Travelling

...and some minor complications.

Travelling up to Orkney today, and everything was going perfectly. Met up with my friend in Inverness for lunch on the way, had a little walk around, and then got on the first bus. Things were going smoothly until we were almost at the destination to get the second bus, when we were told there had been an accident on the road, and it had to be closed. Waiting on the bus for five hours was spent getting to know a few people, coincidentally including a girl who was in the exact same position as me, visiting her boyfriend in Orkney. It was looking more and more likely that I would miss the ferry to Orkney, so I phoned my boyfriend to fill him in, and let him know the procedure, trying to contact him when I could. I think we both stayed quite calm considering...

After some time, the bus driver announced that we could be waiting all night to get through the road, and decided the best option would be for us to get a train. My new friend (also known as 'bus girl') and I decided to stick together for the journey, and head to Wick to find somewhere to stay. The only problem was that it was coming on for 11pm, and we would be struggling to find a place that late, especially with little signal and no battery on our phones. What was more is that it was pitch black outside, and the announcements of stops on the train meant nothing to me - with none of the places sounding remotely familiar, so that was quite unnerving. Thankfully two women sitting next to us on the train overheard us, and kindly offered us their phones. They even went to the extent of searching for all of the numbers of hotels they knew in Wick! After I'd phoned most of them, one of the B&B's was happy to take us, and even lowered the for us price slightly.

Walking around Wick in the pouring rain trying to find the B&B was a challenge. As we finally approached the correct one, the woman I spoke to on the phone stood waiting for us, waving at the door. As she showed us to our room, I realised how perfect this place was. It was the cleanest B&B I'd ever been in, or could imagine for that matter. All I can say is I really hope the water dripping down my jacket and rucksack didn't ruin her carpet! (We really did look more like hostel goers). It's fair to say, we were pretty tired and just glad we had somewhere to stay the night before the journey the next morning.