the west highland way
Day 0 – Newcastle to Drymen
Well, I’m finally on my way. 6 am alarm call and bounced out of bed like I haven’t done for a while. Flora walked me to the bus stop to wave goodbye to me while she was on her way to school. The bus to Newcastle turned up and was on time for a change. After a full English breakfast at the station, I boarded the train to Edinburgh.
The sun was out, and my spirits high. I gazed out the window and watched the fields fly by. It was so nice to be off the treadmill (probably not the best analogy given what I’ll be doing for the next week). My mind started to flip through lots of random stuff I’ve done over the years, like sleeping under trucks while hitching to Greece, and the nunnery I stayed in for a week, smuggling in beer and emptying ashtrays out of my bedroom window. Anyway, I digress…
As we approached the Scottish border, the clouds darkened and an almost complete rainbow came into view. Shortly after, it was hammering down with rain and I laughed to myself about what I was getting myself into. It was short-lived though, and before long the sun was back out again. The weather was like that for the rest of the journey. Let’s hope that’ll be the pattern for the rest of the week…
The train was late into Edinburgh, meaning I had 4 minutes to make my connection. As expected, I didn’t make it. There were plenty of other options to Glasgow so I wasn’t delayed long. When I got on the next train, I didn’t clock that it went to Glasgow Central, and my next train left from Glasgow Queen Street. Ignorance was bliss though, and I re-entered my trance state — partially anyway because the guy next to me was chomping loudly on peanuts the whole way!
Once in Glasgow, I had a half-mile dash across town, and made it to my third connection to Balloch. The rest of the journey was smooth enough. The final leg was a bus to Drymen where I’m now enjoying a pint of Guinness to plan Day 1 tomorrow
The Winnock Hotel is nice. AMS Baggage Transfer have sent me a label for my big bag. Table booked for 5:30 pm at the Clachan Inn. Then it’s an early night before the 6 am alarm call again tomorrow. It’s suddenly got very real!!!
