll mat, although it was that uncomfortable, the noise of the stream and the heavy rain storms was enough to ensure that I was awake or dozing most of the night. That did mean that I was up early and didn't have to queue for a shower though. Another bit of good news was that I managed to put the tent away, still not sure if I did exactly by the book but it fitted inside the bag and that is all that counts!
So, after packing up, I was on my way to John 'oGroats. The sat nav reckoned on about 4.5 hours which would get me in at about 2.30ish. To cut a long story short, the drive up was stunning, my god what a beautiful place Scotland is. I know you will have heard it before but believe me, it is all true. Lochs, rivers, mountains, heather, view galore, it is all here. It helped that my sat nav did it's usual thing of choosing random tiny roads to go down rather than sticking to A roads. Normally this is very annoying as it assumes you can do 60 mph down a tiny road which, unless you are suicidal, you can't However today it took me through some utterly beautiful scenery and so I forgave it. After stopping for supplies at Wick (I was strangely amazed to find Argos and Lidl, as well as Tescos etc, 20 miles from John o'Groats) I arrived at John o'Groats. The campsite is right on the coastline and my pitch is about 20m from the sea, perfect. The campsite itself is fine, not too expensive and all the facilities are there. After putting the tent up (which still worked after me packing it away) and having a bit of lunch, I went for a wander. JoG (can't be bother to keep writing it) is, predictably, a bit of a dump with a few tat shops, cafes and burger vans. Why is it that places like this tend to be either dumps or some horrible over touristy parody of themselves? The famous signpost is actually privately owned and you aren't allowed to photograph yourself, you have to pay for them to do it... After exploring the 'town', such that it is, I had a walk up the coastline a bit towards a white sandy beach that I had spotted. This was a good start to my exploration of Scottish beaches, nice white sand, very few people and lots of things to look at and try out my new toy, a Cannon 300D. I love this camera, it may be the low end model in the range but even after only a couple of weeks I can already see that it is far more capable that I am. I went on a very good one day course (http://www.photographymadesimple.co.uk/) to at least get an idea of what it can do – it was very helpful and I at least have some idea about what I am doing. I am looking at the photos on my little Aspire One at the end of the day and some of them seem ok so far – I am at least thinking about the photo composition and not just 'snapping'. I particularly like the 75-300mm zoom lense that I have, it makes a big difference.
So here I am, back in my tent after a BBQ and sitting enjoying the view an the sunshine. I am using my air mattress today and, as predicted, it only just fits in the tent, however the combination of that, pillows and duvet should mean that tonight is a little more comfortable than last night – we shall see if that means I get some sleep.
I am tempted to stay here for another night but, after looking at the map and the distance I need to cover, have decided to move on tomorrow – not sure where but then the plan was always not to have a plan and see where I end up!
Time: 21:00
Miles Travelled Today: 255
Location: John o'Groats Campsite
Weather: Was sunny, now clouding over a bit
What a difference a day makes. Although the first day was fine, it was mostly motorway driving and then camping in the rain. It did let up long enough for me to cook dinner and then came back with a vengeance. I didn't get much sleep, I don't sleep that well anyhow and a combination of being on a roll mat, although it was that uncomfortable, the noise of the stream and the heavy rain storms was enough to ensure that I was awake or dozing most of the night. That did mean that I was up early and didn't have to queue for a shower though. Another bit of good news was that I managed to put the tent away, still not sure if I did exactly by the book but it fitted inside the bag and that is all that counts!
So, after packing up, I was on my way to John 'oGroats. The sat nav reckoned on about 4.5 hours which would get me in at about 2.30ish. To cut a long story short, the drive up was stunning, my god what a beautiful place Scotland is. I know you will have heard it before but believe me, it is all true. Lochs, rivers, mountains, heather, view galore, it is all here. It helped that my sat nav did it's usual thing of choosing random tiny roads to go down rather than sticking to A roads. Normally this is very annoying as it assumes you can do 60 mph down a tiny road which, unless you are suicidal, you can't However today it took me through some utterly beautiful scenery and so I forgave it. After stopping for supplies at Wick (I was strangely amazed to find Argos and Lidl, as well as Tescos etc, 20 miles from John o'Groats) I arrived at John o'Groats. The campsite is right on the coastline and my pitch is about 20m from the sea, perfect. The campsite itself is fine, not too expensive and all the facilities are there. After putting the tent up (which still worked after me packing it away) and having a bit of lunch, I went for a wander. JoG (can't be bother to keep writing it) is, predictably, a bit of a dump with a few tat shops, cafes and burger vans. Why is it that places like this tend to be either dumps or some horrible over touristy parody of themselves? The famous signpost is actually privately owned and you aren't allowed to photograph yourself, you have to pay for them to do it... After exploring the 'town', such that it is, I had a walk up the coastline a bit towards a white sandy beach that I had spotted. This was a good start to my exploration of Scottish beaches, nice white sand, very few people and lots of things to look at and try out my new toy, a Cannon 300D. I love this camera, it may be the low end model in the range but even after only a couple of weeks I can already see that it is far more capable that I am. I went on a very good one day course (http://www.photographymadesimple.co.uk/) to at least get an idea of what it can do – it was very helpful and I at least have some idea about what I am doing. I am looking at the photos on my little Aspire One at the end of the day and some of them seem ok so far – I am at least thinking about the photo composition and not just 'snapping'. I particularly like the 75-300mm zoom lense that I have, it makes a big difference.
So here I am, back in my tent after a BBQ and sitting enjoying the view an the sunshine. I am using my air mattress today and, as predicted, it only just fits in the tent, however the combination of that, pillows and duvet should mean that tonight is a little more comfortable than last night – we shall see if that means I get some sleep.
I am tempted to stay here for another night but, after looking at the map and the distance I need to cover, have decided to move on tomorrow – not sure where but then the plan was always not to have a plan and see where I end up!
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