We chose a different trip back to mainland Scotland by ferry which departed from Stromness. We got the bus to Stromness from the central bus station in Kirkwall and boarded for the ninety-minute trip to Scrabster:
Aboard the MV Hamnavoe with Stromness in the background
The empty Stromness Hotel in the centre
Departing Stromness
While on the way I was able to take some hazy pictures of the famous sea stack known as the Old Man of Hoy:
We docked in Scrabster at 12:30 and since we knew it would be a rush to catch our 1:06 train to Inverness from the nearby town of Thurso, we had booked a cab from the Kirkwall visitor centre. We knew we couldn’t walk the distance while towing luggage. The ferry took a while before it let the passengers without cars leave, and we all stood impatiently by the doors. I could hear from many of them that they were booked on the same train we were. Good thing we had booked a cab then. Our plan was for Mark to retrieve the luggage while I found our cab, which had been reserved under our name. We didn’t want anyone to take it from us. I saw a line of cabs by the ferry terminal and asked which one was booked for Hamilton. A woman driver identified herself and I stood next to the car, waving to Mark as he approached with our suitcases. In the meantime the driver asked me if we wouldn’t mind sharing the cab–and the fare–with an additional passenger. I said it was all right as long as all our luggage could fit into the vehicle. That was no problem so the driver and the passenger took the front seats while Mark and I occupied the back. Unfortunately there was no time to hunt down a sign bearing the village’s name, as Scrabster is a perfect way to describe a Scrabble enthusiast. I would have loved to get a picture of myself next to such a sign. We arrived at the Thurso railway station a few minutes before 1:00, and recognized many ferry passengers on the platform, which only had a single track. Although we had about eight minutes to spare, we still could never have made it to the train station had we walked there from Scrabster.
The train trip to Inverness was four hours. Fortunately our walk to the Inverness Youth Hostel was a short distance from the station. We walked around downtown and went to Number 27 Bar & Kitchen on Castle Street for dinner. The following rainy day morning we went to the visitor centre to book a walking tour of the city for later on that day at 5:00 and also a morning tour of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle the day after. We had seen on the forecast that it was expected to clear up by the late afternoon, so we decided to do some sightseeing and shopping in the meantime. We hoped that by 5:00 it would have stopped raining for our tour. These walking tours go on rain or shine and while we were at the visitor centre a group had gathered for its 11:30 tour, which was still going on as scheduled, albeit in a downpour.
We popped into the Inverness Library and Mark and I explored the reference collections. Mark looked at the books on architecture while I looked at and photographed books on the Gaelic language and the St. Kilda archipelago. I was surprised to see a collection spanning three shelf widths devoted to the Cape Breton Collection. These books were obtained as part of a book exchange with the Cape Breton Public Library. I noticed that I owned some of the books in my own collection.
While researching second-hand book retailers I had read about Leakey’s Bookshop, and when I asked around in person, I heard awesome raves about the store, so was eager to see it for myself. It was pouring out so it was the perfect day to spend inside a gigantic second-hand bookstore. Once I entered I was met with towering bookshelves and I grew excited about what I might find. The titles I saw when I first entered did not interest me as the fiction and world history shelves were nearest the door, yet I poked around and followed the signs to the areas on Scottish history, Scottish islands and language. I wrote about all my Leakey’s purchases here. I know I could have spent hours more in the store but I had to leave to meet Mark at the visitor centre for our 5:00 tour. Thankfully the rain had stopped yet because I didn’t go back to the hostel after Leakey’s, I had to lug all the books around with me on our tour.
Once the tour was over, however, Mark needed to visit the facilities so we stopped into The Royal Highland Hotel. He wasn’t feeling too well and I waited for him around the corner from the main reception and lobby. I was amazed that he had managed to keep composed during the duration of our ninety-minute tour, but we were in the hotel for a long time. He had contracted a bug of some kind and revealed that he had been vomiting. No one wants to experience that, especially while on vacation. We walked back to the hostel and Mark went to bed early. I hoped he would feel better for our tour of Loch Ness the next day. We would revisit that hotel a few more occasions in times of intestinal need.
We opted for a morning tour that left at 9:15 a.m. from the Inverness bus station. The bus took us to a location just past the Dochgarroch Loch and we boarded the boat and sat on the top deck. It was very windy. We cruised slowly down the Caledonian Canal through Loch Dochfour then into Loch Ness itself. Here’s Mark as we first entered the famous loch:
As a boy I was interested in cryptozoology and read extensively on the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, the Yeti and so on. Some of my earliest memories of using the old Central Library on Dundas were of signing out books on these creatures and gazing in wonder at the black-and-white photos of Urquhart Castle and imagining the Monster sightings from that viewpoint. I am a Nessie skeptic now, but the sight of the real Urquhart Castle took me back fifty years as I wondered about the mysterious monster that lurked here.
We caught a bus at the castle back to Inverness. The tour was only three hours so we were happy to still have the whole day ahead of us to see Inverness. After lunch we embarked on a long walk because Mark wanted to see a new housing development called The Maples at Ness-Side, which was out of town. On the way there we passed by Inverness Castle, which was closed for renovations:
We saw holly on the way:
Some of the new houses:
While on the walk back I came across this sign again and decided I had to take a picture of it. I saw red squirrel souvenirs in the shops and it wasn’t until I got back home that I realized that red squirrels have suffered a serious population decline in Scotland, so these signs alert motorists to be especially careful:
I was exhausted after all of our walking so we decided to get the bus back, but after waiting so long we started walking back anyway. Finally a bus did come and we got on, but the ride wasn’t that long and we probably could have made it on foot after our lengthy rest while waiting.
Mark was feeling better after his stomach bug last night, however this evening it was my turn to come down with it. We were packing to get ready for a 7:55 a.m. departure by train to Edinburgh the next day. I was seated on the floor of our room and felt dizzy, so much so that although my bed was right next to me, upon which I had placed my Scrabble bag, I asked Mark to hand it to me so I could pack it in my suitcase. I thought that if I stood up I would fall over. I decided to go to the bathroom to do what comes naturally when all of a sudden, before I could even shut the door of the stall, I started to vomit. I did not even sense that it was coming. Without even having time to shut the door I heaved and no doubt made a lot of noise. No one came into the bathroom, fortunately, yet Mark told me that he could hear me across the hall. I suddenly felt “well” after I emptied my guts and had no more dizziness, but the job was only half done. I decided to go to bed early while Mark went downstairs to use his laptop. I moved the garbage pail next to the bed in case I needed to vomit in the middle of the night. (I had insisted Mark do this last night but he never needed it, thank goodness.) While I was lying on my back I didn’t entirely feel all right yet when I moved to my left side my stomach rumbled. I moved to lie on my back again yet immediately after I moved to my left side again my stomach decided to empty itself of whatever was still in there. You can imagine how glad I was to have the garbage pail right next to me. When Mark came back he had the unfortunate job of emptying the pail in the bathroom next door. I was dreading the early start time for tomorrow since all I wanted to do was stay in bed, but we had to catch a 7:55 train.
I was wasted when I got up, and could only drink water as my body was so dehydrated. I am usually a camel when it comes to my fluid intake but that day I drank more water than I ever did before. We walked to the train station and I followed Mark, lagging behind because I was too weak to keep my usual pace right behind him. All I wanted was to sleep on the train during the entire three hour and twenty minute ride to Edinburgh. It was awkward and very uncomfortable to sleep on the train while sitting up, and my body was aching when we arrived at Waverley Station.
We found our way to the Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel which thankfully was not a long walk and as we waited to speak to someone at reception I needed to sit down and rest. I still could not face any solid food and besides water I had one glass of orange juice later in the day. Our stay in Edinburgh was like musical chairs, since at the time when we made our reservation we couldn’t find any room that could accommodate us for three days. We had to book not two but three separate rooms, one for each night we were there. So while I rested, Mark asked if the hostel could somehow find us one single room to stay in for the three nights we were going to be there, or at the very least, two rooms. The receptionist did her best–and took a long time–trying to find a room, but the hostel was so solidly booked that we had to keep our original reservation. That meant each morning we had to pack up and check out, store our luggage and then come back to check in all over again. Sigh. In the meantime the receptionist received word that our room was ready early, and we could check in now. Once we got inside I had a much-needed rest on the bed and after a little while we left to explore the city. I ate nothing until that evening, when I felt I could keep down a cheese sandwich, which Mark had made for me.
On our first night we stayed in a room for two people (two single beds). On the second night we moved to a dorm that slept six (three bunkbeds). Our final night was in a room for three (one single bed and a bunkbed). That room was my favourite, as it was in a prime location directly above the entrance overlooking the corner of Haddington Place and Annandale Street:
You can see how close the hostel is to McNaughtan’s bookshop if you zoom in and look in the top right corner. Easiest to see is the red glow of a tram shelter. To the right of it you can see two people on the sidewalk walking together. To their right is a tall black sign–the McNaughtan’s sign.