Straight ta Hell laddie

Day 9:

Today the girls needed a little down time so Kevin decided to ride the rails and take a 12-hour round trip to Wick/Thurso, the northernmost stop in Scotland. The usual route has a fork at the end where the train goes to Thurso, then back to the junction and on to Wick. After several delays the train was running about 45 minutes late. The conductor asked any one who wanted to go to Thurso to let him know, and he would arrange a bus ride in order to get the train back on schedule. At the junction many got off to catch the bus, but there was still much confusion: the conductor, ticket taker, ticket taker in training, and the trolley girl were all having a big discussion outside and passing cell phones back and forth. There was a group of about 20 German rail enthusiasts (the same group that had stopped up both toilets on the train) getting on and off the train, talking to each other and talking to the conductor. Finally they all got back on the train and the train starts moving backwards. At this point a group of three teenage Scottish backpackers stopped playing their Nintendos to ask the conductor, "Where are we going?" After massaging is forehead for a moment he replied, "Straight ta Hell laddies, strait ta Hell." Apparently the german group had insisted that the train cover all of the rail lines in the highlands, so the train finally got to Wick about 1.5 hours late. There was just enough time to buy a few grocieries (as much beer as one person can carry) before they headed back south again.

The girls and I had a relaxing day of swimming at the pool, complete with waves and a big slide, eating ice-cream followed by fish-n-chips and and stopping once more at the Funfair.