77/80 Wick-Thurso Bus - is it a through service?

[philjo]

Does anyone know if the 77 Bus Wick-John O'Groats bus is a through journey as the 80 towards Thurso, or do I have to change buses at John O'Groats?

The timetable shows the 77 from Wick arrive at John O'Groats about 6 minutes before the 80 to Thurso leaves. I can't work out if it is a through service which changes numbers or if a change of bus is needed.
I'm travelling from Wick to the Castle of Mey. Staying in wick overnight then getting the 16:00 back to Inverness the following day after catching the 14:25 bus back from Mey
I did email Stagecoach but no reply yet...
Many thanks.

 

[overthewater]

Thurso bus depot, Lovers Lane, Caithness: 01847 893123

 

[Ebore]

Does anyone know if the 77 Bus Wick-John O'Groats bus is a through journey as the 80 towards Thurso, or do I have to change buses at John O'Groats?

The timetable shows the 77 from Wick arrive at John O'Groats about 6 minutes before the 80 to Thurso leaves. I can't work out if it is a through service which changes numbers or if a change of bus is needed.
I'm travelling from Wick to the Castle of Mey. Staying in wick overnight then getting the 16:00 back to Inverness the following day after catching the 14:25 bus back from Mey
I did email Stagecoach but no reply yet...
Many thanks.

I can't say for certain but I took the 77 from John O' Groats recently and it arrived at the time the 80 was due. It arrived with only the driver on board so it may have come straight from the depot but I would have said it was a through service.

 

[philjo]

An update on this. I used the bus on Wednesday from Wick to Castle of Mey.
The buses do run through from Wick to Thurso. They wait in the car park at John O Groats for 5-6 minutes during which time the service number changes form 77 to 80 (or vv) and the driver updates the ticket machine. As officially they are 2 separate routes you can't get a through ticket from Wick to Mey (you would have to split tickets a JOG) - I bought the £6.50 daysaver ticket.
The driver was very helpful explaining this and stopped by the entrance to the Castle drive.
Returning from Mey - just stand outside the drive entrance & hail the bus. there are no official bus stops along that route other than in Wick/Thurso and at JOG - the rest of the route you just hail the bus.

 

[crispy1978]

Last time I was up there, I went straight through from Thurso to Wick on a bus and didn't need to change. Whether that was the bus which you are referring to I aren't sure.

 

[philjo]

The bus I used is the 77/80 that goes via John o Groats. There is a different service I think that goes direct to Thurso from Wick.