Torridon 1

Early last month, I spent a few days in Torridon in the northwest of Scotland. September and May are usually quite nice months in Scotland weatherwise, but not this year. I’ve never seen so much water coming out of the sky as I did during my Torridon trip.

So here we go:

I get up early to get to the car rental place in time. There is a queue, and the staff isn’t overly helpful. The guy who’s serving me is employee of the month according to a poster on the wall. He tells a man, who is complaining because his car is smaller than what he ordered and paid for, that he is lucky to get any car at all, and no, he won’t get a refund.

They let me wait for it, but eventually, I get my car. It’s a sporty looking Hyundai, larger than what I ordered, but managable. It has GPS, another nice surprise, and it’s already slightly knackered, which is a relief. It’s got a camera at the back, showing on a screen what’s behind the car whenever I reverse, it tells me when to switch gears and whether I’m in the middle of the lane, and it seems quite powerful with 6 gears. So far so good. I’m very nervous about driving a car with the driver’s seat on the right. I always find it hard to tell how far the car extends to the left - I tend to overestimate the distance between my car and the curb or parking cars on my left.

I drive to mine to pick up my stuff. This wasn’t so bad, surely I can drive the 250 miles of scenic route to Torridon! The weather is nice too, so I’m happy to take my time, take breaks etc.

I take some time to understand the bits of my car. Not sure about the light settings - there are so many of them, but I should get to my hostel in daylight. The GPS gets me safely out of Edinburgh and onwards to Stirling, where I take a coffee break at Smiddy’s farm shop, and then another one at a tearoom in an old church building just after Crianlarich.

The sun shines and this route certainly is scenic. However, I’m very focused on the road, trying to get used to the dimensions of the car, checking my mirrors to make sure I’m in the middle of my lane. It’s quite exhausting. Until I realise I’m alone in a car and no one can hear me. Is there a better place to practise my singing? I don’t think so.

I arrive in no time at the hostel, having picked up a few groceries on the way. I really should have brought more food from Edinburgh; the selection in the little shop in Speanbridge is limited. Looks like I’m going to have a lot of spaghetti and pesto over the next few days.