Journeys

This has been a week of journeys.

I've been working on a friend's bathroom for what seems a lifetime, and I'm sure they probably feel the same. It was quite a challenge. I must say though that the journey has been a big learning curve and the end result is very satisfying. Towards the end there were many small things to sort out and finish, things that each needed only an hour or so to do. However, because they couldn't all be done at the same time this meant a fifty mile round trip each day, which was a bit frustrating.

So I decided to build in other things to do on the same days. On Wednesday I took Trigger, my trusty motorcycle, out of mothballs and we had the first run of the year. After I had completed the first of the two small jobs in the bathroom we journeyed together to Comrie, about an hour and a half on the back roads from where I was working. Friends of mine, Sarah and Roger, and their kids, Emily and Robbie, were staying in a wigwam half way between Crief and Comrie and I popped in to see them. We visited a wildlife park of small animals that is geared superbely well towards families. Robbie, however, found far more entertainment with the toy tractors and pedal police cars than any of the meerkats or macaque monkees! The journey back was a little unerving, crossing the Forth Road Bridge in a howling gale!

Small job number two was yesterday, which was also the day that I had to meet a midday deadline to submit an application for a film contract working with youths in Buckhaven. Once again I incorporated it into the same journey as the bathroom job. I am now pleased to say that the job is complete. Whether I am awarded the contract for the film position or not we shall see over the next few weeks.

These journeys pale in comparison however, to the start of a major expedition on Tuesday. As readers will know from the end of my last blog, my closest friend Pauline began her adventure this week. There had been delays, but finally, at 5pm on 6 July, her ship set sail from Rosyth to Zeebrugge. It was a blustery and later wet, day and after a pack lunch sat in the not-too-picturesque port entry, she finally got away successfully. I made it back to Portobello in time to watch the ship sail over the horizon.

If, like me, you want to follow her adventure over the next 18 months or so, then log in to her blog by following this link:

The Bicycle Diaries

Posts won't appear very often as it depends on her access to the internet, but persevere, as when they do I'm sure we'll all be very jealous. There will also be a link to her Flickr site where you can see photos from the trip as she goes. I'll post the odd update now and again, together with the link each time.

So, first stage is a loop through Europe, taking in Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. Then in November she sets sail once again and travels by giant cargo ship to South America.

Now that's a journey!