To Kirkwall

John O’Groats to Kirkwall (22 miles) (Stage total 81 miles)

Eventually very late there is just sufficient water for the Pentland Venture to berth. The tandem is carried down a flight of stairs, so as to be at the right deck level for arrival, and is stowed at the stern. I had thought we would eat our sandwiches on the way but Sheila, who claims not to be a good sailor, sits inside and is not interested in food. I sit out on the deck, with occasional forays inside to make sure that Sheila is still feeling happy, and watch the hotel at John O’Groats recede as we head out to sea past the Island of Stroma. There is still some evening sun so the sea looks blue. Various sea birds fly by including what look like small flocks of little auks flying in lines skimming over the water. My bird identification skills are not great, though, and they might have been some other stubby black and white birds.

The Orkney Islands appear on the horizon and we get a good view of Hoy as we get closer. Hoy seems to rise higher than the other islands and has towering cliffs facing us. The boat approaches South Ronaldsay from the west to dock at a fairly new rise-and-fall jetty at Burwick. We disembark. There does not seem to be anything to Burwick. The harbour buildings comprise one portacabin. In fact the only other buildings are a fairly large group of former agricultural buildings near to the harbour. They are all derelict. We shelter in the lee of one of these, and with the sun dipping fast, we eat our sandwiches and bananas fairly quickly so that we can get on our way. The wind has dropped in strength, but much more importantly it has backed around to well south of east and we are heading due north across the islands.

There are no great hills on Orkney, but needless to say the main (and only) road north heads away from Burwick up to the highest point on South Ronaldsay beside a radio mast to reach about 90 metres above sea level at a viewpoint. We climb to the top and then follow the road down and up again before passing St Margaret’s Hope and dropping to sea level beside Water Sound. This brings us to Churchill Barrier No.4 complete with warning signs about not crossing in stormy weather conditions.

Onto Burray the road turns back towards Burray Village before crossing a small headland to follow the shore at Echnaloch Bay. We then drop down to cross Churchill Barrier No.3 beside Weddell Sound onto the small island of Glimps Holm, which we cross to reach Churchill Barrier No.2. This takes us across St Mary’s Bay to another small island that in turn leads to the final causeway of Churchill Barrier No.1. We are now on the Mainland and with wind assistance at last we have been making good progress at a fast speed. We continue along the coast to St Mary’s and then follow the road north again along the final stretch of rolling road towards Kirkwall. By now the daylight is fading fast but there is little traffic on the road. On the last significant climb the mobile phone rings. I urge Sheila to keep pedalling so that we maintain the momentum uphill as she pulls it out of my jersey pocket to answer. It is Keith Kensley phoning to congratulate us on completing the trip. Sheila explains that we are on Orkney but are still on the road about four miles short of Kirkwall. We put the lights on, with the rear one clipped to Sheila’s bumbag strap because of the demise of the lamp bracket on the road to Dunning. Finally it is a fast downhill run back to sea level as we drop down through Kirkwall. The front lamp bulb survives the dynamo being spun on a 30mph front tyre, but there is a rather strong smell of hot rubber caused by the dynamo roller.

We find our way to the harbour and from there to the street leading to the CAB office without too much difficulty. Although we are not due for our official visit to the CAB until next morning we decide that we should formally complete the trip at the end of this stage tonight. So we turn along this street, spot the CAB sign and swing across the yard the office is in to come to a halt with the front wheel of the tandem literally planted on the low step with the front tyre touching Kirkwall CAB's front door. I read the computer and we do some arithmetic. From Lands End we have cycled 1,078 miles and 1,426 yards on a route linking thirty towns with Citizens Advice Bureaux. I write the mileage down. This is the prize-winning distance for our sponsorship competitions.

From here it is only a short distance to our B&B. Our landlady is friendly and very chatty. She has arranged for us to take the tandem next door and stow it in a neighbour’s garage, so we unload and I wheel it round. As usual the first priority is to enjoy hot showers and a change of clothes. The hot water and shower are fine but the bathroom is impressively frilly. Every opportunity has been taken to add a flowery frilly cover to fixtures and fittings. I feel I should at least be wearing a floral shower cap.

I then suggest that we head back into town to celebrate completion of the trip. I have been saving my self-promised glass of local Scotch whisky until Orkney. Sheila however says that she is not hungry and is going to go to bed early. I walk back into the town centre on my own and have a rather indifferent pint of beer in one of the pubs. It seems rather a flat end to an epic trip. I don’t bother with the whisky because after cycling a tandem for 1000+ miles the length of Britain it seems a bit pointless for just one person to be having a drink in recognition of the achievement. Perhaps next time I’ll try it on a unicycle. After a wander through the town centre up to St Magnus Cathedral, with a bag of chips for company, I return to the B&B.

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