After much deliberation on whether to take the longer flatter route, or the shorter hiller one, we finally decided to brave the Berridale Braes and chose the latter. The Berridale Braes are famed for their steepness. First you have a steady climb out of Helmsdale, then you descend all the way down to the river at Berridale, before climbing all the way up again… only this time the road is steeper as it twists and turns back up. With our new found climbing confidence (we've been over the The Lecht, after all), we knew we could tackle anything and so made our way up the 13% climb without much trouble. From the top, we were rewarded with panoramic views of the north east Scottish coastline.

Along the coast we saw a number of cyclists going the other way. The first pair were quite jovial and called out "only 50 miles to go!", and the traditional French encouragement of "chapeau, Allez Allez". They must be just starting, we thought. We saw a couple more carrying loads of stuff and I wondered if they too will leave a breadcrumb trail as I did on our first few days (Andy pointed out I really didn't need to carry the copy of Triathlon 220 we brought for the train journey to Penzance all the way to Scotland). We then saw three groups without any gear and concluded that they must be doing a charity ride. I was envious of all of them… they had the wind behind them!

As we were also visiting Dunnet Head (the northerly most point) we turned from the coast and continued up the A9 to Thurso. Bleak does not even begin to describe the landscape. It was 70km to Thurso from Helmsdale and as soon as we turned inland, we saw nothing but moorland, the odd ruined cottage and wind farms. The wind farms must have been charging the nation as the wind was so strong I thought it was trying to blow us back to Lands End. We consoled ourselves that we will have the wind behind us for our final leg to Wick, put our head down and grinded into the icy north wind. Luckily, we bought some sandwiches before leaving Helmsdale and sheltered in someone's driveway to eat them.

As much as we both wanted some tea and to sit somewhere warm for a little while, we bypassed Thurso. The road skirted round it, and we were half way up a hill before we realised. Turning back is never an option so we ploughed on to Dunnet Head. As we left Thurso, there was a sign… 20 miles to JOG.

Dunnet Head is the complete opposite of Lizard Point. Lizard Point is a National Trust site, with tea rooms, gift shop and lots of tourists. It was also warm and sunny there (we had the best ice cream of the trip). Dunnet Head is owned by the Scottish RSPB and a nature reserve… basically moorland full of twitchers. We climbed up the gentle slope to the viewpoint and soaked up the scenery. To each side of us lay the north coast of Scotland and before us lay Orkney (where the sunshine seems to be, if anyone is wondering). It was beautiful and we probably would have stayed longer had it not been so cold. You could also see the Old Man of Hoy poking up at the edge of the Island of Hoy.

We worked our way back off Dunnet Head and saw a very welcome sign: 12 miles to John O'Groats! By now we had cycled over 100km (60 miles) without much rest and no tea, so we pulled into the Castle of Mey and devoured half the coffee shop. The Castle of Mey was the residence of HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and is located on an isolated spot, surrounded by beautiful gardens and views of the coast and Orkney. The entrance is lined with branches sweeping above like a big V and apparently the inside of the castle was lovingly restored by Her Majesty. However, in true keeping with our trip, we were there too late to go in. Besides, Andy was getting keen to drink his whiskey.

7 miles to go! The terrain was pretty flat and soon enough we were in John O'Groats. We circled around a few times looking for the finish line and/or the sign post before going and asking in the Information Point. The finish line was under a building site as the hotel is being renovated. I felt cheated. We went and stood in front of the signpost (which didn't have any signs on it as you have to pay a photographer £10 for that, and he had already gone home) took some pictures and drank a wee dram of whiskey. I'm not sure if it's because we still had another 30km to our B&B or because we have come so far, but I was filled with a sense of disbelief and only now am I beginning to feel the glow of finishing and realising what we have achieved.

We turned south and made our way back to the B&B. Not a leaf moved or flag fluttered. The horrible headwind that has been against us since about day 3 failed us to the end and refused to blow us south. Super Domestique Andy went on the front and powered us home!

Hurray!! We finished!! We drank the rest of our Whiskey and headed out for dinner. Next stop, Edinburgh (thankfully by train).