Stage 5 Report
Well what a superb day spent on the road in our great little cars today travelling a distance of over 300 miles from John o' Groats (JoG) to Edinburgh. We started Land's End with with 14 cars and finished at John o' Groats with 15.....yes they do breed!!
The morning was spent (for some) nursing sore heads after last night's well deserved celebrations of reaching JoG. We gathered at the JoG harbour at 0930 where we took the opportunity of taking some individual and group photographs and buying some souvenirs to prove we had arrived! We signed the JoG visitors book so we now all qualify for the exclusive End to Enders certificate!!!!!
We said good bye to the Robinson's who are now enjoying a well deserved Holiday in sunny Scotland; we are still baffled how being the tallest participants at 6ft Plus how they fitted in their little 1100??? Again testimony to the designers and how roomy these cars are.
The sun was shinning and so we left in convoy from JoG making a spectacular sight with 14 x 1100s cutting through the Scottish Highlands heading towards Edinburgh. This was a demanding drive with the Scottish Sun seemingly getting stronger as we travelled each mile.
Our Cars reliable as ever we suffered no casualties and only Dave Wilkins suffering a loose Clutch Bolt Stop.....a common theme occurring here with Dave, as things always seem to come loose on the 'Shed' (Better check those wheel nuts too Dave!!!!).
Our 1100s ate up the miles with each car taking their own rest stops when necessary. We assembled at Kinross Services for a collective entry over the Forth Rail bridge and what a spectacular sight we made as all cars passed Dean Oakey's Morris 1300 who recorded the drive from his windscreen mounted iphone...........TV star Jose Ambel couldn't have passed any closer to Dean's camera (See U Tube footage!!!), He obviously has a taste for being close up on Camera with his Innocenti!!!!
Paul and Teressa Vincent got a lot of interest in their Austin 1300 at Kinross services when a middle aged gentleman came to have a look and then asked to sit inside because he had one about 40 years ago. He commented on how large the steering wheel is (Okay Paul no need to boast!). He then said that if he still had one now, he wouldn't be waiting for the AA to come and deal with a problem on his BMX X5 because he could fix a 1300 himself........How true!!
We crossed the Forth Bridge and headed straight for the Iconic Scottish Land Mark, the Forth Rail Bridge which has recently had its paint job completed and being the first time in 20 years its had no scaffolding!! We parked up at South Queensferry and took some amazing photographs, the cobbled streets tested our Hydrolastic suspension which we easily floated across!!!
With our photograph shoot at the Forth Rail Bridge completed we headed for Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, where we got exclusive entry onto the Berth and parked right alongside the Yacht for some more amazing photographs.......the full VIP parking treatment!! Thank you your Majesty!!
The evening has been spent enjoying the marvellous attractions that Edinburgh has to offer with the Fringe festival and the Military Tattoo being in full swing and even the fireworks above Edinburgh Castle went off to celebrate our arrival ....WOW. Those that went to the Military Tattoo reported it as being an amazing event and I can see some cars returning next year for more (Watch this space!!).
Tomorrow will witness spectacular gathering of 1100/1300s next to Edinburgh Castle with our destination being 'Heartbeat Country' where a 1960s revival themed evening awaits us celebrating 1962 when our marvellous cars were launched!!!
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