Underwent forced retirement from February. We have been busy ever since with babysitting and travel!
We went to the Orkneys, finally, at the end of April for an, all too brief, week. The trip to and from the Orkneys took four days, two there and two back. We went by train from Peterborough to Newcastle and then Newcastle to Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. This trip took approximately seven and a quarter hours. The train journey to Newcastle was very scenic and green, I dragged Liz' case and she dragged mine, I really did not think that the kitchen sink would be needed in the Orkneys, I could always wash in the rivers, but still in it went. Liz did have a moment of indecision when we left, about taking a coat or coat length jersey she had, final decision was jersey, final result was left in Catriona's car, hah. Liz only had two more jerseys with her! Liz did have to get by with only five pairs of shoes as well. Aviemore was great, the station was only over the road from the station. We arrived at seven thirty and were soon booked in to our hotel, it was very nice and all the pensioners seated in the restaurant window looked like a good sign.
The meal we had in the restaurant was very nice and the service was excellent, we did have a bedroom on the top floor, but we managed to get up there. The hotel even had a piper in full regalia to play at sunset, it was a great stay and made the journey more interesting. The following morning we left for Thurso at 10 in the morning and arrived just after two in the afternoon. All we had to do was get the bus to Gills Bay, near John 'o Groats, for the 18:30 ferry. I had thought there was a bus stop halfway down the hill from the station, in Thurso, about one hundred yards of suitcase dragging, we were quite early and had nearly two hours to kill before the bus left for the ferry crossing, seven miles, or one hour up the road. We wandered down and then up again and got chatting to a local, from Lancashire, who said she thought the bus left from the bottom of the hill, about half a kilometer away! She asked her bus driver and he confirmed this change, so off we sprinted to the bottom of the hill again and reached the stop with five minutes to spare, no time for any refreshments on a warm day! We were dropped at the top of the hill overlooking the sea and told the ferry was just around the corner (yes about 200 yards) We finally reached the harbour at five thirty with an hour before the ferry left. The ferry left on time and halfway through it's one hour crossing the captain told us we were going to take part briefly in a search for a missing diver, he had been missing about two hours at this stage. We never saw him, but he was rescued at about two the following morning. We arrived, half an hour late at the harbour in Saint Margaret's Hope in the Orkneys, Michael was there to collect us.
We went to the Orkneys, finally, at the end of April for an, all too brief, week. The trip to and from the Orkneys took four days, two there and two back. We went by train from Peterborough to Newcastle and then Newcastle to Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. This trip took approximately seven and a quarter hours. The train journey to Newcastle was very scenic and green, I dragged Liz' case and she dragged mine, I really did not think that the kitchen sink would be needed in the Orkneys, I could always wash in the rivers, but still in it went. Liz did have a moment of indecision when we left, about taking a coat or coat length jersey she had, final decision was jersey, final result was left in Catriona's car, hah. Liz only had two more jerseys with her! Liz did have to get by with only five pairs of shoes as well. Aviemore was great, the station was only over the road from the station. We arrived at seven thirty and were soon booked in to our hotel, it was very nice and all the pensioners seated in the restaurant window looked like a good sign.
The meal we had in the restaurant was very nice and the service was excellent, we did have a bedroom on the top floor, but we managed to get up there. The hotel even had a piper in full regalia to play at sunset, it was a great stay and made the journey more interesting. The following morning we left for Thurso at 10 in the morning and arrived just after two in the afternoon. All we had to do was get the bus to Gills Bay, near John 'o Groats, for the 18:30 ferry. I had thought there was a bus stop halfway down the hill from the station, in Thurso, about one hundred yards of suitcase dragging, we were quite early and had nearly two hours to kill before the bus left for the ferry crossing, seven miles, or one hour up the road. We wandered down and then up again and got chatting to a local, from Lancashire, who said she thought the bus left from the bottom of the hill, about half a kilometer away! She asked her bus driver and he confirmed this change, so off we sprinted to the bottom of the hill again and reached the stop with five minutes to spare, no time for any refreshments on a warm day! We were dropped at the top of the hill overlooking the sea and told the ferry was just around the corner (yes about 200 yards) We finally reached the harbour at five thirty with an hour before the ferry left. The ferry left on time and halfway through it's one hour crossing the captain told us we were going to take part briefly in a search for a missing diver, he had been missing about two hours at this stage. We never saw him, but he was rescued at about two the following morning. We arrived, half an hour late at the harbour in Saint Margaret's Hope in the Orkneys, Michael was there to collect us.