9th August - Mallaig and the Hogwarts Express!

Ok so I cheated a little today, when I got off the ferry in Mallaig I found out that the Harry Potter express runs through there, so I decided that it would be a really great idea to travel on it’s iconic route across the aquaduct to fort William.  It’s a little out of my way but given the miserable weather I have been enduring I decided I would treat myself!

I had a coffee in Mallaig in the mission café, I then had a wander around the town for a little while, there is a small stone cliff alongside one of the roads and even in this poor weather it was strewn with wildflowers and colour so I had to take a photograph.

I found a secondhand bookshop, however they weren’t organised and just couldn’t find something I wanted to read.   It came near the time for the train to arrive so I made my way across to the station and awaited the train.  Whilst there I met a german lady who was on a bike more laden than I was, she was touring around solo enjoying herself and she too lamented the weather, the wind and the prices they were charging, it was like meeting a female version of myself… very unsettling.  Her English was functional but limited, she was hoping to go to Ireland but couldn’t figure out a good way to get there so I showed her the route down to Campbeltown and wrote the details for the Kintyre express, she asked me twice if I was sure that there was a ferry from there so I got out a map and showed her the ferry symbol and got the number for her to book, she loved the look of the route.

Pretty soon the train arrived and a deluge of passengers spilled out of the carriages, people with cameras literally elbowing each other to get a photograph of the engine the Jacobean as if it was going to dissolve before they got a chance.   Soon everyone left the station and I got some photos of my own and a small video as it backed up ready to turn around and hook back up to the carriages the other way.

I got a ticket and managed to negotiate a seat with the conductor as it was standing room only but he found me something and a place to put my bike.   I decided to wait on the train rather than head back into Mallaig which would be awash with people by now.  Strictly speaking this was taking me off my route but I figured riding back out from fort William would make up for it and I would soon be back on track, this was just one of those happy coincidences I wasn’t prepared to miss.

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I sat in my carriage and could smell the engine and hear the steam venting for all the world like a kettle left on the boil, as passengers began to board I could see all the excited children and every second word was harry potter related.   There was the usual mix of German/French/American and Canadian tourists who were having a great time, the atmosphere was wonderful with almost a childlike innocence.

I was sat in Standard class which didn’t have the elegance of first class, but the carriage took me back to my own childhood where I remember these carriages still being in service! I was joined by some Belgians a father with his two teenage children.  They played cards and we swapped some stories of our travels, they showed me a great photo of some Dolphins they had seen near inverness.

The train journey definitely had a Harry Potter theme, as we passed through various places the guard would announce “dumbledores final resting place”  the XXX aquaduct where harry potters car flew..

The scenery from the train was beautiful but as always the weather was atrocious.   There was a charity rafle for some whisky, I didn’t win but there was a family next to me who were scotish I believe.  They had bought a lot of tickets and when the winners were called the son had won one of the minatures, his brother reminded him that the miniature had cost less than his tickets.

Travelling through this country and through Skye you can see why they are used as film locations even those hills with scars where mining had taken place were beautiful providing a contrast to their surroundings.   The landscape is criss-crossed with rivers and everywhere there is wildlife.  As the train passed through and the whistle would blow, birds would take to flight en-masse and sheep would scatter in panic.

The names of places I had passed through came to me, and I realised that I was forming a mental map of the country, the abstract places that I could not recall for so many years were now firmly anchored geographically so that for the first time in my life I started to have a good felling for the geography of my own country.

Pretty soon I had arrived in Fort William and said goodbye to the Hogwarts Express (aka the Jacobite), I would remember this as one of the highlights of my trip.  I had visited Fort William in 2013 on my JOGLE so knew the layout roughly only this time I didn’t need a visit to the A&E (I was knocked off my bike on the previous visit).

I went to the tourist office and enquired about any late rooms free, the lady located one and then she said it would cost me £4.00 to tell me and book it lol, nothing free today.   I decided to pay up and got a booking and an address just up the road from the city centre.  My landlady for the night was a lovely lady we stowed my bike and my kit.  I headed out for food and Weatherspoon’s had a two for one meal deal on so I had a miniature steak pie with veg and a baked potato for the other with cheese.

I wandered up and down the high street for a short while and then made my way back to the B&B, whilst there I met my landladys husband, who turned out to be the train driver on the Hogwarts express, he had been my driver today and had driven the train in the films!

My room was small but very comfortable, again it was one of those B&B’s where you are made to feel like one of the family, it had all those little extra touches that a mother would think of, extra chocolate biscuits by the coffee!

7th and 8th Of August Uig, round the coast the long bloody way to Broadfoard!

On the 7th I was still not recovered fully so I decided I had to rest up still, I basically spent the day sleeping and eating.  It was Kath/s birthday so I ventured out to the local shop and bought some supplies and a birthday card.  I had been invited to dinner with Kath, Heather and a Joe a friend of theirs with 3 children in tow and another young girl who about 10 I think who they knew.

It was a fun evening lot's of talk and stories, Kath had cooked a curry with Dall etc.. afterwards I went through to bed and listened to some more of rendevous with Rama before drifting off to sleep.  I had planned a very early start so I had prepped everything the night before and cleaned my area so that I could get off with a minimum of fuss.

One thing I had decided was to visit Kath and Heather again and I asked if I could leave some things behind which I didn't need now I was essentially leaving the wilds of Scotland, they were more than happy.  I also reminded Kath to send me the details of the museam she had sent her fathers bible to, he had been airlifted out of Palestine and brought a bile with him that she had sent to a Jewish museum, they had promised to send her a receipt and what was happening to it, they had done neither and as it was in Birmingham she had asked me to make enquiries which I was more than happy to do.

I left at about 6:30 in the morning after two sachets of microwave porridege.  The shop was closed at this time and didn't open till 9,  I relied on the fact that there wqas most likely a store on the way, this turned out not to be the case!   I only had one apple with me so I was very low on food for most of the day.   I was passed at some point by a group of cyclists and a little while later saw a sign for a cafe, saved!!!   When I got to the bottom of the track it said "Closed"  you cannot know the disapointment that I felt.

Up to this point the ride was going well, I felt I was eating up the miles but little by little the sky darkened and the wind began to make it's presence felt.   A while back I had decided to shorten my route across Skye and had updated my map on the Garmin Website, unfortunately for some reaon it had not transferred the update to my unit, which meant my days cycling was much longer than anticipated.

A little while later I found a bookshop/studio which announced it was a cafe although on entry it only did cake and coffee (over 40 varieties of coffee!!) I settled for a peruvian fairtrade that promised to be strong!   That and a slice of millionaire shortbread cost £6.00 but somehow the oddness of the establishment and the eccentricity of the owner made it seem good value.   The cyclists who had passed me were in there and we chatted for a short while swapping the usual cycling stories how far are you going, how bad or good the car drivers were.   One thing we did agree on was that the local postie was a great driver, he had passed me on several occasions and them too each time being a model of patience and caution!

The leader of their pack was Dan Swallwell who sent me a photo of me and of him and our excentric host which I will put up later.  The others had moved downstairs and he continued tro chat to me till one of his comrades came up and said they were getting cold waiting for him, then he turned to me and said - he does this all the time!!

A short while later I downed my own coffee and welcome cake if only a temporary calorie fix, the proprietor asked if I had enough water as it was still 20 or so miles to broadfoard.   and there was nowhere to buy food till broadford.   I bought two caramel bars just in case and she filled my water bottles (I lamented that one was missing, I had stopped eaqrlier at a park bench for a drink and must have left one behind)

I pushed on and although the mountains were impressive they were shrouded in mist, at this point I began to envy those who were religious, being an athiest I had no deity or god figure to blame...  the weather had turned atrocious I estimated winds or about 20 - 25 miles per hour backed up by rain that bunched itself into ballbearings aimed at my eyebaalls (I never will figure out how it still manages to him my eyes through glasses).

I am still taking photos however far less, I was taking over 50 a day but the weather was so depressing and there was either driving rain or mist covering everything and I could not face another picture of somethng wet or half obscured.   It was an effort to clean the lns which was often spotted with rain before I even took a picture.

When you are riding like this, day in day out with wind and rain, it can be hard to stay motivated you tell yourself the weather will break and it will be sun and shorts time, after a while you get annoyed with yourself and simply tell yourself to shut up, at times I tried being cheerfull but simply wanted to slap me for being so cheerful.   At other times you become morose and enjoy being miserable and then you can go through stages of laugher mostly at yourself for being stupid enough to think this was a good idea...  This is particularly easy when everyone you meets tells you that you are either crazy or stupid...  after a while you begin to agree with them.

But always at the end, you know deep down that after the trip is done, you will put on rose tinted spectacles and you will see it as an Adventure a challenge and you will tell everyone it was worth it and you wouldn't change a think, so I will say now for the record before the glasses take a hold of me, I would change several bloody things:

1. I would swap the rain and the wind for a calm SUNNY day
2. I would swap the hills for flat any day of the week unless it happens to be a downhill
3. I would ban singletrack roads
4. I would make it illegal to refuse a wet sodden person from a double room or charging them for double occupancy after 7:00 pm
5.  I would close all CO_OP stores charging double the price:  Co-Op broadfoard £3.00 for 4 apples
6. I would make it illegal to call yourself a cafe unless you did snadwiches
7.  I would swap a misty mountain for a clear one
8,. Goretex ahoes that don't become wet evern after 8 hrs + of driving rain
9.  My belly for a smaller one


That's just a few things I would change!  I can think of a lot more,  I felt like Calvin and Hobbs where  his dad makes him go camping, except with the abusrdity that I was both the dad and Calvin..   The one where they are on a boat it is raining and Calvin's dad says "it's character building" and Calving replies:  "What type of character are you trying to build DISGRUNTLED!"  I sympathised with both parties, I have had enough character building to last a lifetime.

I digress.... eventually I came to the river Sligcachan, the wind and rain had become ferocious the skys were angry and I figured that I had better stay here, I went to a campsite and the ground was sodden, I would be floating by morning, I tried locally but there was nowhere with space so I resolved to push on to Broadfoard.   I have to admit I was tired and did not want to!

When I eventually reached broadfoard there was a co-op but I was horrified at the prices everything seemed double anywhere else????   I bought some bananas and some biscuits and then headed to the laundrette, I was wet and decided to change clothes.   I hid behind one of the machines and did a quick change then lobbed my sodden clothes into the dryer, I was wearing waterproofs but the exertion of the day meant that my tshirt etc... were thoroughly wet.

25 minutes later my clothes were dry and I headed out, there seemed to be nowhere to camp in Broadfoard and there was nowhere to stay either, there was an agricultural show on as well as a plethora of tour busses full of eager Japanese and German tourists that whilst essential to the local economy annoyed the hell out of me because everywhere was booked, even the local YHA, I was going to have to sneak in somewhere and stealth camp.

I tried several places, I was exhausted I came across the same old thing, they only had doubles and I would have to pay the same as if it was dual occupancy.. it was late and I could not understand why they would rather see the room empty... One strange lady said yes I have room but I won't let any of my rooms to single people only couples...  She had corndolls and pentagrams all over her house and I suspect she was a witch and preferred boiling two at  a time as it was probalby more economical...  I pinched her wall on the way out to see if it was gingerbread this amused the child in me.


By now I was ready to eat anything and had their been a lonely japanese or german tourist they would have been fair game, I began to sympathise with Zombies...   I found a fish and chip shop and my body practically levitated inwards, there were two tables very small and only one was free so I put my coat down.   I ordered cod and chips then a dutch couple came in and I watched with disbelief as they took my coat off the char and placed it on the ledge and then put theirs on instead, I stared at them they were tall and thin in their 50's and just looked at me as if I didn't exist.   Unlucky my friends as I was not in the mood to eat outside in the rain.  I paid for my food and they joined the queue behind me.

I walked up took their coats as noisily as possible and replaced my own this time sitting down till the food was ready, it was cooked to order.   The looked at me and then the gentleman in very weak englis said we are sitting there, I smiled stood up and said  I was first you moved my coat I dont know what he expected.

My face and tone were designed to show some of the internal annoyance I was feeling.   The lady at the counter looked across and a few of the people in the queue did as well, he knew what he had done and he made a very weak sorry i didnt know it was your coat (the logic of that on escaped me too, perhaps he thought it belonged to the shelf that he put it on).  I sat back down and collected my fish I picked up a sachet of tomato sauce and was immediately charged another 20p.....  Squeeze squeeze..  The dutch couple collected theirs and went outside to eat in their car..  Not an advertisement for the nice dutch people I had met (I assmue dutch as they weren't speaking german and it sounded dutch to me)

(note at this point even I felt I was becoming a whiny tourist)

After I ate my meal I rode further along the road and saw the Hebridean hotel, I decided to give it a go and it turned out to be probably the last place within a hundred miles that didn't have a japanese or german in residence taking up every room, they had a single I took it and made my way to the room.

I should mention despite having a dual sim phone I could get no signal from either O2 or Vodafone so I resorted to skype on the laptop to call family and friends to let them know I was in one piece.   I checked my route on Garmin and was horrified to discocer that I had travelled 91 miles.  It had been a long and arduous day, I was absolutely exhausted but this perverelsey was good news, I wasn't feeling ill, chesty or fluey and despite the bad weather had covered far more than I expected.   Admitttedly there were no hills in the order of the highlands or some of the Scottish coast that had done for me, but that left me amazed,  I had expected about 70 and did a recheck but it was stil the same, perhaps there was some hope left for this trip!

I will say one thing,  almost every person I speak to keeps telling me this is the worst summer they can remember in Scotland and the weather forecast keeps saying more rain/wind.  They have forecast 50 mile and hour winds and driving rain tonight with 20 mile an hour winds and 60 - 70 % precipitation tomorrow.   I know that if it doesn't improce soon, I will get unwell again as I am no spring chicken and the body can only take so much.  I have only myself to blame it was my idea to do this however, I was thinking of making up my own deity to curse at some pont! 

5th and 6th August Back in the Saddle down to Skye

I made it back to Ullapool,   I am not 100 percent and I had come to a decision on my trip, after being so ill I was very weak still, I had lied to my doctor and my family and friends because I knew they would worry and try and convince me to give in.  My legs felt weak, my body felt weak and I could not shake a crippling feeling of dread inside that I would not be able to carry on.

I ran through scenario after scenario of how to tackle things, but in the end I knew that I would have to make a drastic decision if I was to finish the trip.  I spent the night of the 5^th of August in a hostel in Stornoway, it was strange but it was as if it was a home from home, the lady who ran it was friendly and carrying around a baby of only a few months old, I asked her to keep her distance, I wasn’t infectious but didn’t want to take the chance of giving the little one the flu.

I cooked a meal of “guiness ale pie” with rice a strange mixture I agree but it was tasty and warming.  I washed it down with a coffee, there was far too much rice and I met a young man who turned out to be from Birmingham, he was going to cook some pasta but I told him to take the special rice instead, he thanked me and said he and his friend would eat that and some pasta they were very hungry.

We chatted over dinner and he told me he had done a degree in maths at the University but had found Christianity and whilst helping with the Christian union he had eventually got a job with a charity organisation promoting Christianity.  He was a bright intelligent lad with an enquiring mind, he was fascinated with my atheism probably in the same way as I am fascinated by people of faith.  We questioned each other without any inkling of him trying to convert me or change my mind, it was one of those rare discussions were from the outset neither party was interested in winning the argument but was comfortable to just explore the others point of view.

I put my head into the common room, it was busy and to warm for me, the slightest exertion was still causing my temperature to rise and bathing me in sweat.  I had a quick coffee in the kitchen and made my way up to my room.  I plugged everything in and started listening to Rendevous with rama by arther c Clarke.  Soon other guests made their way up and I was in the same room as the young lad and his friend.

A young Chinese lad had come in we had chatted briefly and he was taking a coach tour the following day.  He quickly fell asleep and snored loudly one of the drawbacks of dormitory accommodation.  The other two fell asleep, and the young Christian lad began giggling in his sleep which became almost comical and infectious, I struggled to stifle my own laughter and turned up the volume to drown out the laughter, in contract his friend seemed to have put his head on the pillow and become comatose instantly something I was jealous of.  Even turning off my audio book had not helped, sleep eluded me and I did not know when I fell asleep only that it was late.

I awoke late about 8:30, I showered and dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, by the time I had eaten and packed it was 10:45 and I headed out at about 11:00 am.   As soon as I left Stornoway I was cycling into the wind and it was ferocious, I was slow and it was wearing me down, my ferry was at 4:00 pm at this rate I would never make it.

As the day wore on I was oblivious to the landscape, it seemed barren to me there was no sign of the animal life that I had come across on the Orkneys, for the most part of the day I saw no animals apart from a few goats.  I pushed as hard as I could but felt my strength evaporating as I made my way across the island, the wind was simply sucking the strength out of me, in these situations I simply grit my teeth and focus my mind elsewhere and pushed on

I forced myself to drink regularly, I was sweating but barely warm and I made myself eat fruit to keep my energy levels up.  I knew that I was not 100 percent but couldn’t tell if that was the issue or simply the strength of the wind, most likely a combination of both.   Eventually I reached tarbert,  the rain had kicked in and I pulled on my waterproofs I could feel my temprature dropping at the same rate as the weather.

I managed to find the information centre which was still open, a lovely lady took one look at me and said you look done for, meant in the nicest way.  She told me there was nowhere with free vacancies but had a friend in the pier hotel, a Michelin rated hotel and very expensive maybe they had something. 

She spoke to them and said I was a cyclist it was late and there would be no one else occupying the room, at this point I would have paid anything as the nearest place to camp was 5 miles away.  She was adamant though and I got a room and breakfast for a knockdown price of £50.  The room was wonderful, with a surplus of coffee and complimentary water etc..   I stowed my bike in their food locker acros the road and retired to my room to warm up and get some energy back.

I went downstairst to the bar where they were serving food, I shared a table with a German couple.  I had ordered the soup of the day followed by and Aberdeen angus burger.   My companions didn’t like the prices of the food, she settled for an omelette and he ordered two large bowls of chips.

They were staying in a campervan in a campsite 5 miles away we had a great conversation discussing Greece etc..  till I had eaten and was ready for bed! 

I went to bed and slept after making some phonecalls, I felt drained I was still optimistic for the trip but there and then had decided to make some changes.  I was going to make my way down the coast to Liverpool where I was going to strip my bike down to the barest essentials, I am going to cut down the camping and equipment so that my bike is much lighter and I am going to rely on B&B much more so that at least I get more sleep.  

This will enable me to pick up the mileage and be less exposed to the bad weather.   It would also give me some breathing space to think how best to complete my trip, I am banking on the probability that my strength will return as my system recovers, till then the priority is to take it easy and much slower and look for any opportunity to reduce the strain on my body.

With a plan in mind I had a way through and I was much more resolved time was my greatest enemy all other problems could be solved but time was the thing in shortest supply.

The ferry in the morning was not until 11:40 I got out of bed lazily and had a good breakfast then packed my bike and made my way to the ferry terminal.   After booking my ticket I went to board the ferry, I was used to bikes going on first, however on this one the bikes are put on last so I waited with a guy on a motorbike, he was from manchester and rides up here at least once a year, he said that yesterday the wind was so bad that he turned back on his bike because it was to dangerous....  I had just ploughed on through it, we both lamented about the poor weather and he said he didn't envy me for the weather I must have been through, it was the worst summer in Scotland he had experienced in a long time.

In a perverse way I took this as good news, there was a lot of talk about weather and wind before my trip and I had decided to get Scotland done early on, if this was the summer weather I could imagine a much harsher winter, I would not have fancied my chances if  was coming across in late September/October at least I had got that right!  (note if we have an indian summer in late September/October I am going to cry)

Scotland is beautiful but the country can be harsh, I had discovered this but I am feeling buoyant because it hasn't beaten me, I am still going although slowly.   The crossing was pleasant and I could only find one table with two plugs on the ship which I shared with a man working for Scotish power, I had somehow left my garmin sat nav on and it was completely discharged so I powered that and my laptop to write something whilst I made the crossing.

By the time the crossing was complete the weather was foul so I decided to find somewhere to stay on Skye.   I tootled around Uig for a while looking for some wi-fi and eventually found a strange cafe that seemed half second hand shop and half Jazz music place, they charged £1 for half an hour wi fi which I didn't like paying for because I suppose I had come to see it as a complimentary service (see ITIL for when value added becomes a standard expectation).  I had a coffee and paid for my wi-fi, uncharactaristicly it was very fast and after ringing round with not much luck, the only places that were available didn't have wi-fi when I asked and they said that it was down.

I eventually found the old station bunkhouse, which is a converted police station run by Kath and Heather a retired police officer and teacher.  They had been working straight and weren't planning to let anyone stay that night but finding I was on my own they said come straight up and they would let me stay, it was windy and raining and I jumped at the chance.  On Kath's advice I stocked up on food at the local garage, there isn't much in the way of food shopping by the ferry.

The bunkhouse is small and not much in the way of cooking facilities, there is a microwave toaster and free coffee making facilities but I had the place to myself.  I didn't get to meet Heather as she is recovering from a shoulder replacement, but I chatted for ages with Kath who was simply lovely and a real character.  I loved the bunkhouse and it was full of those little touches that make it feel like a home rather than a business.  I spent my night listening to the next few chapters of Rendevous with Rama and planning my trip.  Kath came and chatted with me again, we swapped stories she is such a character I found myself wishing I had more time to get to know her.  It's her Birthday tomorrow and I am going to take a ride back down to the village so I can at least get her a Birthday card, I won't tell a ladies age but she is not quite 60 but has the energy of a twenty year old.

I think Kath has discovered one of the secrets in life is to enjoy yourself and try and find some joy in everything, at 11:00 at night she came rushing in to tell me that the midges were out in full force and that there was a huge strange beetle on the front of the house, I took a look with her and we both photographed it followed by a swatting sessing indoors to finish off the midges that had made it inside.