Hi everyone!
I'm here, and it's pretty wild...but let me tell you about my journey first.
I set off from The Struan (home) at 7am yesterday morning with a estimated drive time of 8 hours 41 minutes. The drive up was a lot easier than I imagined, although it seemed to take forever! The roads were very quite pretty much all the way apart from the A66 which is ironic because it is the bleakest road ever, in the middle of nowhere, and doesn't really seem to go anywhere! Scotland provided even quieter roads and once north of Inverness some quality driving along with stunning views. I stopped in a lay-by to refill the washer fluid and took a few photos, I've posted one below.
I'm here, and it's pretty wild...but let me tell you about my journey first.
I set off from The Struan (home) at 7am yesterday morning with a estimated drive time of 8 hours 41 minutes. The drive up was a lot easier than I imagined, although it seemed to take forever! The roads were very quite pretty much all the way apart from the A66 which is ironic because it is the bleakest road ever, in the middle of nowhere, and doesn't really seem to go anywhere! Scotland provided even quieter roads and once north of Inverness some quality driving along with stunning views. I stopped in a lay-by to refill the washer fluid and took a few photos, I've posted one below.
I arrived in Scrabster after 9 hours of driving and had to wait for 3 hours to catch the ferry. I stopped in a car park overlooking the beach at Thurso where there was some really really nice waves breaking! I was tempted to get in and have a quick surf but there was only about 15 minutes of day light left so I decided to give it a miss.
Eventually the ferry came and I jumped on board. There was a bit of a swell, and it was especially bumpy where the North Sea meets the Atlantic but after an hour and a half we arrived in Scrabster. I was met by the woman who owns the cottage I am staying in at the ferry port who took me to the house, showed me round and left me to it. Fourteen hours after setting off, I was absolutely shattered and collapsed on the bed looking forward to seeing what the place looked like in daylight.
Eventually the ferry came and I jumped on board. There was a bit of a swell, and it was especially bumpy where the North Sea meets the Atlantic but after an hour and a half we arrived in Scrabster. I was met by the woman who owns the cottage I am staying in at the ferry port who took me to the house, showed me round and left me to it. Fourteen hours after setting off, I was absolutely shattered and collapsed on the bed looking forward to seeing what the place looked like in daylight.
The First Day.
I woke up and it was pitch black...at 8 30! So I went back to sleep and finally got up at 10, opening the curtains to an amazing view!
I'm just a stones throw away from the sea, and I was very excited about it! I went outside to get a better look and was greeted by a very cold 40mph wind that brought hail, snow, rain and then sunshine all in the space of 5 minutes. My pajamas are still drying on the radiator.
I'd heard of a place called Skaill Bay which has a great review on magicseaweed so I went to check it out. Although the wind was blowing a hoolie onshore there was still a nice right hand wave breaking off a point on the northern side of the bay. I'm super keen to get in the water and check it out further but I need the wind to drop and ideally someone to go with as I scared myself last time I surfed uncharted territory in Scotland by myself!
I spent the rest of the day checking out Kirkwall which is really nice and I found where I will be working. I'm really looking forward to starting at Aquaterra and getting stuck in to some work as well as meeting some people.
Thats it from me for now, I expect to post again on monday night unless I get some Northern light action in amang ands (in between time!).
Thats it from me for now, I expect to post again on monday night unless I get some Northern light action in amang ands (in between time!).