Setting out from John o' Groats

We arrived at Bencorragh House B&B yesterday afternoon amid heavy rain and very grey skies! Eric Gillie Horse Transport dropped Cognac off, safe and well and just after 9pm and we turned him out in the paddock in front of the house for the night. He was calm, but alert, standing and looking intently in each direction as if getting his bearings. I put his lightweight rug on as although the rain had stopped, the wind was whipping straight across the flat land from the sea.

We tacked up after breakfast and walked the three miles to John o' Groats, Cognac was really chilled as we headed down, but was not keen on hanging around at the signpost when we were waiting to get our photo taken!

So we set out at an energetic trot and easily covered the 20 miles to Thurso, where we are staying tonight with Carol and Raymond at Pennyland B&B, I've checked tomorrows route with Raymond and Carol, and I am just looking over my route through Northumberland before I send all my maps (!) home with Jez tomorrow, for him to send up to me in groups as I need them. It would be impossible to carry all 40 of the maps I need to ride my route, but I have literally taken my box of maps everywhere with me the last month or so, so that if I got a moment I could work on my route, and the thought of not having access to them worries me!!