Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Day 19 - The finish line
Berriedale to John O'Groats - 43 miles
Brian had been wrong about the rain. It pissed it down all night, and the roof leaked like
a sieve. But it wasn't cold, and the sound of rain on a polytunnel is very hypnotic and we
both slept like babies; waking up crying every hour with wet pants.
Barring any major problems, it was to be our last day's cycling. Less than 50 miles lay
between us and John O'Groats.
'Maryismakingyouafry-up,'saidBrianwhenwewenttosaygoodbye,'andyou'renot
getting out of this one.'
'Oh alright then. If you insist. It smells amazing,' said Ben.
We chatted to Brian and Mary over breakfast, and asked them how two Bristolians had
ended up in North-East Scotland running a B&B and a llama farm.
'It just sort of happened,' said Brian casually. 'We liked the area here in Caithness and
decided to move here a few years ago. We got the llamas because we heard they adapt well
to the climate, and the rest is history.'
'Can we have a look at your llamas before we go?' I asked.
'Of course. You're going to help me feed them after this.'
We finished our breakfast then followed Brian into the field behind his house. We passed
a set of aviaries housing several large parrots.
'Those just sort of happened, too,' said Brian.
We fed the five friendly and scruffy-looking llamas - or 'natural looking' as Brian pre-
ferred to describe them - and had a wander around the rest of the farm.
We then followed Brian over a fence and a few hundred metres across another field. We
reached a snooker-table sized concrete platform, on which sat a round metal turret like you
would find on a tank.
'This came as a bit of a surprise to me after we bought the place. I didn't even know it
existed,' he said as he unscrewed the large metal lid of the turret.
'What is it?' I asked.
'It's an old war bunker. Come and take a look.'
We climbed down the ladder into the darkness and Brian lit a lantern. The room was the
sizeofasmallsinglebedroomwithbenchesliningeachwallandshelvesforsupplies.There
were many items scattered about from 'back in the day' such as tins, pots, cans and a half-
finished bottle of whisky stashed on one of the shelves; although this was possibly Brian's.
Why the wilderness of Caithness was ever considered at risk during the war, I am not sure.
'This is a fantastic place, Brian,' said Ben.
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