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Sometimes, days on holiday are not so good.
Today it was pouring with rain pretty much everywhere I was, so it seemed like a good day to get a bunch of driving done, if nothing else. I went to Inverness, bought some clothes, then headed out and about. I saw Loch Ness, but was in no mood to appreciate it because not long before that two pheasants decided that the best idea in the world would be to walk out in front of my car with absolutely no warning.
Two thumps followed, a spatter of feathers on the windscreen, a whirlwind of them in my rearview mirror.
Next to Loch Ness, I scraped blood and feathers and gore from the front of my car, but there's more inside the grille that I couldn't get off.
In Beauly, I tried to get cash from the bank, only to have my card declined. Trying to call my bank to answer the question of why the fuck that happened, my phone ran out of credit.
In Muir of Ord I had a mobile broadband signal, so I called on Skype. Eventually, it was established that there was no reason why that should have happened whatsoever. I tried the bank in Muir of Ord, and got money. So that was forty-five minutes of frustration and stress for no fucking reason.
North.
At the edge of Caithness, I had the novel experience of driving into a cloud. I could see it, just a few metres above, for a while before I hit the hill that took me into it.
Further north.
I stopped at a pub to enquire about food. I had creepy men and racist remarks about ethnic food to navigate, until I extricated myself and said I'd be sure to find something further up.
Not really.
At John O'Groats I had expensive, mediocre food that contained gluten despite extensive discussions with the waitress, because apparently a detailed conversation about food intolerances and coeliac disease doesn't bring to her mind that she should fucking warn about unannounced ingredients on the menu.
My mood wasn't the best, because as I was entering John O'Groats a deer ran out in front of my car. I braked hard to avoid it, and managed to do so, but remembered a moment too late the advice that deer travel in pairs. By then the second deer was in my headlights, and though I stood on the brakes hard, I couldn't avoid clipping the deer. Another thump of a life bouncing off my bumper.
This time I couldn't see it in my mirror, so I can hope that perhaps it survived with only a bruise and ran off with its friend.
No USB converage there, either, so I drove back to Wick. Nothing there, and I couldn't find a place to stay, so I drove to Thurso.
Despite being the biggest town in Caithness, Thurso offers no mobile broadband coverage. (Neither did Wick or John O'Groats.) I have internet here, at the one place I found to stay - an expensively shitty hotel - but their wi-fi won't reach to my room. In order to use the internet I have to sit in the bar.
Tomorrow I have generalised plans to go to Orkney, assuming I still retain the will to travel, or live, and from Orkney at some point to Shetland.
Today it was pouring with rain pretty much everywhere I was, so it seemed like a good day to get a bunch of driving done, if nothing else. I went to Inverness, bought some clothes, then headed out and about. I saw Loch Ness, but was in no mood to appreciate it because not long before that two pheasants decided that the best idea in the world would be to walk out in front of my car with absolutely no warning.
Two thumps followed, a spatter of feathers on the windscreen, a whirlwind of them in my rearview mirror.
Next to Loch Ness, I scraped blood and feathers and gore from the front of my car, but there's more inside the grille that I couldn't get off.
In Beauly, I tried to get cash from the bank, only to have my card declined. Trying to call my bank to answer the question of why the fuck that happened, my phone ran out of credit.
In Muir of Ord I had a mobile broadband signal, so I called on Skype. Eventually, it was established that there was no reason why that should have happened whatsoever. I tried the bank in Muir of Ord, and got money. So that was forty-five minutes of frustration and stress for no fucking reason.
North.
At the edge of Caithness, I had the novel experience of driving into a cloud. I could see it, just a few metres above, for a while before I hit the hill that took me into it.
Further north.
I stopped at a pub to enquire about food. I had creepy men and racist remarks about ethnic food to navigate, until I extricated myself and said I'd be sure to find something further up.
Not really.
At John O'Groats I had expensive, mediocre food that contained gluten despite extensive discussions with the waitress, because apparently a detailed conversation about food intolerances and coeliac disease doesn't bring to her mind that she should fucking warn about unannounced ingredients on the menu.
My mood wasn't the best, because as I was entering John O'Groats a deer ran out in front of my car. I braked hard to avoid it, and managed to do so, but remembered a moment too late the advice that deer travel in pairs. By then the second deer was in my headlights, and though I stood on the brakes hard, I couldn't avoid clipping the deer. Another thump of a life bouncing off my bumper.
This time I couldn't see it in my mirror, so I can hope that perhaps it survived with only a bruise and ran off with its friend.
No USB converage there, either, so I drove back to Wick. Nothing there, and I couldn't find a place to stay, so I drove to Thurso.
Despite being the biggest town in Caithness, Thurso offers no mobile broadband coverage. (Neither did Wick or John O'Groats.) I have internet here, at the one place I found to stay - an expensively shitty hotel - but their wi-fi won't reach to my room. In order to use the internet I have to sit in the bar.
Tomorrow I have generalised plans to go to Orkney, assuming I still retain the will to travel, or live, and from Orkney at some point to Shetland.
no subject
By the way, in case you ever find yourself wanting to take pictures of the most total image of desolation you can imagine: Caithness is the place. Along the A9 there's many, many ruined stone buildings on empty, overgrown fields.
(Sadly I didn't photograph these because when I went past it was pouring with rain, but... you know. They're there.)
no subject
"Well, I'm not likely to go there any time soon"
"Oooh. But my Pride and Prejudice fanfic characters might!"
:)