Jonathan >

One more week to go of work -well, the charade that currently goes under the name of ‘work’.

I’ve now got a train ticket for next Saturday, Welwyn Garden City to Oban (changing at Stevenage, Edinburgh and Glasgow) for £52 (including card fee and insurance!). My bike has got tickets too – at least for Stevenage to Edinburgh and Glasgow to Oban: for the two shorter legs there’s no reservations you just have to take pot luck! I shall stay overnight at the Oban Backpacker’s hostel, then on the afternoon ferry to Barra and South Uist.  I’m really so excited about it, it’s hard to believe that I’m simply going home. It really does feel like an adventure – setting out into a new life. Which I suppose I am, because I – Denise and I – will no longer be dependent on civil engineering for our living.

During the week, Denise posted some poultry feed bags to me.  I’ve now packed up four feedbags of all sorts – clothes, toiletries, kitchenware, books, food, bedding -varying between 10kg and 16kg and costing a total of £53.  There’s probably two or maybe three more to send yet during the week. In the opposite direction I’ve got to send to Donna and Paul the bed cushions for the luton: that’s going to cost almost £100 because of the length.

Beautiful day today – very sunny but also very cold. I had intended to make a second trip to St Alban’s, but as you can see I’m doing this instead, and to be honest I really don’t want to risk it being a disappointment compared to that lovely day I spent there back in September.

I just now need to fix up my campsite for the last few days here, as it’s half term and they were fully booked: I’m hoping for a cancellation, most likely if the weather is bad. So I’m hoping most for bad weather!