Day 15 – Lowestoft to Chatham – 254 Miles.

We were woken at about 4am by the local foghorn, due to the thick mist that had developed overnight. After catching another couple of hours of shut-eye, we packed up camp for the last time, donning full waterproofs as the weather reports talked of rain.

However, once the sun was up, the mist burnt off and we were left boiling in the sunshine. A quick change was made at the next fuel stop, and we made our way through some really pretty Suffolk countryside, the village of Orford and the small town of Aldeburgh in particular were lovely.

We then descended into Essex, and had lunch at Clacton-on-Sea, and then onto Southend.

From here it was clear that we needed to take the M25 and use the Dartford Crossing to get into Kent without the nightmare of going through London. We got to the historic docks at around 4pm, and found our secure parking area. We met with Chris again, and he was reunited with Hero the Bear.

After the realisation that we’d finally finished we took some photos and had to head our separate ways.

I had to get up to Nottingham to see some friends who had just got married. Once onto the M25, the skies blackened and I was subjected to a hail and thunderstorm – I quickly pulled over to put on my waterproofs again! It didn’t last long though and by the time I was at the A1, the sun was out again.

Day 14 - York to Lowestoft – 358 Miles.

Its amazing how well you sleep in your own bed, I really found it hard to peel myself out of bed. However, we were loaded up, and heading back to the coast by 7am. From Scarborough, we headed south, through Filey, Hornsea and down to Spurn Head. Due to the Humber, we had to go west to Hull and over the Humber Bridge. Once over, we could head east again and south towards Skegness (a jewel on the Lincolnshire coast!) and Gibraltar Point for a cup of coffee!

It was then inland to Boston, and the relatively quick roads round King's Lynn and the last northwards section up to Hunstanton.



















Then we were on the north-Norfolk coast road, which is a lovely area, (and yes I am biased!) From Blakney to Cromer is absolutely wonderful, with loads of attractive villages and some tempting looking pubs. Onwards towards Great Yarmouth, where there seemed to be a fairly major bike-meet, sadly time was against us so we didn't stop.

Our final destination was Lowestoft, and we got a photo of the bear in front of the south pier; list done!!




















We then needed somewhere to stay, and we found the Heathland Beach campsite, where the lovely people let us stay for free as we were supporting Help for Heroes. We also had lots of people come up and chat to us, the couple in the next tent even brought us some BBQ ribs!

Tomorrow is our final day, less than 300 miles to the end...

Day 13 – RAF Leuchars – York – 390 miles.

We set off at 7am, in order to get some miles under our belt. We followed the coast of Fife, until we reached the Forth road bridge. There was quite a lot of traffic, but some filtering soon saw us through to the other side.

Going ever southwards, we soon rode through Berwick Upon Tweed, and over the border back into England. After checking the tide-times, we discovered that the causeway onto Holy Island would be open at the right time – it would have been be a shame not to visit as we were passing. The bear was duly photographed and we continued south past RAF Boulmer and a spot of lunch at Alnmouth.

In this area was the impressive Bamburgh Castle, a fairly massive castle overlooking the sea.

Next came the slight nightmare that was getting through Newcastle and Sunderland! The Tyne tunnel in particular was nothing short of chaos.

From here came Hartleypool and Middlesborough – both of which were quite industrial so not the prettiest of coastal areas! However we then found ourselves in North Yorkshire, and the seaside towns of Whitby and Scarborough.

As mentioned yesterday, we then turned back inland to to York, to take advantage of my house – more comfortable than a tent!

Only 2 days left now, and we really feel that we're on the home stretch. Tomorrow will take us through my home-area of Norfolk (no my fingers are not webbed!)

Day 12 – RAF Tain – RAF Leuchars – 345 miles.

Considering I was sleeping on an office floor – I went out like a light and had a really good night's sleep. However, the glorious sunshine we enjoyed yesterday was now replaced with some really thick mist. The guys at Tain had kindly allowed us to put our bikes in a garage overnight, so they were nice and dry – at least to start with!





















We headed out to get a look at the local countryside, but the mist prevented us from really seeing much – so we set off in the direction of Inverness. On the way there we met up with Sqn Ldr John McEwan (CO RAF Tain) who is a biker – he came with us for a tour of the Black Isle.

















Whilst there we stopped at Cromarty for a mid-morning coffee. After finding somwhere open, we ordered our drinks, but when the ladies there discovered why we were doing the trip, they let us have it all on the house! All I can do is reiterate our sincere thanks to the Cromarty Bakery, and urge you all to sample their wares if you should find yourself in the area. It would seem that generosity is not in short supply in Cromarty, as a lady stopped to chat to us offering the use of her garden should we want to camp there for the night! (We'd parked up near her house.) Graciously declining the offer (we'd got more than 200 miles left) we pointed our bikes in the direction of Inverness where Rupert was due to get his rear tyre changed. We found the dealership with little trouble, and took some time to look at the bikes they had – I found one in particular that I had to resist putting an offer on!

As Rupert was going to be some time, Steve and I headed off ahead. We passed through Inverness with little trouble and followed the coast East. We stopped for some lunch at Findorn Bay just up from RAF Kinloss. We had some brilliant haggis and pork sausages. From here we passed RAF Lossiemouth and stopped for fuel at Banff. I checked my phone to see a message from Rupert saying his tyre had been fitted early and that he was near Peterhead – over 30 miles ahead of us! His thanks go to Mitchell's of Inverness for the rapid service and for waiving the fitting fee. He must have passed us as we were having our lunch in the sunshine.

The coast now turned south, and it was a relatively straightforward route past Aberdeen, Stonehaven (where we stopped for some chips by the harbour), Arbroath and then Dundee. A quick trip over the Tay Bridge saw us enter Fife, and to our destination. Rupert was waiting just outside the camp, and we quickly sorted vehicle passes and found our accommodation. A proper bed certainly makes a welcome change from a tent or a floor!





















Lots of miles to cover tomorrow as we plan to end up in York (admittedly a bit off the coast, but it's my house and so therefore free!)

Day 11 – Durness to Tain – 295 Miles.

Quite a relaxing start to the day, we weren't due to catch the boat to Cape Wrath until 9 am. We decided to leave one tent up and leave our kit in it so we could ride to the small harbour unladen. The plan was to take the bikes across on the pontoon raft and ride to the lighthouse. However, despite the sun shining, the loch was quite choppy and discretion being the better part of valour, we decided to leave the bikes behind! The boat that took us across was really quite small – and we were quite keen to get back onto dry land!














The lighthouse now has a small café to cater for the tourists that pop over to see the wilderness; we took advantage of it before our return – this time on a slightly bigger boat!



















Rupert has arranged to have a fresh rear tyre to be fitted to his bike tomorrow in Inverness as his current one is quite badly worn, and it certainty won't see him through to the finish. With the bikes once more fully laden, we headed west along the northern coast road. Although this is designated as an 'A' road, for much of it's length it is single carriage with passing places. The locals still drive at dual-carriageway speeds though – we did however arrive in one piece at Dunnett Head, the most northerly point of mainland UK. Like Lizard Point (it's southern equivalent) there is little in the way of tourist attractions.















A short ride took us on to John O'Groats – which wasn't as tacky as Land's End, but isn't somewhere you'd stay for long. We bumped into a group of RAF Cyclists who had just completed a ride from Land's End – if we were saddle-sore I'm sure they had it twice as bad after seeing their saddles!

For the second half of the day, we were able to really cover some miles as the A99 and A9 down to Tain followed the coast all the way. RAF Tain is another bombing range, the OC of which has kindly allowed us to stay at his facility. Its nice not to have to throw the tents up.





















Another day closer to the finish – now we are heading south, it really feels as if we're on the home stretch. RAF Leuchars is our target for tomorrow.

Day 10 – Balmacara to Durness – 244 Miles.

It would seem that even indoors the midges can still strike! Another set of bites had appeared overnight! Our first stop was the pretty Eilean Donan castle – sitting on a small peninsular into the Loch.














We then took the road towards Applecross, which was an incredibly narrow and twisty piece of tarmac – I'm sure the views would have been stunning, if we weren't in the middle of a cloud! We stopped at the Flower Tunnel cafe for a coffee and a bacon roll.

The rain eased slightly as we headed to Ullapool. It seemed every biker there wanted petrol at the same time – as there we 8 bikers trying to use the 4 pumps at the same time!

From Ullapool, we took the back road through Lochinvar, along some more narrow roads that had some great bends, but there was a great deal of gravel heaped in the middle, which makes riding really difficult. In fact Rupert and I both had a scary moment when we thought we were going to end up in the peat bog next to the road! Thankfully, we managed to avoid disaster!

A short distance north took us towards Durness, our destination for the day – on the way we came across another biker who had left the road and damaged his bike. He and his companion both seemed OK and were waiting for the breakdown recovery.

Durness has a nice camp site, that seemed a suitable spot to spend the night. Tomorrow will see us tick off 3 more destinations on our list – Cape Wrath, Dunnet Head and John O'Groats.

Day 9 Salen – Ardnamurchan Point – Skye – Balmacara – 220 Miles.

Once again, the midges were out in force this morning – however, I'd bought a midge hood yesterday that made a world of difference! We had another point on our list to see today – Arnamurchan point is the westernmost point on mainland UK. It's quite a remote spot, which took a 25-mile ride out and back, along a narrow winding road. We were pleased to see there was a visitors' centre and a coffee shop – sadly as we were there at 8am on a Sunday, they were firmly closed!





















After we got back from the point, we again made our way north towards Malaig for the ferry across to Skye. We were well ahead of time so stopped in a really nice coffee shop on the way – although I couldn't connect to their wifi to upload this.

We reached the ferry in good time, and joined the queue of bikes (most of which were Dutch.) The half-hour crossing went without incident, but we did get to see the start of the British Grand Prix. The roads of Skye were up to the standard of the rest of western Scotland. As I can trace my family tree back to the MacLeods of Skye, I was particularly keen to visit Dunvegan Castle, home to the clan for 800 years. I can't say it's the most picturesque castle, but the location was wonderful, and the castle full of interesting history (not just because of my family connection.)




















From the north of Skye it was south and over the relatively new Skye Bridge – which no longer charges a toll. We found our accommodation for the night – Balmacara House, an MoD Adventure Training centre with a great view of Skye across the Loch.

Quite a short day by our usual standards, and it was good to have a fairly early finish for a change!