WESTJAUNT_TRAVEL

    We arrived in Fort William on the evening of 30 March 2001, after the pitoresque bus journey from Inverness. The A82, which links these two towns weaves it's way down the great glen along the shores of Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy.
     The advantage of Fort William being a tourist town is the better than average transport links within the town, and after arriving at nine in the evening it was a pleasant wait for the late train (to Mallaig) which would drop us into Glenfinnan in a mere half an hour.
     With none of the supermarkets or foodstores open at this time in the evening we had to forgo our food stock up for the forthcoming days, and instead, venture into the pedestrianised town centre for a portion of chips from the local takeaway. This was eaten in the sheltered entryway to a store - as the rain was, inevitably, falling quite heavily. Fort William, by the way is the wettest place in the UK, which is way almost every time I have visited the town it has rained. Aside from the times when I bet that it will rain to a friend, when it never does. Maybe I could be emplyed by the tourist industry in this way, to keep the skies clear for all the tourists.
     The nightlife in Fort William is usually alway quite hectic and busy, and we experienced this only partially as we scoffed our chips. Being people watchers Jane and I kept an observant eye on all the packs of partygoers who wandered past - with only one actually interacting with us to any degree. A man in a white hat calling out, with a smile, "Sharing a bag o chips, that's gotta be love,".
     We made our way back to the train station where we found the doors locked, so ended up knocking on them so we could get out the rain, which we did, only to find that the train was to be delayed by forty minutes. Fancying a smoke I rolled one in the dryness of the station before venturing out into the wet and murky outdoors - still with my mind on food I recalled a petrol station not far from the train station and began the short brisk walk there. Luckily it was open, and had a small selection of consumables available: rolls and bacon meant we could have a nice yummy breakfast in the morning, and some tea bags meant we could drink something other than water.
    When the train finally arrived at about half past ten we boarded, and wished it had been lighter as this train journey is one of the most beautiful in Scotland. I watched the landscape, which is already emprinted on my memory, skim past in the darkness and when I saw the edge of the viaduct come into view glanced out the window to see down Loch Shiel. In the darkness, very little could actually be seen, bar the lit up monument which stands at the head of the loch.