Quite a journey

My son was going to drop me at the station to catch the airport bus. But as he was up early and wide awake he took me to the airport (Bristol). Nice to have this kind of role reversal:) We left the house at 8. At the airport, there was no one else in security - 3 staff, one passenger (me). Amazing. Soon in the plane. At about the halfway point the pilot said there was so much fog in Inverness there was a 50/50 chance we would have to land in Glasgow. Which would mess up my whole journey. Got chatting with the woman next to me - who was going to visit her daughter, working as a junior doctor in the Inverness hospital. We were a bit scared as well as worried about the disruption of ending up in the wrong place. Anyhow we did land, it was ok, though there was complete hush in the plane while it happened. A bus to the city, where I had about two hours. The cafe I had been recommended was full. So I got a picnic from the co op and sat beside the river to eat. Which is where I took the top two pictures. It’s a mighty river, full and flowing very fast. Then caught the train to Thurso. Which is about 80 miles north of Inverness , though I think they must be special magical miles as the train takes 4 hours.
I really felt I was in Blipland again - just as much as when i went to Edinburgh. I saw a place called Black Ilse view (MOLOH) tho there was no view today. The train stopped at beauly (Randomgirl). Most exciting - we went past the signal box and the world famous Clachnaharry Inn (Martinski). The man in the signal box waved at our driver:)
We had stripes of fog and sunshine alternately. The middle two pictures are of the view out of the slightly dirty window - the left one in the first half of the journey, the right almost at the end. It was incredibly beautiful - on the other side we were right beside the sea much of the time. I saw deer, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits (brown and black) and lots of cows, though they looked fairly ordinary and not Highland Coos. Also lots of huge birds of prey that weren’t the kestrels or buzzards I’m used to. The woman opposite me was taking home a 12 week old puppy she had just bought in Inverness. It was in a cat box, and managed the 4 hours incredibly well. A taxi from the rail station to Scrabster ferry terminal - a friendly check in, and I was on the Hamnavoe. It set off, seemingly at normal speed, through the fog, blasting the foghorn over and over. There were stripes of thin fog, thick fog, then a little gap with sunshine. It really felt quite eerie. The sun was just visible when the fog thinned. When we docked in Stromness, it was 8.30 pm and quite dark. My friend met me there, and I took a quick shot of the side of the ferry, dwarfing two fishing boats in the harbour. M took me to the little house I’m borrowing for my stay, and showed me how everything works. It’s delightful. I was so tired by then I could barely take it in. Time for an early night:)