Petrol challenge: Whitstable to Wick

Simon Stone and Katherine Mackay at home in Kent

With workers at Grangemouth refinery due to begin a two-day strike on Sunday, there are concerns that petrol may prove to be in short supply in some parts of the UK.

The government insists there are enough reserves to keep forecourts supplied during any dispute and have urged motorists not to panic buy.

But concerns over fuel availability haven't daunted the travel plans of Simon Stone, 24, and his girlfriend Katherine Mackay, 22.

The pair left their home in Whitstable, Kent on Saturday morning to make the 730-mile journey to Katherine's parents' house in Wick in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland.

They will be sending regular diary updates about their journey north and any problems they might encounter getting hold of petrol.

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The couple's 730-mile route

Sunday, 27 April

1945 BST - Wick: Katherine: We arrived about 10 minutes ago and are now relaxing in my parents' place. The trip was long but luckily the main surprise was a nice one. We won't be travelling back until Thursday, so we should be OK.
Simon: I'm tired but happy to be here. We passed a couple of filling stations with very long queues in Inverness and Perth so I suppose we were lucky. All in all it was a great trip.

1845 BST - Helmsdale: We're making good progress on the way to Wick. Having problems with the mobile signal though!

1745 BST - Inverness: We filled up at a petrol station in Inverness for £1.10.9 a litre. The guy in the station said he was one of the few to have fuel in the area. Apparently his station ran out of petrol on Friday but received another batch on Saturday. So I guess we were lucky.

1615 BST - Pitlochry: We are on the road to Inverness. As we left Edinburgh all the filling stations we passed were empty. There were no customers and no petrol, but we were able to fill up in Kinross. Later we noticed queues snaking out of one station. We're making good progress but are slightly worried as we don't know what to expect as we continue north.

Simon: "A real Scottish fry-up."

1415 BST - Edinburgh: Just about to head off now. We had a fantastic Scottish fry up so that should keep us going. The weather up here is lovely so it should be a nice drive. It's Simon's birthday today and he had hoped I would share some of the driving but I failed my driving test last week so it's all down to him.

1000 BST - Edinburgh: We're just getting ready to go and meet our friends as we didn't get to see them last night. The morning after the night before and Katherine is still pretty excited about us getting engaged. I'm normally really bad at keeping secrets so I'm quiet proud that I managed to pull this one off without her finding out. We are going to leave Edinburgh at around 2 o'clock this afternoon. This last leg of the trip should take about five hours. I saw on the news that the strike had started so we will look out and see if it has affected any petrol stations up here.

Saturday, 26 April

2100 BST - Edinburgh: We've just had a nice meal with a bottle of champagne in a gastro pub. It's a place we used to come to regularly when we lived in Edinburgh, so it's quite sentimental for us. Tonight we'll visit a couple of bars that we also know well. We now plan to continue our journey tomorrow afternoon.

1615 BST - Edinburgh: It's turning out to be a perfect day here in Scotland - the weather's great. I think Katherine is still digesting the news - my marriage proposal. But I think she's also enjoying the attention of being on the BBC website. At the moment she's shopping around for something nice to wear tonight. We also checked the latest news on the strike and - fingers crossed - it looks like things should be alright for our journey tomorrow.

Simon: "It's just starting to sink in and we are so happy."

1345 BST - Edinburgh: We're all settled in our hotel and have arranged to meet friends for dinner tonight. We weren't able to go to Arthur's Seat because the roads were closed. Instead, we had a quick change of plan and went to the Scott's Monument, a 200ft monument dedicated to the memory of Sir Walter Scott. After climbing 287 steps to get to the top we saw wonderful views. The biggest news though, is that at the top I proposed to Katherine and thankfully she said yes!

1116 BST - Edinburgh: Just arrived in Edinburgh. It rained as soon as we hit Scotland but it seems to be brightening up now. After all that driving we are going for a walk to stretch our legs. We are going to climb Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano in Holyrood Park in the middle of the city. We filled up in Dunbar, just outside Edinburgh. The station was full but there were no queues. The petrol there was the cheapest we have seen for the entire trip £1.04.9.

1000 BST - English/Scottish border: We're at the border at the moment, roughly 70 miles from Edinburgh, so we have fallen behind on our schedule. Petrol stations are getting busier as we continue our trip but the people we have spoken to don't seem too concerned about the Grangemouth strike. We filled up about 30 miles ago and the petrol gauge is on three quarter tank, so we are still doing well. We will probably top up again before we get to Edinburgh.

Katherine topping up the petrol tank

0730 BST - Scotch Corner, near Newcastle: We've stopped at the service station to have a break. We are running a little ahead of schedule, my aim is to get to Edinburgh for 10 o'clock. I've been blindly following the sat nav. We did have a little trouble with it earlier, when it wanted to take us on little local routes, but we just ignored it then and carried on straight ahead. The price of petrol here is £1.14.9.

0633 BST - Doncaster: Topped up again in Doncaster. The price of petrol up here is £1.09.9 a litre. The station attendant said they have not been affected by the strike so far but thinks it might get busier later today.

0506 BST - Cambridgeshire: Just topped up the tank with petrol, £15 in total. The petrol station was empty but it is early in the morning. A previous repair job on the front bumper is coming apart, thank goodness for duct tape!!! Listening to the band Scouting for Girls, song: I Need a Holiday.

0330 BST - Whitstable, Kent: We're running a little late. After we got everything organised we set out at 3:30. I've had one of those energy drinks so I'm all caffeined up. The purpose of the trip is to see Katherine's parents and to celebrate my 25th birthday which will be on Sunday. We're aware that there could be petrol shortages, especially once we travel past Inverness, so we have 20 litres of spare petrol in a can in the boot.