Ready for the off

My extended conversation with a Calmac employee on Saturday afternoon had eventually resulted in us getting a place on the 1040 ferry, which had ostensibly been sold out. It seemed we got on via the local contingency. We made sure to turn up in plenty of time, which also gave me a fair bit of time to wander around the ferry terminal taking various pictures. It is clear from this picture, however, everyone got on, but it was a tight fit. At one point, one of the Calmac employees was out with a trundle wheel, measuring the length of various campervans.

Some have questioned why we seem to like to use the ferry to travel to and from Skye, and I guess it is a romantic notion to do with using a ferry rather than a bridge to get to a (proper) island. However, it didn't feel like a very romantic notion when we sat in an endless queue of traffic through Fort William, which really is impossible these days. Our satnav told us to go up to Spean Bridge and over to the A9, but we don't much like that road, and since we were deprived of a trip through Glen Coe and over Rannoch Moor on Saturday, we were determined to get one today. It duly satisfied in terms of the views to be had from the car, which were stupendous.

I had little time when we were back home to sort out a couple of emails and then set off to meet hazelh, to get the tram to Haymarket (a double first - my first ever trip on the tram, and a first use of my new Saltire card), and then to walk with hazelh and Laura Muir to Melissa's for our book group. Ho, ho, it turned out that the "pie" that hazelh was carrying in a tin, and kept refusing to let me carry although she let Laura carry at one point was nothing of the sort (see extra). However, it was less embarrassing as it doubled also as a birthday cake for Laura, because it is very soon hers....

Anyway, I enjoyed the book (The Fair Botanists), which was a slight but entertaining read, and I certainly enjoyed the evening and was fair stuffed by the time we came home in a taxi. I think the birthday celebrations are well and truly finished!