Thursday 23rd, end of third week

Jan de Groot knew a bit about argumentative children so when he settled in the spot now named after him in 1496, he built not only a house with 7 doors (one for each son) but also an octagonal dining table, so nobody got precedence. He ran a ferry to Orkney, recently acquired by James IV, and charged 4p fare (a groat, gerrit?). And that's the route I'll be taking tomorrow, though the fare has gone up to £57.  

The morning was spent dodging persistent showers to do my week's laundry, and revising my ferry plans for Orkney next day. It became clear that my booked passage from Scrabster to Stromness would not get me to Pool Farm in daylight for my stay on the islands. My helpful camp warden told me there's a smaller ferry from Gills Bay, 5 miles up the road, that goes to South Ronaldsay, which is the island on which Pool Farm is situated. I'm sure it's not widely appreciated what a widely sprawling archipelago the Orkney Islands is/are, many of them connected by low-lying causeways at low tide. And the really good news was that I could book for the local trip with Pentland Ferries, and get a full refund from my previous booking with Nordlink 😀

By the afternoon the sun was shining and I drove to Duncansby Head (the real most northeastern point) and had a walk over the hill, past the (inactive) lighthouse, to view the impressive stacks. I was glad of my new walking boots (and poles) to cover the extremely soggy ground. 

So I reckon that's John O'Groats pretty well done. (Apart from a quick visit to the Eight Doors Distillery - shhh, Paul.)