DAY 11 (Tues 11th Aug)
Wick to John O'Groats
Total: 18 miles (15 of them on the road...)

The final day of this adventure had arrived - now for one final flight to John O'Groats, to land in the carpark in front of all the cameras - it's only 15 miles or so, that's about 20 minutes' of flying in today's tailwind conditions. Piece of cake surely - or so I thought, anyway. As it happened, I set off on my final flight with a good clean launch out of Wick in front of a welcome crowd of supporters, went around the controlled airspace and then turned right to track towards JOG - I could see it clearly ahead of me, so near!

I had put my headphones on once airborne as usual, but noticed the sound of the engine wasn't quite right this morning. Within seconds I realised that I was struggling to climb, that my power was dwindling fast, and before I knew it the piston had seized completely. I had to act quickly to make a forced landing in a grass field below, and after bringing the Flyke down safely I immediately unstrapped the harness and got out to see what was wrong. There was nothing obvious that I could see, and yet I couldn't rotate the propellers by hand at all - this didn't look good. My heart sank - at this point I had gone more than 99% of the way to John O'Groats and all I wanted to do was to arrive there in style, ideally from the air, and landing in the carpark. Had I just done my last bit of flying? Big sigh....

Of course I could still cycle the last 15 or so miles on the road, and that was totally within the remit of this adventure, just as I'd had to cycle on my very first day from Land's End due to strong winds. I would still get to the destination, would not have failed the charity, but my dreams of arriving by air seemed dashed. This engine had been SO fantastic throughout this trip up to this point, powering me on for hours on end, rarely missing a beat and always starting first time. But here in this field on this wet soggy morning, it looked rather sorry for itself, and I had to accept that it's contribution to this great journey had come to an end.

I knew that everyone would ask what had gone wrong with it, so before doing anything else my first challenge was to cycle to a mechanic's shop in Wick for an expert's opinion. The guys at Wick Volvo were very helpful in this respect. We removed the cylinder head and all looked fine inside - the problem was clearly more internal. Most likely a failed camshaft bearing - a major problem, requiring a specialist repair with spares needing to be sent from Germany etc. Faced with this scenario, I realized that I would need to do the last leg of the journey on the road instead of in the air, so after a brief sandwich in the most northern Tescos in the UK, I started pedalling away, in the pouring rain, feeling down, but not yet out!

The story of the "flying bike man" had been shown on Scottish TV last night, so I was thrilled today to have been passed by so many motorists en route to John O'Groats, cheering me on and clearly knowing what I was up to. The support all the way to final landmark was invaluable - thank you so much for keeping me going! I eventually got there at 4pm where I was interviewed by the local Scottish press in front of the famous signpost - no photos yet I'm afraid, as my camera battery had also packed up today, but I'm going to be sent some by the phtographer in due course.

So a satisfactory end to the story, if not the perfect one that I had hoped for. It has been an incredible journey which has been both challenging and enjoyable, and in many ways the drama of this final chapter just adds to the experience. A huge number of people have helped me out along the way, and to all of you I am extremely grateful. Strictly speaking I've been without "ground crew" for 80% of the trip, and yet so many have come to my rescue and helped me out in all sorts of areas along the way. I hope I've shown how the Flyke can be used as a hugely practical and self-suffiicent machine for enjoyable travel both on the ground and in the air. Most importantly, the funds for the charity have continued to trickle in and we're now getting closer to the £10,000 target. It's now time for a hot bath and a decent night's sleep but thank you so much once again to everyone who has helped, supported and sponsored me in recent weeks.

DAY 10 (Mon 10th Aug)
Nairn to Wick via Invergordon & Golspie
Total: 97 miles Wind = northerly (headwind!)

Another night of less than 5 hours sleep was followed by a full English breakfast at the hotel which more than made up for it - quite delicious! As a bonus, all of my clothes had been washed and ironed by the staff "as a gesture of goodwill" in support of my endeavours. No laughing matter - my wardrobe situation on this trip has been dire as I've had to limit clothing to the bare essentials, for weight-saving reasons of course!

I left Nairn having been filmed by Scottish TV on my journey from the hotel to a farmer's field on the outskirts of town. The farmer recognised me from yesterday evening as "that idiot who's flying that crazy bike"when I had first arrived in Nairn. Still - at least he gave me permission to use his field, although he flatly refused to appear in any filming himself!

My first waypoint on this morning's flight was via Cawdor Castle only 5 miles from Nairn, as this will one day be the home of one of the boys I teach at Cothill. I don't think he was there but he'll get the shock of his life next term when he sees my feet in the foreground of some pictures of his home....After this, I flew over Inverness before turning sharp right and crossing the large expanse of water by the bridge (not sure what it's called) - at all times staying deliberately high, just in case I needed to glide to safety. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery was, once again, stunning. I got as far as Invergordon before touching down in the town centre - the usual rugby pitch saved the day. Two boys Glen and Aaren were quick to show an interest in the Flyke and stayed with me for a whole hour and a half as I refuelled and sought another take off point. Found an ideal grass field in a large industrial area, and here began my first of 7 attempts (yes, 7!) to launch. Too much wind - although I did eventually get it right. The next hour and a half was very uncomfortable - the wind was too strong and I really had to battle to make progress against the headwind. When fuel levels started to drop I decided to land at Golspie by the golf course, and guess who appeared just as I touched the ground - my Mum and Dad! After a really bumpy flight, this was such a lovely surprise - completely unexpected, but they'd decided to drive up all the way from Cirencester to see me complete this expedition! During the flight they'd been able to follow me easily by taking the coastal route from Inverness, of course. Anyway, once I'd packed everything up we went to celebrate with a cup of tea at a nice seaside hotel, at which point I thought I should ask the barman where the petrol station was located in the town. No such luck - it had closed down last year! So to get fuel I now had to cycle 6 miles north to the next town Brora. Sounds like a hassle, but at least it was possible to avoid being stranded - what other aircraft could claim the same?!

After successfully refuelling at Brora (filling an extra 5l fuel tank in case I'd need it for my trip to Wick), I needed to be quick to get airborne if I was to make my destination by sunset. It was several hours later that I realised, of course, that daylight in this part of the world lasts noticeably longer than elsewhere in the UK!

This final flight of the day (my penultimate of the whole trip, I hope!) was awesome, as the sun was shining and the wind had dropped to a 7mph headwind. I followed the coast all the way north enjoying some beautiful landscapes from both high and low - see the photos here. M&D followed me in the car the whole way. I didn't quite manage the 50m distance to Wick on a full tank so I did have to make use of the extra 5 litres I'd brought with me, landing and taking off again without any dramas - I'm getting better at controlling this thing every day!

My arrival in Wick was very amusing as I was surrounded by 15-20 screaming children within seconds of touching down. Why all the fuss? Because they'd just watched the STV news at 6pm and heard about the "flying bike man" and his adventures. So for the next 10 minutes I experienced life as a minor celebrity, signing autographs, posing for photos, and realizing how lucky I am to have such a great toy to play with :-)

Many thanks to Willy for letting me keep the Flyke off the street and in his garage - with just one flight to go until John O'Groats, I can't take any risks leaving it on the street!

So this time tomorrow I might have completed the mission - all being well! It's 1.55am so time for bed....

DAY 9 (Sun 9th Aug)
Forfar to Nairn via Banchory & Keith
Total: 106 miles Wind = easterly

The day didn't start well - getting a taxi to Forfar police station from Letham at 7 on a Sunday morning was anything but easy! However, I eventually took to the skies from the High School playing fields at 9.30am, but the climb out was very slow and it was ages before I was even at 200 feet. Just at this point, I suffered the first major technical drama of the trip - a slipping drive belt, brought to my attention by a very loud screeching sound. This was the moment that I had feared, as I had no option but to perform my first emergency landing on this trip, and time (and height) were not on my side! At barely 200 feet above the ground, I had to decide if there was enough time to turn around and land directly into wind (the usual routine for landing), but alas there wasn't! So what followed was my first ever downwind landing on the Flyke, and thankfully, the light winds meant I could get away with it on this occasion!

So here I was, stranded on terra firma in the middle of nowhere, with a machine grounded by equipment failure. Much to my relief I had a spare drive belt with me, and what's more - I knew how to fit it :-) For what it's worth, this set of events had justified my decision to got the long way around to Inverness and not to go directly there from Glasgow over the Cairngorm's, because a forced landing like this in such territory could have been disastrous! Anyway, with the repairs done and dusted I was soon after ready to take off again, and this time without any problems. With a huge sigh of relief I headed for Banchory and landed in the park in the middle of town - rather close to the edge of the slope, but under control nonetheless! My arrival attracted the usual attention from those nearby, but two boys Mike and Jack were particularly excited about this "toy", and didn't let me out of their sight until I finally got going later in the morning. See the photo of these Wright-brothers-to-be here.

I refuelled at the only petrol station in town (with predictably massive queues!) and headed off to Morrisons for some breakfast. Next I cycled downhill to search for suitable take off fields to the south of the town, and found one that seemed ideal next to the river Dee. I managed to get permission from the landowner who just happened to be having a BBQ by the river with his family, and after chatting for a bit it turned out that we'd overlapped at school together - small world! Many thanks, Alex, for the glass of wine, and I promise not to make a habit of this before flying!

As I prepared to launch I noticed that the wind had picked up, so it wasn't the smoothest of departures! However, the new belt was now working well, and this flight took me all the way to Keith on a single load of fuel. I landed on a local cricket ground (a bit of a novelty in Scotland, I thought) and after the usual routine of refuelling, sandwiches, map reading and equipment checks, I set off to find a good field to leave from on the outside of town. The one I chose was at the bottom of the valley and full of hard, rough ground - far from ideal, but at least it served its purpose well!

I was now heading for Inverness via Nairn, as this would set me up well for the final leg of the journey up to John O'Groats. All went perfectly until I was 2 miles past Nairn and decided that the weather coming my way from Inverness looked horrible, so it was time for a U-turn, and the decision was made to base myself here for the night. Tomorrow's going to be a nice day for weather, so why the rush today?!

DAY 8 (Sat 8th Aug)
Gretna to Forfar via Crieff & Stirling
Total: 146 miles Wind = southerly

Left Gretna after comfy night in Smith's B&B, and for the first flight I stuck close to the M74 below - at times this wasn't exactly reassuring because the motorway runs at the base of some very deep valleys, offering few landing spots in case of emergency! Weather was worse than forecast - thick cloud in parts, but no rain. Landed at Abbington services halfway between Gretna & Glasgow - great field, which was used (I later discovered) by local paraglider pilots who meet on a daily basis at the services to go flying! After refuelling I tried to set off again but - sigh - wind was much stronger than the 10mph forecast, and I ended up rolling the flyke over on its side as a result. No damage done because it all happened at very low speed, but I decided to swallow my pride and abandon the launch attempt until things had settled down. I went back to the services, bought a copy of the Telegraph and then went to sit for a couple of hours in the corner of the field with all my kit, waiting for the winds to calm. Checked the weather using my internet-linked phone whilst waiting, and yes - gusts of 20-30mph were now showing in the area, despite forecasts the night before of nothing more than 10mph!

In the mid-afternoon I finally got away and then had a miserable flight up to Stirling, going through some very grey clouds and a really proper rain cloud along the way. Came down right in the middle of town next to the local Esso, attracting a large crowd within seconds - "things like this don't happen everyday around here", to quote but one spectator!

Took off from local school primary field in the middle of the Stirling suburbs, and then had best flight of the day up to Crieff and on to Forfar, all at about 50mph ground speed. Crieff was a must-see location as it's the location of the famous Hydro hotel where I spent a fantastic New Year with Jojo and her family doing 3 nights of back to back Scottish reeling along with 800 or so others - New Year's are always best in Scotland :-) The hotel is set in a beautiful landscape and whilst there I remember regularly looking skywards wondering what it would all look like from the air. Today I found out - and took lots of photos which I'll email to the hotel owner in due course!

The most direct route from here would be due north to Inverness, although this would take me over some very mountainous terrain through the Cairngorm's. A golden rule of thumb for my machine is to have potential landing areas accessible at all times. So the upshot of this is that I've had to be sensible, and am resigned to going eastwards all the way round the Cairngorm's., aiming to get to Inverness tomorrow evening if at all possible, before the final home straight up to John O'Groats. The long way round is tedious, but necessary! One of my refuelling stops en route is at Forfar, where I'm staying as I write this, but I've had real challenge to get a bed for the night as there's some big local festival on and it's a Saturday evening...No great surprise that so many of Forfar's lads and lasses seem to be out on the town drinking tonight, making me very nervous about leaving my Flyke parked on the street - not least because the reaction of the locals to it in Scotland is one of even more surprise than down south! It was a very kind man called Roy who, with help from his wife and children Karen and Daniel, found me a room in a B&B in the nearby town and even gave me a lift there with all my luggage - thank you :-) So where's the Flyke spending the night? In the Forfar police station, of course - many thanks to officer Mackintosh for letting me sleep with an easy conscience!

DAY 7 (Fri 7th Aug)
Burton in Kendal (Lake District) to Gretna (just past the Scottish border)
Total: 57 miles Wind = varied - southerly in the morning, northerly in the afternoon!

Set off at 11am in the same field in which I'd landed yesterday - perfect downhill slope into the southerly wind. This first flight up to Penrith with the Lake District to my left was one of the best I've ever had - absolutely beautiful scenery and a nice sunny day to go with it. Quite thermic so had to hang on tight at times, but the scenery around me was a joy to behold. Followed the M6 below me, keeping a close eye on service stations as per usual.... Ended up landing on (another) school playing field in the middle of Penrith, much to the excitement of the groundsmen who were getting the pitches ready for next term!

Having refuelled I returned to the same venue to take off, this time with a crowd of local school children who would only come back to the school if there was something exciting to watch. Made a complete fool of myself by trying to start with the handbrake on - not for the first time on this adventure! However, eventually got in the air safely and progressed northwards past Carlisle on the border of England and Scotland. It's easy to think that once I'm in Scotland, I'm in the home straight, but the reality is that I'm barely half way, especially because the terrain and sparse nature of petrol stations are going to prove quite a challenge to overcome. However, to get to this point in 4 flying days was much better than I expected - long may it continue!

As I flew past Carlisle towards Gretna I noticed some large cumulus clouds ahead, and some equally ominous grey clouds to the west. The wind was on the up, rapidly, and I could feel it in the turbulent air. I realised I should land asap and wait for a few hours before pressing on later in the evening - often this is a sensible course of action as the wind is at its greatest usually in the mid-afternoon. I landed in a stubble field less than 1/2 a mile from Gretna Services, and then headed on down to treat myself to a Costa cup of Earl Grey (which I've been missing greatly during this trip!), and catch up on some work with the trusted laptop. Suddenly a painful realisation struck home - I'd left behind the power cable at Gareth's house where I camped last night!!!! What is it with me - I forgot to take my syringes to Cornwall on day 1, left my paraglider bag in a field on day 2, and now this today. Come on Carver, get with it! I just had to get this cable back as I'd otherwise really struggle to keep the website going with only an hour or so left in the battery. So who to call for help? Paul Smith of course! Like Gus the day before, he was an absolute star, deciding at a moment's notice to get a babysitter for his son Aidan in Blackpool, and to hop in the car with his wife Melissa and head out to dinner at Gretna Services - what a treat, care of me! I was thrilled to see them, and to get the power cord back which Gareth had kindly passed on to them, plus a bottle of Castrol oil, and a DVD of yesterday's Channel 5 and Sky TV goings on. All fantastic - yet another example of the invaluable help I've had in my time of need - thank you :-)

DAY 6 (Thurs 6th Aug)
Marton (Cheshire) to Burton in Kendal (Lake District)
Total: 84 miles in 4 hrs (average of 21mph) Wind = northerly, so slow progress!

A busy day to say the least. I must start by thanking Alan for letting me use his private landing strip in Marton for some filming to be done by Channel 5 News this morning. Began with some video of a few low flight manoeuvers - great fun as I could leave all my luggage behind so was much more "sprightly" in the air than in recent days :-) A fellow paramotor flier Paul Smith also turned up with his son Aidan for the day, and helped to get some great footage from the camera fixed behind my head (although I'm not happy with the closeups of my bald spot!). I haven't seen the finished video yet but there's a Youtube link to it here, I believe. Great story but it would be nice if they could focus more on the fundraising - I was plugging it repeatedly but they seem to have removed it in the final edit!

At midday I got a call from the "Sky chopper" - I assumed it was a wong number, but no - they wanted to come and film me from the air. Paraglider wings and helicopters don't usually mix very well but this was a great opportunity for some unique footage, so I couldn't say no. The pilot Mark was actually very considerate - always staying a safe distance away to ensure I didn't run into any prop wash, and he made use of some amazing Hubble telescope camera attached to the chopper to get some great close up shots. If you haven't seen the video, click here.

So off I went past Manchester, having to go through the low level corridor in order to avoid clashing with the city airports jumbos on final approaches. All went well but into a headwind so was a bit slow...Next refuel was at Culcheth and then after that I arrived at Claughton where a kind farmer Dick Eccles allowed me to land right next to an Esso fuel station. Whilst refilling I experienced a first ever celebrity moment from the driver next door to me "haven't I just seen you on the Sky News?" he asked. Wow - how amazing! I was so frustrated to hear it had been aired and I'd not yet seen it (no, no inflight movies on a Flyke....), but he said the coverage had been great and reassured me that my hairstyle looked great - the cheeky monkey!

The final flight of the day took me to Burton in Kendal where I landed in a straw field but had a nervous moment as the paraglider fell down right on top of me - getting perilously close to the red hot exhaust pipe. Luckily I managed to remove it in time - no harm done. Within minutes I saw 3 or 4 guys running towards me so was rather nervous that this was a group of the local farm hands furious with me. But no, this was Gareth, Philip and Cliff from the village, all of them budding flying enthusiasts and clearly delighted to see me drop in! A massive thanks to Gareth for letting me camp in his garden, use his shower and bringing me a cup of tea in the morning - I seem to struggle without these basic comforts!

The real star of the show yesterday, however, was Gus M-L who drove all the way up from Worcester just to give me my red Fresh Breeze paraglider storage bag - I had so missed it after leaving it in a field when I left Worcester on Wednesday. Gus you're an absolute Godsend - thanks so much, and also for the 2 stroke oil and chicken and potatoes (no, not mixed together).

Gus headed back home at about midnight and I was then up until 2am (!) updating the website etc. Was too tired to update this blog page then, so called it a day- sorry!

Let me just say a huge thanks to everyone who has cheered me on in the last few days - the support I've received has been overwhelming and I'm only sorry that I haven't been able to reply to every text message and email sent to me - although I confess I have sent a couple whilst at 2000 feet :-). Still a long way to go but I'm enjoying every minute of it - thank you!

DAY 5 (Wed 5th Aug)
Duntisbourne Abbotts (near Cirencester) to Marton (10m SE of Manchester)
Total: 109 miles in 3.5 hrs (average of 31mph) Wind = SW, 6mph

From now on I was going to be flying solo, so I was understandably nervous about going ahead without ground support! It meant I had to carry everything with me, including tent/sleeping bag/ clothing/ laptop (yes, sorry!)/ spare parts/ 2 stroke oil/ tools/ food & drink. I knew my payload was going to be heavy but I was hopeful I'd be able to get in the air nonetheless. However, on a hot, humid day like today, it proved very difficult, and there were some nervous moments as I tried to leave the ground. Not helped by a field full of soggy cowpats which I had to steer to avoid whilst trying to control the parachute overhead! Eventually I took off but decided, after 5 minutes of climbing very slowly on full throttle, that this was hopeless! Turned around, landed, and had to decide what to leave behind. You might think it would be my laptop, but no - I decided to ditch my spare propellers, spare battery and containers of oil. Probably only 5kg in total, but seemed to help as the subsequent take off was definitely less nerve racking! All of this was captured on film by a professional photographer called Chris Bowler who had come to get some decent pictures of the Betfair logo - let's just say that, as a spectator, he got more than bargained for!

Flew to Worcester and had a drama! Needed to refuel so landed in an innocent looking grass field that was not exactly well kept.... However, the farmer clearly thought differently as he'd put a huge padlock on the gate to prevent entry. Not just entry but exit too - I couldn't get out onto the road! Walked all the way round the field looking for a way out but in vain. In the end the only option was to take off again and land quickly elsewhere - which I did, in the middle of a park near the middle of Worcester, where a load of lads were playing soccer. I interrupted the match (sorry boys) but they loved the distraction! Refuelled in BP garage and headed towards the outskirts of town to take off. Just as I was laying out the wing, who should turn up but Gus M-L who had tracked me down by use of my live internet tracker! Great to see you Gus and please send me any photos you took. Also, first lost property of the trip - I left my parachute bag in the field, so am now resorting to the use of black binliners for storage instead....

From Worcester to Newport - all nice and smooth. Landed on school playing fields where local CCF cadets were enjoying a BBQ. They all came rushing out to greet me, clearly annoying their teachers! Apologies all round but they were thrilled to be allowed a close up view of the Flyke. Even invited me to take off from the same field once I'd refuelled down the road - thank you!

Then onwards to my destination, to a tiny airstrip in Marton just south of Manchester's controlled airspace, which I had never visited and was only guided to by my GPS sat nav. The sun had gone down by the time I touched down (9.10pm) so I was hugely impressed with the accuracy of my GPS unit - it worked a treat! Was allowed to put my Flyke in a barn overnight by Alan the airstrip owner - he'd given up on me arriving at this late hour of the evening but was pleasantly surprised to see me make it in the end! 10 minutes later I was met by Jojo's brother Will and girlfriend Sarah who I was thrilled to see, and they gave me a lift back home to Jojo's mum's house - for a delicous meal and comfy bed, again! Don't worry - this ultralight tent I've bought will get some usage soon, rest assured :-)

Big day tomorrow - Channel 5 want to come and spend 2 hours doing some filming of the Flyke in action - should be good.....

DAY 3 & 4 (3rd/4th Aug): Rain stopped play :-(

A good time to say a huge thanks to David who has helped me out in the first few days as "ground crew", getting me into a workable routine and, what's more, driving my car and trailer back from Land's End to Cirencester.

DAY 2 (2nd Aug)
Hayle (Cornwall) to Duntisbourne Abbotts (near Cirencester)
Total: 208 miles in 6 hrs (average of 34mph)

Wow - what a day! No cycling - but I covered 208 miles in total by flying in great weather - a 10-15mph wind blowing west or south-west throughout the day. It doesn't get much better!

Early start at 5.45am to make the photo shoot for the first flight of the trip, in Hayle. Despite being so early on a Sunday morning, I was encouraged to have an audience as I took to the sky, including Clare, Emma & Joe whose support was very welcome :-) Take off went without a hitch, but my first landing to refuel after 2 hours was anything but perfect - I ended up in a bog, not a field! Everything covered in mud, and my pride hurt, although still intact :-( Managed to get airborne again on the first time of asking, and the next stop was Taunton, which I circled several times before landing, looking for petrol stations. Found one in the end, and then headed off to Halfords for a shopping trip that was hilarious - all the staff rushed outside to see this new kind of bike! Then off to Frome across a beautiful landscape of green and pleasant lands, touched down at Frome Rugby Club just as private party was underway. Went straight to apologize to the manager for my unscheduled landing, but was given a huge welcome and treated to free drink at the bar plus £60 of sponsorship from all present. Thank you so much, Peter! Take off after refuelling was a bit dicey but all was ok in the end.... Then set off at great speed past Lyneham and Kemble to get to home to Duntisbourne Leer for dinner with my parents at 8.30pm - I don't think they were expecting me, to say the least. To get this far in only two days has surprised nobody more than me - if this pace is maintained I'll befinished within a week! But of course I know this won't happen - rain is forecast for tomorrow so I'm going to take it easy and have a lie in! :-)

DAY 1 (1st Aug)
Lands End to Hayle, cycling not flying: 30miles in 6hrs (5mph but in my defence it was very hilly!)
Flying: ZERO - too windy

Started the trip by unloading the flyke at Land's End in front of countless curious onlookers - in one day I have been asked no less than 20 times what this weird contraption is, so I guess I'd better get used to it! Windy weather meant that I was confined to the road today as a "bike", but the flyke performed well although was very hard work and painfully slow on the many Cornish hills! Had a hypo half way up a very steep climb on approach to St Ives, rescued by eating an entire Soreen malt loaf in under a minute. Even worse, I suffered my first puncture within 5 miles of Lands End, but fixed it at the roadside - great relief. Finished the day just north of Hayle at a large grass field which I've been allowed to use for early morning first flight tomorrow - very exciting! Huge stroke of luck to be invited to stay for the night by Richard & Jackie in Truro - feeling a lot better after a take away curry and decent cup of tea, and nice to have a decent bed to sleep in too! Richard has been a great source of advice as he is 1 of only 3 people who have ever flown from LE to JOG by paramotor (similar to mine, but without wheels) before. Big day tomorrow - first flight, time to get some kip!