Day 8: Returned vans and the editor’s cuts!
This is the final blog (what’s that I hear you say “Awwwwwwwww, say it isn’t so!” …or was it, “At last, I thought it would never end!” …tsk, cheeky!). This is a brief look back at our final morning as we made our way back to Livingston. Before reflecting on a few stories from the week that were cut out, shredded on the editor’s floor, along with some random pics that didn’t make the first cut.
So yet again my morning started like every morning this week with an early morning walk along the beach. The weather was a little brighter today, although it was still damp following yesterday’s rain.
We had little packing today as we’d finished most packing last night. So pretty soon we were ready to leave.
…well, we did need to put out the rubbish and do the campervan loo thing!
(I say ‘we’, but as mentioned before ‘loo = boy’s job’!)
After that, we were good to go.
That is, we thought we were…
Inadvertently we’d left the kettle out on the campervan work surface – and as we turned the first corner, it flew across the van sending water flying everywhere!
After cleaning up, we really were good to go!
On the road again…
We were travelling in convoy again for the last time on this trip …and I’d like to wow you with stories of more amazing scenery, spectacular roads, and great wildlife. But we were travelling toward central Scotland, and wonderful as it is, it was mostly motorway driving, so essentially…
Dull!
The only excitement was at the very end… we missed the turn for the garage to top up the fuel …so yep, you guessed it, we managed to squeeze in one last car park, turned around and headed back to the garage!
Dropping off the vans
We arrived back in Livingston, unpacked the vans into our cars (there seemed to be the same amount of stuff, even though we’d eaten almost all the food we brought with us!).
Handed back the keys and drove away, this time in our own cars …feeling oddly small in our Mini!
And that was us… Holiday finished.
Though, as an added bonus, we were all still talking… No really, we were still talking! …using the power of the walkie-talkies as we went our separate ways along the M8.
This couldn’t last forever and, eventually, it really was “Cheerio Marilyn and Cubby”… “See you later Red Devil and Bad Ass”… “Over and Out!”
Editorial scraps (aka the Director’s Cut)
Now as we all know, and as with any good story, to fit it all in within a relatively short timescale…
(Yes, I know… “Short!?” I hear you say, “Your blog posts have been anything but short!”)
Anyway, as I was saying…
To fit in all the important stuff there had to be several things dropped from the final version. Like this very special pic which I am so glad came out. I call it “Anadin Smidge Feet”…
In the movies, these usually end up in either director’s cut of the film, or on the additional features of the DVD/Blu-ray (Oops! …showing my age again! …though that does beg an interesting question, in this new fandangle online world of ours, where do all those offcuts end up? Hmmmmm…?)
Well, here are my/our editorial scraps, starting with a lovely beach scene…
The incident of the stalker and the politician
Now, cast your mind back to Day 2: The mad dash of Pete ‘Schumacher’ Higgins. We were having fun (and a few glasses of wine!) in a lovely hotel garden on the beautiful island of Iona.
Pete had spotted an MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament), or should I say, former member. I’m not going to mention their name to protect the innocent (I know you could argue ‘no politician is innocent’, but in this particular incident they were …well, mostly!).
Said MSP was also having their lunch in the same garden, with their family.
Anyway, we got on with our lunch and were chatting away, but the conversation kept returning to the MSP, and we must have given off a ‘vibe’ (helped by some very unsubtle looks in their direction!)
Pete had figured out that it was the MSPs Birthday that day (or that weekend) and the family were therefore likely celebrating.
(This is where I have to go on hearsay, as I was away from the picnic table when this all happened!)
Well, the MSP got up to leave, but rather than leaving through the closest exit, they chose to leave through the exit closest to where we were sitting, swooping past our table as they went. They then directly engaged in conversation with Pete and the rest.
That was until Pete (showing his potential stalker credentials) suddenly exclaimed, “Happy Birthday!” 😮
Not sure why, but the MSP then backtracked and exited the garden quickly! 😀
Well, you would too, wouldn’t you? …if some random stranger just wished you happy birthday out of the blue!
What the MSP hadn’t remembered was that they had met Pete previously (when he wasn’t being a wine lout!) and they were hooked up via LinkedIn, hence his insider knowledge!
That said, Pete wasn’t even drinking, so his larking around was down to him being high on life. And as for the MSP in this story, clearly they couldn’t help ‘being a politician’ by ‘playing to the crowd’ and saying hello!
White T-Shirt man – Revisited
While on the subject of stalking… ermmmm…
Remember ‘white t-shirt man’ from Day 4: Over the hills and far away. Well, that story didn’t quite end there…
On Day 5, you’ll also remember we visited the Fairy Glen (if you don’t remember this then it was a great day, so go back and take a look! Go to Day 5: Fairy Glens and Misty Mountains).
As we were leaving the car park, who should arrive driving past us? …Yep, you guessed it!
And once again, he was wearing the same white t-shirt!!!
(That man really needs to rethink his wardrobe!)
The funny thing is, I can’t help thinking I recognise the man from somewhere, perhaps closer to home. I’ll need to keep an eye out for any man walking a couple of Beagles wearing a white t-shirt.
The ferryman
We hopped on and off a lot of ferries and were always brilliantly directed onto these ferries by well-trained staff. I know these guys do this job every day, but they also did it with good humour and were generally friendly and helpful…
(Just now I have Chris De Burgh’s “Don’t pay the ferryman” rattling around in my head!)
On one ferry we came across a Kevin Bridges look-alike. Who knows, maybe it was him, having a seasonal break!
But it was getting on the ferry to Skye where we met a real comedian (Day 4: Over the hills and far away)
As you know, we were following Pete and Fi every mile of the trip, which meant they had all the details that they then shared with the ferry people at each port.
On this occasion, they had been cleared to proceed to the ferry, and just like the time before we expected to drive through…
But no, this time the ferryman stopped us!
…leaving us wondering what we had done and what trouble we were in.
Mikey rolled down the window, and with a solemn face, the ferryman said:
“The people in front have said… WILL YOU JUST STOP FOLLOWING THEM!” 😀 😀 😀
We were still laughing 5 mins later when we caught up with Pete and Fi in the queue. They, of course, had said nothing at all, not even to suggest the joke (or so that’s what they told us!?!)
The case of the baker and the change
There is a nice little bakery in Dunvegan, in fact, it claims to be the oldest bakery in Skye and the produce is pretty good, so good people queue to get in when it opens its doors at 10 am. Though I think I am now BANNED!
However, as I type this I realise I was wearing a mask, so perhaps I could still sneak back and the baker won’t recognise me…
“So, what happened?” I hear you ask…
Well, DAY 5: Fairy Glens and Misty Mountains, I nip down to the bakers to get some bread rolls. I take cash. Being a child of the cash era, it didn’t even occur to me to take my card!
When I got there, the previous customer is paying by card …for something costing less than £1.
“Hmmm, I may have the wrong currency here!” said the voice in my head.
Anyway, I asked, “do you take cash or do you only take cards?” …the abrupt answer I receieved was “I don’t have change!”
I remember thinking to myself, ‘that’s not what I asked’, and so I (politely) said again… “Yes, but you do still take cash?”
Again, I got the reply… “I don’t have any change!”
She didn’t ask if I had the correct money! She didn’t ask if I had any change! Instead, she just made an assumption I was an idiot tourist who only had large banknotes …how very dare she!
(the fact she was correct is not the point!) 😀
Throughout this exchange, the Baker didn’t even turn around or look at me …how rude!
At the time I was just wondering how to rephrase my question to try and extract a different answer because this was getting silly (and who knows how long it would have gone on for!) …when someone in a backroom saved the day with these immortal words…
“I have change”
…Hoooray!
With that established, I selected several items, trying to make it come to a reasonable amount as I only had £10 notes …it came to £5:50 exactly.
So in one transaction I cleared her out of all the change! (I know, bad Lini!)
…which means, if she recognises me again, I’m pretty sure I won’t be allowed in!
Nice rolls and cake though…
The taxi driver
As an avid read of this blog (you are, aren’t you?!), you’ll know on Day 5: Fairy Glen and Misty Mountains, we went to the Three Chimneys Restaurant.
We arrived in style in a taxi (well, you wouldn’t want to roll up to a Michelin Star restaurant in a mobile home, now would you?!)
Our driver was lovely and funny. He shared stories and, on both legs of the journey (there and back), stopped on route so we could take photos of the best views (and didn’t charge a single penny for the added time).
He explained about water shortages in Skye due to lack of rain, hence ‘the curious case of the missing waterfall’ at Kilt Rock.
That was on top of first driving 13 miles just to collect us before then taking us to our destination and pick us up after.
The evening at three chimneys had been very special and our taxi driver had added to that.
…and that is why he gets a special shout out!
Beautiful people…
On this holiday, we’ve met some lovely people; in particular, I’ve met some great people when out walking early in the morning.
On Day 6: The Applecross Rollercoaster, I was just coming back from one such walk when I met a nice friendly guy out walking his dog.
I thought he was a holidaymaker like the rest of us because he was so chilled. In fact, it turned out he and his partner had moved to Dunvegan within the last year. Remote working during the pandemic has become commonplace, and they had decided to live in a beautiful place like Skye.
Tempted? …well, what if I tell you that this guy had it all going on.
Not only was he simply a lovely person, but he was also sooooo very attractive, sort of a cross between, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kris Kristofferson, back in his ‘Convoy’ heyday (I know, there I go again showing my age!)
Anyway, I didn’t mind at all spending a very pleasant half-hour chatting to him (after reading this though Mikey may think twice about my morning walks!)
[Mikey here, proofreader and HUSBAND… Hmmmm, I might just have to!]
Oh, and he had a cute dog called Freda!
[Oh okay… I’m a sucker for dogs. Must have been a nice guy!]
As I walked back to the van, he was off to log in to work …from his office overlooking the loch.
Talking of proofreading
Dear autocorrect,
There is a wonderful place called the Isle of Skye, a very popular place, world-renowned even. It is NOT – as you have incessantly kept trying to tell me while writing this blog – the ‘Isle of Skype‘!
You should visit sometime!
Love ‘n’ kisses,
Lini x
We’ve got the campervan bug
So, there were some trials and tribulations along the way on this trip and obviously lots of driving…
(on returning, Mikey slept for 12 hours solid!)
…which means, it’s not necessarily what you’d call relaxing in the traditional sense.
Also, Pete calculated the cost, and we could have stayed in fancy hotels every night for the same or less money …but where would the adventure be in that?
And that’s the thing we loved, the ADVENTURE of it!
…and now we are hooked and have already discussed ideas for our next trip.
Besides, we now have walkie-talkies, so we simply MUST make use of them! 😉
However, for now, sadly, it really is:
“Over and out!”
