And so it begins
Dyce station for the 0820ish train to Inverness, tickets booked about 300 years previously to get the cheapest possible price (Aberdonian). A pretty painless experience to start the day, tesco sandwiches, bottled water (no drink before 0900 on scotrail, thankfully) and a monster bag of salt and vinegar. Everyone carrying a bergan was closely scrutinised, were they challengers or just mere mortals????
Anyway 2 hours later we rolled slowly into Inverness, a quick 2 minute dash out the back door of the station, across the car park and into the bus station and I was safely aboard the citylink for my second leg of the day, Sneckie to Fort William. Lengthy roadworks along side Loch Ness and tourist traffic ensured the bus arrived 30 minutes late (unfortunately that was 20 minutes after my connecting train had left). What to do in Fort William with three or four hours to spare......... 5 pints of guinness and a fish supper later and it was a very happy hiker who boarded the mallaig train for the final leg of the days travels.
If you've never travelled the Fort William to Mallaig line then stick it on your bucket list, the scenery is beyond stunning. I've driven and walked a lot of the area we travelled through but the train was just fantastic, I was to busy gaping to take any pics, apart from one from the Glenfinnan viaduct, think its quite famous for something or other, bungee jumping maybe.
Mallaig was soon reached, I booked into my b&b, the springbank, lovely wee friendly place overlooking the harbour, I'd have no hesitation in recommending it. I wandered back into the village, heard a cuckoo, how nice, then had a walk around the harbour before heading back to the lodgings to do a final bergan pack and to decant a bottle of something special into a spare plastic bottle (for medicinal purposes only on the cold lonely nights).
This isn't the end. This isn't even the beginning of the end. However, this is the end of the beginning.
This isn't the end. This isn't even the beginning of the end. However, this is the end of the beginning.
(Large English Dude 1942)
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