Taking the high road

A bit of luxury yesterday; no work at all until 3pm. Jane and I took advantage of this by going to Findhorn Bay for some lunch and to walk the dogs on the beach. It gets busy during the summer, but the bay is close to paradise on days like these. It just shows you how cold it has been of late, the sea had frozen in some parts of the bay, but Jilly still insisted on swimming (though Daphne and even Doris chickened out). The cloudless sky provided astonishing visibility and a surprisingly warm sun. It was even warm enough to enjoy a pint (Cairngorm Brewery's 'Howler' - very tasty) and lunch, sat outside the pub, enjoying the view of the bay. You can listen to Mike Scott (and the Waterboys) singing about Findhorn Bay here: http://www.last.fm/music/The+Waterboys/Karma+To+Burn/Long+Way+To+The+Light

I have a new office at Bunchrew, on the north side of the Beauly Firth, and I can look out the window, over the firth, towards North Kessock and the Kessock Bridge. The sea here had been as flat as a mirror recently, which is part of the reason why there is even more ice on the sea here than there is at Findhorn. Despite the fearsome temperatures, the roads are nowhere near as bad as you might imagine because it has been so dry. However, I still had to drive with utmost caution last night, when I drove to Ullapool at midnight (for the second time this week). On both occasions, the temperature reached as low as -10C, but it was not ice, but deer that was the hazard. The severe weather has caused deer to venture closer to the roads in search of food. There have been many reports of walkers finding deer that have starved to death due to the conditions.

Jane text sent me a text first thing this morning, asking what conditions were like here, as she said it was a whiteout at home. Although it was beginning to cloud over, there was no sign of snow. But that soon changed.

My first lesson was with Dawn and, during the lesson, we could see the snow coming in. By the time the lesson had ended, and I had found myself a cosy seat in The Frigate café, the snow was getting quite heavy. I feel sorry for the tourists. As you may have gathered from previous posts (and photos), I love the scenery here and could never tire of it. As usual, a coach-load of tourists have descended upon Ullapool. In recent weeks, the tourists have been strolling around with heads up and smiles on their faces as they take in the views; today they hurry round with heads down against the snow because the views are obscured. I used to feel particularly sorry for tourists when I lived in Glen Urquhart (near Loch Ness); the scenery there was equally spectacular and people would travel from all over the world for the scenery and to try and catch a glimpse of ‘Nessie’. Unfortunately, the weather in the Great Glen is not as fine as it is on the west coast and I used to feel for the tourists who had travelled such distances, and at great expense, to have their photographs taken in front of Loch Ness when all they would see behind them would be a grey mist, rather than the monster rising from the water that they hoped for.
It is commonly said in the Highlands that, if you don’t like the weather, then just wait five minutes. This is usually a slight exaggeration, but I think, today, I think it will be completely inaccurate. This concerns me because I have allowed myself 90 minutes to travel the 60 miles back to Inverness for my last appointment. This would usually be quite comfortable, but, with the weather being this mucky at sea level, I dread to think what it will be like on the high road back over to Inverness.

I had originally set this day aside as an ‘Ullapool Day’ because one of my pupils text me a couple of months ago, to say that she had booked her test for 1.33pm on Wednesday 24th February (today). A couple of weeks ago, she told me she was not confident enough and would prefer to postpone the test. I was confident in her ability, but, if she wasn’t sure, she was right to postpone. I asked her for driving licence number and theory certificate number so that I could rearrange her test. When I tried to change it online, it wouldn’t let me. The reason for this was that her test was supposed to have been at 1.33pm on Wednesday 10th February - two weeks ago. So she had missed her test without realising. Partly my fault, I should have asked for her details earlier so that I could have checked when she first told me - a costly lesson learned for both of us. The 10th February was a costly day for one of my other pupils too: He had been having lessons with me but wanted to take the test in his own car. No problem as far as I am concerned. I waited to hear how he got on, only to get a text saying that he had forgot to take both parts of his licence with him. Result: The test could not go ahead. D’Oh!

Well, it wasn’t so bad after all. I cancelled my last lesson in Ullapool, with Siobhan, to ensure I had plenty of time to get to Inverness. The snow got heavier as I neared Ben Wyvis, but the Fiat 500 handles the snow really well and I got to Inverness with over an hour to spare. It may have been that I could have managed to squeeze Siobhan’s lesson in, but it would have been cutting it fine and, with the snow and more deer on the roads, I’m glad I wasn’t in a rush.

I have a late finish tonight, but can enjoy another morning off tomorrow. Yesterday, the Beauly Firth was calm and blue . This afternoon it is dark grey with white horses. It doesn’t look like we’ll be sitting outside a pub tomorrow lunchtime; more like huddled round a heater, clutching steaming mugs of Bovril (other gravy-flavoured beverages may be available).