Day 14

Day 14 Edinburgh � Wickford

Weather � Perfect for cycling, shame we were on the train�
Dr Pepper � Good in Edinburgh.

Knowing the hard part was over we didn�t exactly rush off in the morning, but we still had a few miles to do being quite a way outside the city centre. Before we left I took these pictures from the top of the camp, the first of which has the Forth Bridges in the distance. Unfortunately you can�t really see them in the computer scan but at least we can say we saw them, of course the plan was to cycle over the road bridge and come back over the rail bridge. The second photo is to the right of the first and shows the city centre with Edinburgh castle visible on the hill.

For a while we were a bit lost with our road map again useless in the city, but we ploughed on in vaguely the right direction and eventually bumped into the city centre, and walked along the packed (on a Saturday) Prince Avenue which seems to be Edinburgh�s answer to Oxford street. On the other side was a beautiful park and the castle itself which looked good up close and here is a picture.

Waverley Station was well hidden and badly signposted round the back of some buildings but we eventually found it and queued to buy the tickets and make the bike reservations (�60.80 each, reservations are free). That done we briefly lost Martin who had wandered off for some reason, then stocked up on food knowing that the train would be overpriced and understaffed, as per tradition. We had to hurry back to the station because time flies when you�re having fun, and encountered some of the most miserable people of the trip as we asked the station staff where to go with the bikes. Whether they were just terminally miserable or it was just that they were Scottish we shall never know, but we sure didn�t catch a smile although they were reasonably helpful I suppose.

Expecting a large Electric train, it was actually a smaller and older Diesel, but no slower and the journey back was smooth and very fast. The bikes probably got bashed about because although there was a similar area for them there were no ties or anything and by this point we didn�t care, threw them in any old how and concentrated on extracting such valuables as the pack of cards and lunch before we got thrown off by one of the miserable guards who was for some reason desperate to shut the door of the van.

Naturally the scenery we passed on the train was completely flat, so much so that we took this picture to show it. We have learnt our lesson and next time we are ditching Ian�s route and following the East Coast Mainline as close as possible!

On the train we got through a few games of cards and added up the scores we had been keeping all fornight (I won), then turned to the less enviable task of working out our financial situation. Throughout the trip we just paid for everything on a �Who�s got some money� basis and wrote it down later with the amount and who paid. Of course by the end of the trip the list was long and a nightmare to sort out with people owing money all over the place. Finally it was sorted out, and a good result for me since everyone owed me money because I�d paid the train fare! Thinking about it what we should have done is have a wallet which we all pay into equally and pay out of that, it would have been much less hassle and much less arithmetic involved!

Following the customary trip to investigate the train, steal a newspaper from first class and laugh at the prices at the �buffet car�, we enjoyed the trip and passed some new places such as Newcastle (where we got a good view of the new swing bridge), York, and Doncaster. Back at King�s Cross we got overconfident of the route and took significantly longer to get to Liverpool Street than two weeks ago when we were in a big rush. When we did get there the situation was perfect for us, as a train had not long gone, there was plenty of space to put the bikes and we only waited 15 mins for it to go anyway.

Once at home in Wickford we redistributed all the gear back to its owners, and divided the shared stuff by picking straws (Martin got the inner tube without the puncture and the big towel, lucky sod!), and that was it, adventure over.

Since writing this I have added some afterthoughts on the next page including stuff I forgot to mention and a few other views on things. Thanks for reading and if you are thinking of doing the trip, this is how not to do it! No seriously it was a great experience, I have never met so many different people in such a short space of time!

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