Back To Shore

Lyrics: “Choose To Be Me” ~ Sunrise Avenue, 2006

I slept for over 10 hours last night. It was pure bliss and I knew the decision to come here to this rather isolated spot for a whole week was the right one. Like I mentioned last night, it took me a while to get here, because I stopped for photos so many times. Like for this view…

One of the reasons I picked this place was my vague idea to use the time here in this remoteness for some introspection. Part digital detox (though I brought my phone and tablet and there is WiFi; it’s a glamping site after all). Part proper soul searching about some things. Plus lots of sleep and some walks / hikes. And also just sitting on the deck, staring across the sea and doing nothing. 

Could I have done all that during time off at home? Or at least closer to home? Maybe. But I decided a change of scenery to this beautiful scenery would help. And I think it will.

Rather by chance I picked a fitting podcast for the last part before the single track roads (there I needed to focus on the road): “The Way Out Is In Episode 41: The Art of Laziness” and before that I listened to one of the few Bialik Breakdowns (with the wonderful Mayim Bialik aka Amy from The Big Bang Theory) episodes I had downloaded: “Melanie Chisholm – The Discipline of Girl Power“. The title is a bit misleading, I think, they talked a lot about Mel’s mental health issues (depression and such) and even though it’s nothing new, it always helps to hear that those successful women are plagues with the same demons as I am. This morning I bought Mel C’s autobiography as ebook. I can’t help myself.

Talking about books: I also brought a bunch of books to help me with that soul searching and do have lots of time to read here obviously. One is “The Gift of Imperfection” by Brene Brown, which as been on my shelf for ages. The other one, which I had planned to buy for a while, but actually only did buy in Inverness is “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention” by Johann Hari. I’ve only read the first 60 of about 300 pages and already had quite a few “lightbulb moments”. 

And when I don’t want to search my soul any more I currently turn to the fictional: “Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone” by Benjamin Stevenson and I’m having a blast. It’s so so good in my eyes. Like the “Knives Out” movies but in book form. I love it. I’m about half-way through and have no idea who the killer is. Which is as it should be in a murder mystery, right? 

Lyrics: “Rivers” ~ Frank Turner, 2008

I’ve made it to my home for the whole next week and it’s as glorious as I thought it would be. 

More ‘official photos’ on my hosts’ site. 

On Thursday I had booked a tour (and afternoon tea) at the Johnston of Elgin mill (cashmere and such since 18-something.) Fascinating experience, not alone because we saw fabrics for Hermes, Dior and other luxury brands being manufactured right there! I spent some time by the beach after. 

Yesterday I was kind of lazy, but in the end at least went out to Ness Islands for a bit of quiet (see traffic noise during the day) reading time. Today I drove from Inverness to the West Coast; not on the direct route, but a long-ish detour to have a stroll through Inverewe Gardens. It rained quite a bit when I got there, so I took a longer break in the cafe. Stretching my leg in between long stretches on the road felt nice. The drive up here also took me longer than scheduled, because I stopped every 10 minutes (or so) to take photos. What can I say, I like it here…

But now: Sleep. I had such a crappy night last night (see again: traffic noise in Inverness), so the very quiet countryside is bliss.

Drive | I got a free upgrade for my rental car, because a smaller automatic wasn’t available for my time period. I’m now driving a very sporty Audi A3. On the inside it feels much smaller than my Seat Ibiza at home. Who designs / drives these cars? I’m making do… no, it’s fine really, it’s a good car, but it’s a bit weird to drive it. It also misses a few features I would have expected in such a high-end car, but it’s fine. Still getting used to all the levers around the steering wheel four days in. I can proudly state that I hardly ever go to the wrong side of the car to get in. I’m acing the two lanes roundabouts (if I may say so). And I’ve also finally figured out the – mirrored to my mind – buttons on the steering wheel. Try and error for a bit. It’s fine.

Do | I’ve been out and about some. On Sunday I went to the beach for a bit after I had picked up the car. It was nice, albeit windy and cloudy. On Monday I went for a short hike near Loch Ness. I had looked up various hiking routes in advance as I wanted to be active on this trip. I’m not in the best of shape though, which meant I came back from that trip – uphill for a long time and then downhill again – with some soreness in my calves. Rookie mistake.

After that hike I drove further on to Urquhart Castle. I’ve been before and it was nice, but I somehow recalled it a bit more impressive? I don’t know…

Tuesday was another cloudy day with partial rain, so my sore legs and I stayed home. In Inverness anyway. In the afternoon I walked into the city centre, bought some postcards, aimlessly wandered into the Waterstones (bookstore) at the mall. A bookstore always draws me in. One of the staffers approached me and asked if I might be interested in a talk with an author which would start soon: A female cyclist from Inverness – Jenny Graham – who pedalled around the world solo and unsupported. Sure I thought, why not. It was around noon, so sadly there weren’t too many people in attendance, but it was still very nice. I asked a few questions, had a lovely quick chat with Jenny’s mum 🙂

Yesterday – Wednesday – I drove up to Cromarty for another one of my pre-planned hikes. It was supposed to be 100 steps to the top, but it felt like more :-). Plus regular paths in between as well. I was a bit afraid my sore legs would trouble me, but it was fine. The hill also was only half the height of the one from Monday. The sun was out, I stored my jacket in my rucksack after 20 minutes and it was just a lovely day. I went for coffee and cake after and also spent some time just sitting by the shore enjoying the sun. Just the way a vacation is supposed to go.