Halkirk to Brough
After a lovely night with Elspeth, she dropped me back off in Halkirk, for the penultimate day on my journey. It just started to rain as I got out of the car, so I put my waterproofs on. It soon stopped but my waterproofs stayed on all day, as wind protection instead!
There’s a sort of calmness that has come as I get towards the end of my journey. Walking along I get to relive the memories of the past few months and really appreciate my surroundings. It is definitely going to feel different going home!
I set off through Halkirk, crossing over the River Thurso, before taking roads to Hilliclay.
The country lanes were beautiful. I was surrounded by fields and wildflowers. Curlew and Lapwing joined me overhead. I took great pleasure, enjoying their songs.
I took a farm track over Hill of Olrig, before some more roads took me to Castletown. Whilst walking along the roads, I phoned my sister. It was lovely to chat to her, and share a part of my day with her.
At Castletown, I joined the beach. Elspeth has recommended that I walk along the beach instead of the road for this section, and I’m so glad that she did! It avoided a busy road, but it also meant that I got to enjoy the sands.
I sat on the beach and ate my lunch. It was lovely looking out into the bay. A strong sea breeze was coming in towards me, so I didn’t sit for too long.
I continued along the beach and admired the sand dunes beside me. I have memories as a child racing my dad up Formby’s sand dunes and it was nice to reminisce. Though, there was no running up and down today! (The sand dunes are a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and need protecting.)
At the end of the beach, I reached the visitor centre. It was unfortunately closed, but their toilets were open. I went inside and looked in the mirror. I was definitely windswept! I looked like I’d been part of a science experiment, with my hair standing on end! 🤣
I rejoined the road and then it wasn’t long until Dunnet Head. It has felt so surreal as I reach each cardinal point. The enormity of the place starts to hit me. Today I was literally walking as far north as I could get (without going in a boat)! It’s such a special part of my journey and those feelings are amazing.
I took the road towards Dunnet Head and it felt like I’d give back in land! Suddenly I could see no coastline, but I could see the slight incline of Dunnet Head in the distance.
As I’d gone through Castletown earlier in the day, I’d found an honesty cake shed, but unfortunately it has been closed. I was very happy to find one near Brough. I brought a millionaire’s shortbread and a biscoff empire biscuit. An empire biscuit is traditionally two round shortbread biscuits sandwich jam and topped with icing. This one had biscoff spread in the middle. Both bakes were really good and I enjoyed them as I continued up the road.
I briefly remet the coastline. It was such a lovely surprise to see a seal in the bay below. (It’s the little grey blob on the rock in the foreground.)
I then continued along the road and up towards Dunnet Head. It was lovely to walk along the moorland. Each cardinal point has had its own character, and I’ve really loved that about my trip. I think it really shows how varied and beautiful our landscape is. The road was rather busy, with lots of people wanting to visit the viewpoint at the top.
I soon reached Dunnet Head and it felt amazing! It wasn’t until I looked at the photo afterwards that I realised that I was once again quite windswept!
I was met at Dunnet Head by Elspeth, some of her guides and some local leaders. It was lovely to be joined by them, and to share the moment with them.
We swapped badges and walked down to the viewpoint, on the cliff edge and watched puffins flying into their nests on the cliffs. It was amazing to see the little birds swooping in and out. In the other direction, I could see Orkney in the distance. It was then that I realised how far north I really was!
After being buffeted by the wind, it was time for us all to leave and I set off back down the road to Brough. The way back was downhill and definitely felt a lot faster than coming up!
As I was walking down, I rang my parents. They have spent the last two days travelling up to see me finish, and I thought “I’ll just ring them and see how they’re getting on”. Unfortunately, it seemed that I tempted fate, I was just chatting to my mum, when the car broke down!
Elspeth had very kindly agreed to meet me back down in Brough (we had left some of my kit in her car, so I could walk with a lighter load). She took me back to Thurso and I let myself into the AirBnB that my parents had booked.
I waited for my parents to arrive, whilst I ate a selection of snacks from Lidl and watched some Homes Under the Hammer. Thankfully, the local recovery garage came out to them quickly. The fault rectified itself enough for them to get to Thurso, but the car is still poorly. All being well, the AA should send a hire car tomorrow morning. 🤞
It was not the end of the journey that my parents had planned, but it was so nice to see them and spend my last evening with them. I’m really looking forward to them being there when I finish tomorrow.
It feels so incredible to think that tomorrow is Day 107, the final day. Once I’d planned my route and split it into days, it was going to be 107 days and there’s a sort of reassurance in reaching that number. To have stayed on schedule for the entire journey and be where I planned in these final stages, feels like a massive achievement. All of the planning paid off and I can’t wait to enjoy my final steps to John O’Groats tomorrow!
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