22/8 Good Morning Scotland
What a stormy night! In hindsight I’m really glad I didn’t pitch my tent last evening. Sleep would have been out of the question. My cabin was warm and safe, yet I woke up a few times to the howling. Now, in the morning I notice that my nose and throat are blocked. A harbinger of the classic “man’s cold”? I have to endure the rain until nine, then it clears up dramatically and the wind eases noticeably. Today’s goal is the ferry from Aberdeen to the Shetland Islands.
In the sunshine I head a few kilometres behind the campsite onto Scottish sovereign territory. The English, however, managed the border stone better than the Scots did with that cheap plastic slab.
Am I already in the Highlands? No idea, everything here is just as beautiful. Again I pick the tiniest roads and enjoy the scenery in the sunshine. Somewhere there’s room for a picnic by the roadside, not quite like the Strugazki brothers¹. Coffee is made quickly and I stretch my backside toward the sun. I browse on my phone to double‑check the check‑in, and at that moment a train’s booming horn blares through my head! Damn, check‑in is at 3 p.m., not 5 p.m.! I spill my coffee on the grass and panic‑pack everything. Checked the navigation: nonstop at 15:05. That won’t work, because I still have to refuel at least once and there are another 235 km to Aberdeen. It’s all for nothing now. The next three hours the AWO runs at its limit, though my advantage is a strong tailwind. After my fuel stop the GPS says 15:20. Then another 20 km to Aberdeen, the child in my arms … oh no, that was another rider. What’s needed when time is already tight? A detour. I turn at the transmitter! When I arrive it’s 15:30. Apparently they’re already waiting for me. I can’t get to the other motorcycles, so I park and lock the bike right behind the loading hatch. I locate my reclining seat and then head straight to the mess hall. The ship is already rocking decently as it leaves the quay. It could turn out to be a fun crossing.
¹The Strugazki brothers provided the short story “Picnic by the Roadside,” which served as the basis for Tarkovsky’s *Stalker*, one of my favourite films.
