Menootnaboot; Messing About On Trains

Inverness received its city status in 2000. Settlement history stretches back to the sixth century, and signs of habitation in the area even earlier. I have visited before and written quite a lot about different bits—for those interested, all the posts are on this link. It is a place well-known for its wonderful cathedral, an amazing and powerful river with many bridges, and the place where we used to catch the ferry to get across to Ross-shire, but where the statuesque Kessock Bridge now spans (glimpsed in the vid-clip shared on Monday's post). There are paid places to stay both in the centre and around, but if careful, one or two free park-ups are still to be found. 

On the way north, I had located The Grey beside the skate park, right beside the river in the suburb called Bught ("bucked") with no bother, and chose to park there again on this southward turn - though the way things are going, that may not last. The city not only has lots of attractions of its own, but it is also the jumping-off point for all the folk who want to travel the NC500. No doubt, the increased tourism has brought lots of economic return, but it is also true that the city's growth has strained the infrastructure considerably. Also, what was once really quite an intimate and charming town is now tending to show signs of the nimbyism and over-regulation that comes with much larger conurbations.

Anyhoo, on that Wednesday before Easter, I drove in through sleet and snow showers, parking in the same spot as before. Let me tell you, no skaters were doing tricks that night as the rain lashed and the wind whipped. Thursday was definitely a stay-at-home day, and I was not inclined to drive in such weather. 

Having planned to move on regardless on Good Friday, I awoke to a transformation—warm, sunny, with a light breeze, and the skate park starting to buzz even as early as nine a.m. I got out of the rollator and watched, chatting with a mother whose youngsters were showing their tricks and realising that I wasn't ready to roll quite yet. I walked over to Whin Island Park, got a hot choc at the kiosk, sat, and enjoyed the ducks as the young lads prepared boats for rowers.

I had a video chat with Aitch and wandered around the boating pond, wondering about hiring one (I used to row quite a lot and have always loved being on the water), but something else caught my attention.

😁 Ooh, yeah! All the good stuff will be on the video, though should I have been worried about the driver having his head in his hands?

We did actually have a derailment - it happened just after the end of the section where the young Guard collects Paddington from Witchthorn Station; your videographer cut too soon... no passengers or bears were injured, and the engineer had it running again in no time.

It's a charity/community-run event, and the ticket profits go to Inverness Hospice. Three quid did not seem enough, so I made a donation, and it was worth every penny. I had such fun in the sun!

From there, I continued my walk by the water and back to the van—and it was already heading into the evening. Saturday morning brought back the sleety rain, although with sunny breaks, but it was very, very cold. The one thing about my parking spot was the poor web connection, despite a tower right by the skate park. It was time to drive on, so I went to the nearby Tesco, as needed, to get another charge for Grey and some groceries. Once the charging was done, I moved to another corner of the car park to sit out the latest squall and make use of the 5G ether rates! I did quite a bit of work, and it was nearly evening again before I set off. This time, we went to a park on the edge of Nairn, which is only a half-hour drive away.

I had two nights tucked away there, again with a 5G signal, so I made the most of catch-up time and relative shelter from the bitter wind. There were a few walkers, but not that many - Easter keeping everyone inside, it seems. Monday, I moved down to Charlestown of Aberlour (usually only referred to as Aberlour). A place to charge Grey, use toilets, wander beside the River Spey, and have a good ol' chinwag with Ian, who lives with his wife up on the brae overlooking the town. He was very interested in the van but even more interested in the Rolls-later, his surgeon having only the previous week told him they would not be doing knee surgery for him. He had a go with it, and tried out the seat, and was well impressed! I was invited up to visit - but said it would have to wait for my return visit - for I surely will go there again. (That's Ian's house you can spot, if you biggify, sitting up on the hillside below the woods, behind that lamp post, the light on in one window.)

Yet another fond acquaintance made. I parked just along from there, down near the bridge, which I crossed for a wander on the other side. Lots of fishermen about, none apparently catching anything but enjoying themselves despite the arctic conditions.

For those who enjoy shortbread and may have experienced the long-established Scottish brand Walkers... this is the town of origin! The bakery is now a large factory on the outskirts of town, but this shopfront is the home of this perennial favourite (though it has to be said, they have rivals in Dean's, only a few miles awa).

I only had one night here, though, as I had scheduled to meet up with Gail and Nobby in Banchory on Wednesday, so I moved on to that town on Tuesday afternoon. I would have loved to have made some 'b-roll' road footage of the fantastic drive along sheep track roads over hills and down valleys, u-bends and switchbacks. However, that dreadful thing called weather meant that viewing was minimal, and, frankly, I needed all my attention on driving. The Grey coped with the roads admirably, taking the chance on the many down hills to benefit from good energy regain.

By the time I drove into the car park, it was belting down icy drops, and I was concerned about how the next day would be. Gail was still keen when we spoke, but Wednesday proved to be even worse (how was that possible??!!!), so we cancelled our meeting for this occasion. A literal rain check.

Neither of the chargers in the car park was operational, so I had to use Tesco's PodPoint availability yet again before heading down the main road (pointless in that blatter to try the scenic routes) to Tayport, in Fife.

... back tomorrow to pick it up from there!