Having travelled up the coast from Tain, via Helmsdale, we carried on northwards using the A9 as it follows the coastline all the way up through Dunbeath, Lybster and Wick. Sadly many of the views of the highlands and the north sea were obscured by the low lying cloud and drizzle. It was a shame as some of the towns on the route looked worth an explore. However, as the weather was against us we plumped for carrying on our journey to reach John O’Groats before the sun set.

John O'Groats, Scotland

As we reached John O’Groats we were not really sure what to expect. Sarah had beed here before and said that there was not much there apart from the signpost and a couple of buildings. However, we were pleasantly surprised that there was a heritage museum, a couple of cafes and some nice walks all surrounding the, internationally recognised, signpost. Sadly, as it was out of season the majority of these businesses were closed. We still took the opportunity to read up the information for tourists and were encouraged to see that there were many works planned for the centre. The planned projects were to be completed over the winter by the local community, ready for the tourists to start flocking in early the following year.

As we returned to our camper van, we scanned the Park4night app for a good place to pitch up for the night as the campsite didn’t really float our boat. We found two likely candidates and Sarah picked one and we headed there while we still had daylight to be able to follow the track/road towards the lighthouse.

As we arrived, we were greeted with a least a half-dozen other motorhomes all utilising the car park next to the lighthouse to stay overnight. We found ourselves a level spot and set ourselves for the evening.

While we were cooking dinner, we were chatting about a previous trip to Finnish Lapland and the amazing experience of seeing the Northern Lights. I joked that this far up the British Isles we stood a reasonable chance of seeing a display but I felt that the time of year was probably wrong. I quickly downloaded the app that we had used before (AuroraWatch UK). Once downloaded I checked the forecast and almost yelped in excitement. It said that there was a strong likelihood that we would see some kind of display, that night, from where we were! Unbelievably fortunate timing. Furthermore, when I stock my head out of the van, I was greeted with a view of the clouds dissipating leaving us with a reasonably clear sky. It seemed that luck was on our side.

I kept an eye on the forecast app and when the level was near its highest, we leapt out of the van, donned all of the warm clothes that we had taken with us and stood and marvelled at the Aurora green hue that it was casting north of where we stood. Several other motorhomers were also enjoying the show. Even though it was not quite on the same level as the show in Lapland we considered ourselves incredibly fortunate to see one of the marvels of nature. I find it spellbinding and slightly emotional (no idea why!). This time around I concentrated on enjoying the spectacle and not trying to capture it, however, here is the one shot that I did take. 

Aurora Borealis, John O'Groats, Scotland

The next morning we awoke to a clear day (in Scottish terms) and spent time over breakfast and planned our approximate movements over the coming days. We do not usually plan much and just go with what feels right at the time. However, I felt that a little planning would help us maximise our experience of the north coast of Scotland.

We had seen and experienced so many amazing things already that we simply couldn’t wait for the next chapter of our journey.