tour

Shot for the Day (10 September 2019)

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Decided to try a new project based around London scenery as I do not currently have much opportunity to get out of town very often. Last Saturday evening, I found a wonderful, elevated platform that I had almost completely to myself for a couple of hours at the end of the day.

The scene above was of a tall shop that Tower Bridge opened up for. It came through, did the U-turn shown in this image and then sailed back down river towards the Channel, or is it North Sea?

The reason the boat in this shot looks a little like a toy is because I was using a tilt-shift lens.

Shot for the Day (01 December 2016)

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shot_of_the_day_01dec16

A sky full of clouds.

After crossing Europe on my bicycle in 2009, I took the Hurtigruten ferry from Honningsvåg (and the North Cape) to Tromsø.  I was only on the ferry for a day but the landscape in mid summer was stunning.  As we were north of the Arctic Circle, we did not lose the light.  The shot above was take somewhere in the archipelago around 10pm.

I aim to return in the winter, when the landscape is covered in snow and under the Aurora Borealis.

Day 3: Budir to Stykkisholmur

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Tonight we blog from Stykkisholmur after a tough but rewarding day.

We have made it around the end of the island having cycled through a massive volcanic region. The weather has frankly been miserable for most of the day but the sun broke though late afternoon and actually turned out to be absolutely gorgeous.  We have been cycling mostly along the coast which is a tough terrain to deal with but very rewarding.

Fish is on the menu again tonight as we are now sitting in the beautiful fishing town  of Stykkisholmur  awaiting our supper. More detail to follow tomorrow!

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

Day 2: Borgarnes to Budir

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At 4am we were woken up by the unmistakable  sound of torrential rain pelting down on the canvas. Because of Iceland’s location, so close to the North Pole, you will have heard that the daylight hardly ever subsides so eye-guards are vital. Waking up to the sound of the battering rain wearing eye-guards is quite disorienting and we had no idea of the time. Tentatively we pulled up our masks hoping that it was not 9am and were relieved to learn that it was only 4 in the morning. So, eye masks back down and we were able to snooze away until 7am.

When we awoke for the second time this morning we got up and dried out the tents before heading out to look for breakfast. This is where we happened upon a unique Icelandic character who is a puppeteer by trade and now also runs a great cafe with his wife.  We had a fantastic breakfast and reviewed our maps taking on local advice from the puppeteer.

We cycled North West to the Snaefellsnes peninsula which had also been highly recommended by our first host. To get there took us 4 hours and battling the continuing headwinds meant we covered just 40km. In the afternoon Angelique had to pull up as she was concerned that she had injured her leg. We flagged down a passing truck and she managed to blag a lift to our destination for the day. I waved her off and cycled on, completing another 75km alone.

Tonight we reside in Budir close to Snaefellsjokull. Our prettiest location so far. We are in a small hotel which Angelique managed to get a great deal at and have a view of the glacier we had been heading for. Angelique is fine and should be back on the road first thing. Off to relax now!

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

Day 1: Reykjavik to Borgarnes

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We awoke to a beautiful day and set off north around the harbour towards Borgarnes which provided us with our first real experience of cycling in Iceland and along a 69km stretch. We had heard the Iceland was renound for it’s head-winds. The rumours were not wrong. The temperature was a very pleasant 25 degrees but the wind was incredible. The last part of the days trip had us heading along a dead straight road where we could see the last 10 miles ahead of us. Cycling in a straight line into the winds was almost debilitating so we were relieved to reach our destination.

We found a campsite and having set up our tents, headed off in to the local town to search for dinner. The food in Iceland can be challenging, fish is ‘popular’ but by now we were craving the green stuff. We were thrilled to find an awesome restaurant which served up the most fulfilling salads. Not something we thought we would ever appreciate quite so much but we went to bed full of fresh vegetables and utterly exhausted.

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

One week and counting…

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Time is ticking away as the ensuing departure date is now less than a week away.  Even though I have been preparing for this trip for ages, I am stick racked with anticipation.  Concerns of the overall requirements of the ride interlaced with daily issues such as shopping, whilst not having my kit stolen or finding somewhere to camp.  All in all, there are many issues to contend with.

In the grander scheme of things, I hope that this ride is a success.  By this, not only do I mean achieving the loft target of cycling 2800 miles to a vary sparsely populated are of the world but I also mean raise finds for the charity I have dedicated this ride to, Child’s I Foundation.  So far, I have raised just under £350 on my Just Giving page, which is a good start.  I hope that as I continue, people read about the various adventures I am likely to have en route as my blog will be maintained by Tom from Child’s I, in my absence.  I would love to hit my target amount of £2,500, so please keep reading this blog and make a donation if possible.  All of the money is destined to help kids in Uganda.  I am paying for all of my own expenses on this trip!

I have been testing all of my kit prior to my departure and so far, so good.  I have to make sure I can maintain my MSR stove as I know occasionally they can gunk up.  The biggest challenge will be to decide how much stuff to take along with me.  In the first couple of weeks, the temperature will hopefully remain in the warm twenties.  However, the further I travel up the spin of Sweden, the cool the weather will become.  Indeed, the figures I have seen for night time temperatures for Nordkapp and the north coast of Norway, even in mid summer, are around 4 degrees Celsius.  The weather is also likely to me inclement but that should only add to the drama of the journey.

It would be great to hear from any one if they have experience of travelling in this part of the world as so little has been written about it.  That said, hopefully my blog will be a useful place for other people considering this journey as a portal of information in due course.

Getting back to civilisation

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Cycle ride from John O’Groats to Wick
Total mileage: 18
Terrain: Very fast cycle ride over quite flat terrain

Our last day saw us cover a small distance from John O’Groats to Wick, where I had booked a B&B for us. Pete had tried in vain to book a return rail trip from Wick to London, so we were forced to either catch a bus or cycle it! Fortunately for us, our landlady had been kind enough to accept three bike bags we had ordered via the Blackberry on the way up, once we knew we were not going to get a space on the train.

We arrived quite early in Wick as the terrain had been flat and easy to negotiate, which meant that we cycled the 18 miles at a very healthy space. We hung around in a café for a couple of hours until the tenants leaving our B&B checked out. Mrs McDonald, our landlady, still had to tidy the place up but we were able to leave our bikes and change clothes.

Wick is a pretty nasty town when all is said and done, with very little to do. We wondered around the very small town centre for a few hours until we were able to head back to the B&B. We all chilled for the rest of the day and watched crap TV programmes.

The following day, we had to check out early and wait until 4pm when our bus turned up. Carrying the packed down bicycles to the bus stop, about 1km away was absolutely exhausting. Far easier to cycle the damn things!

Our mammoth return journey included the following legs:

  • Wick to Inverness
    This was very pleasant, as there were few people on the bus and the weather was pretty awful making us happy that we were on a bus rather than cycling. The landscape was stunning as we tore passed it at a pace were had become unaccustomed to.
  • Inverness to Sterling
    The journey was very pleasant with more beautiful scenery and not too many people on the bus.
  • Sterling to Glasgow
    The bus stop in Sterling was like a large public lavatory. Fortunately, we did not have to wait too long for our hour-long connecting bus to Glasgow. By now it was getting dark and the rain continued to fall.
  • Glasgow to London
    Although we had stated to the bus company prior to purchasing the tickets that we all had bikes, National Express had overbooked the bus and had to call in another company to help with the final leg of our return journey. These cowboys tried to charge us an extra £15 per bike. Considering the entire ticket had cost us £35 each, this did seem more than a little exorbitant. We fobbed the driver and conductor off saying that we needed to withdraw money from cash point and them promptly fain sleep to prevent them from extorting the cash from us. By the time we reached London the following morning, there were so many people buzzing around the bus, we were able to scarper without being forced to pay. We went to the National Express helpdesk at Victoria Bus station to ask them if this was normal practice for them, to which they said no. As a consequence, we complained and told them that she needed to be more prudent choosing extra bus suppliers in the future.

I was extremely happy to see Bryony at the bus stop. She took us all out for breakfast before poor Pete and Mary had to press on with their journey and catch a bus from London down to Weymouth and re-assemble their bikes there, before boarding the ferry back to Guernsey. From subsequent conversations, I can assure you that we were all very happy to be back home with all of its conveniences and comforts.

I cannot recommend this journey enough to anyone interested in cycling or seeing the country. Physically, it does have its challenges but that is not to say that it is not equally blessed with rich and rewarding experiences all along the way. Although I am and have been for quite some time, an ardent cyclist, I have been indoctrinated into the world of long distance cycling. I am determined to find a new challenge in for 2009. Perhaps Pete and Mary will join me, who knows?

In additional to all the images here and on Flickr, I have also uploaded many to my gallery on Alamy.com
Stock photography by Julien Buckley at Alamy

Day 19: Bettyhill to John O’Groats

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Total mileage: 50
Terrain: Long shallow climbs and downhills with a very pleasant warm, sunny afternoon

We bloody well did it!

After a pretty awful night at the Bettyhill camping ground, with all the local drunks and their kids making one hell of a noise, none of us were that sprightly the following morning.  We only had a short distance to cycle today but the terrain was quite arduous and not too exciting.

The morning was cold and so we wrapped up as heavy clouds circled above us.  None of us we particularly talkative even though we were were at the zenith of our ride.  First stop of the day was in some tiny town for a comfort stop.  The cold wind was chilling our moral and we all donned another layer.  I had hoped that our final day on the bikes would be more pleasant.

The land began to flatted out as we passed Bighouse.  There was an inlet that took us a mile or so inland but overall, nothing particularly taxing.  The spledour of the previous days Highland ride was all but gone.  The land had fewer features but was very so slightly more urdan, although this is perhaps not the correct way to describe such wilderness.

As we pushed on throgh Raey, the golf course was a welcome expanse of green with the backdrop of the Scottish north coast.  The only other point of interest was the bizzare power station we passed.  The focal point was a hugh white sphere that looked as though it had been plucked straight from a Star Trek episode.

We stopped briefly in Thurso for some provisions and a couple of bottles of Cava.  Rather than push on to Wick, we decided to camp at John O’Groats as this seemed the most fitting end point to our cross country endeavour.

Upon leaving Thurso, the road was occasionally adorned with a sign post denoting the distance to John O’Gorats, as in the photo above.  The last twenty miles flew by.  All three of us were utterly transfixed on completing the task.  We were fortunate enough to have a marked change in the weather, which had us stripped down as the heat rose.  Before long, we were hammering along at a healthy 18mph, only moments away from he end.

We eventually rocked up at John O’Groats as it clung to the last remnants of sunshine.  All behind us was shrouded in cloud.  However, the sun shone on us for the rest of the day whilst we had our photograph taken under the sign post and set up camp in the field next door.  We all got pretty hammered on the Cava immediately after calling all our friends and families to inform them that we had made it to the end point successfully.  Loads of people congratulated us including a rather large contingent of motorcyclists.

We had a hearty meal in the evening and watched the beautiful sunset over the North Sea.  So, what’s our next challenge then guys?

Day 18: Durness to Bettyhill

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Total mileage: 43
Terrain: Coldest day with lots of hill climbing with sustained periods of rain

A short day and a bit of an anti-climax after the previous day’s cycle.  Breakfast was a simple affair in the hostel.  The room stank of 4 large, pissed French blokes.  Neither Pete nor I made any attempt to be quiet as they had been crashing around the previous night, completed steaming, when they returned to the dorm.  Not sure where they went but there were a few bottles of Jack Daniels littered on teh floor of the room.

The temperature had dropped a few degrees and the wind was progressively more severe as the day pressed on.  Today marked a change in direction for us.  We stopped heading north and started heading east.  The road ahead hugged the coastline closely as we navigated around Loch Eriboll, a 16km long sea loch.  Apparently, it had been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth.  On our round route, we passed some bronze age remains including a wheelhouse in great condition.

On our way back up towards the north coast and Hellam, the hills started to raise more sharply around the water’s edge.  As we reached the apex, the relentless winds of the previous day returned to pummel our easterly journey.

This was very much the make up for the rest of the day; stunning scenery, step hills and unceasingly resistant winds.  The temperatures continued to dropped as we all wrapped up.  By the time we reached Tongue, our spirits were at a low ebb.  Perfect timing as it turned out for some lunch.  We stopped in the town’s only hotel, which happened to sport a decent restaurant.  Three courses of hot food and accompanying beverages later and once again, the cockels of our hearts were warned.

We estimated that to reach John O’Groats would have been a long stretch and that to cut the last day’s cycle down to a mere 10 miles from Thurso to JOG would have been a real anti-climax.  Therefore, the best alternative was for us to stop in a town called Bettyhill.  The town itself was non-descript.  In our ferver to find a decent spot for the evening, we managed to choose the lesser of the two camping sights.  As you can tell from the image above, this was not the most solubrious of campsites.  Indeed, I think on reflection, it was perhaps the most grim campsite we stayed at, a most fitting last night!

Not everything about Bettyhill was a disaster.  Once we were able to navigate our way successfully to the local beach, a trial in itself, we were treated to a glorious sunset.  The skies were peppered with a few clouds but we all remained optimistic that our final day would be one blessed with sunshine.  I think Pete and Mary were really lucky to have one another on this trip.  Sharing an adventre like this, no matter how trying or run of the mill, is something that shared will be a momeory for life.  I was definitely happy that Pete and Mary were on teh trip.  It really reminded me of the great times we had experienced together when we met on the Inca Trail, en route to Machu Picchu or diving in the Caribbean off the north coast of Colombia.