Last days in Scotland

The weather turned towards the very end of my trip and road touring got a bit tedious. On the final day in Stornoway I drive to a few new places, but it was all getting a bit sameish, and I had to get the car back to the airport by 2pm. The biggest challenge of the day was filling it, when all the petrol stations were closed. (It was a Sunday and the whole place just shuts down on a Sunday). The highlight of the day was a Harbour Seal, found in Stornoway Harbour while I was having a final stint of birding. 

The flight to Edinburgh was delayed 4 hours so by the time I got in it was 9.30 and I had a quick bute and then went straight to bed. So much for my night on the town! The next morning I spent op-shopping, in Tollcross and Haymarket and other spots where there are loads of them, and managed to find a few choice Tweed items for friends but nothing that fit or suited me. Then it was on the train to Leighton Buzzard via Stoke, a 5-hour journey that took me through Gretna Green, Carlisle, the Lake District, and a lot of very poor industrial towns in Lancashire which a all looked a bit grim. Anita and Nick picked me up after work and it was another night drinking whisky on the canal bank and then snoring in the back cabin. It felt like a preliminary homecoming.