Day 37: it's your turn now

Day 37:

Day 37: I'm staying at the Sea View Hotel. I'm early so I get 2 nights here and a full day off to contemplate. I went down to the beach today and sat on a rock overlooking the Pentland Firth. It was bright and sunny with a strong breeze. I saw a lone cyclist at the sign - the sign I hugged last night - he unloaded his bike laden with panniers from a van and spent 10 minutes organising gear and programming a GPS. He then stood over his bike under the sign soaking up the scenery. I walked by at that moment and caught his gaze - it was obvious why he was here and what he was about to do so I simply said 'Good luck' and he said 'Thanks!' And he cycled down the road into a challenging cross-wind and was on his way. I checked the time: it was 08:03 - exactly 12 hours after I ended my own end to end. The things you are about to see...it's your turn now. I'm back in Wick then Inverness tomorrow. I get a night in Inverness and on Tuesday I'm flying to Gatwick North. Dad offered to pick me up - much appreciated. Then I get a few days to re-acquaint myself with my chilli plantation before Sarah returns from her cruise in the Adriatic (from which she has been organising my emergency travel arrangements) and finally we can go on a proper holiday together in Torquay for a few days before rotating back to the world. Sarah without you I'd still be bush whacking through Bodmin Moor or some other hellish place. Today has been a rest day. Tomorrow will be the start of the new journey. I can't wait to start writing about this in the level of detail it deserves - I filled 2 dictaphones with 36 days of voice notes which will keep me busy for some time. One trail ends, another begins...

DAY 38

Prints in the concrete at JOG harbour.

The beach at JOG.

LEJOG

A note about the blog

I must be the only LEJOGer without a smart phone. This means I don't have the ability to update this blog when I'm on the trail. My support team back home kindly offered to update the blog for me, so this will be communicated by text message and written up on my behalf. It will therefore be brief and without photos. I will expand on this when I get back from my journal entries, dictaphone recordings and photo journal. The detailed account will be published as a book which will be available on Amazon.

Charity

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to Helping Hands for the Blind, a respectable local charity. You can make a donation here. Using Gift Aid, the charity is able to claim an additional percentage of each donation from the government as part of the Gift Aid scheme.  

While I am not tracking how much has been raised, the charity themselves may wish to do that; leaving a note with your donation such as "LEJOG" will help them do that. To be frank, it's more important that they receive donations than it is for me to take credit; they're actually doing something important whereas I am going on what could be described as a holiday.

My books

Lastly and leastly, I am an independent author. Writing is a pleasure even if reading it isn't! I will write an account of my LEJOG journey in the form of a book which hopefully will encourage other people to give LEJOG a try (and probably discourage many more). If you want a copy, the first batch will be given free of charge. Ask and you shall receive...

My other books are available on Amazon:


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