I’ll be sad to leave Oban. The weather was beautiful yesterday, showing off the Lochs and mountains at their best. There’s something very relaxing about sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the world go by.

I’ve not been to Oban in a long time. Since 2005 in fact. Then I was here in Scotland with my first wife Lynn and a group of friends staying on the beautiful Isle of Mull. There was one slight problem. On the Thursday I was due to take pictures at the National Rail Awards. “No problem” I said, “I’ll just get the first ferry to Oban, catch the first train to London, do the gig and get the first train back the morning after!” Lynn and my friends thought I was mad, but that’s what I did. Leaving Mull at 04:00 on Thursday morning I was back by 15:00 Friday afternoon! Admittedly, I was 17 years younger then. I don’t think I’d try it now. I’ll be at the awards again this year, but nowadays I’m invited as a VIP guest, not as the photographer!

10:25.

Sorry for the gap. There’s no working wifi on the train and I’ve only just picked up a phone signal when I got to Crianlarich, which is where we are now, waiting for the delayed Northbound service to pass.

10:45.

We’re dropping back down into more populated areas with better phone signals now, having just passed Ardlui. I realise just how lucky I was with the weather yesterday. Today’s overcast but the staff at my hotel were telling me that it chucked it down in Oban on Saturday! Despite the weather, it’s still a beautiful journey through some stunning scenery. The irony? I do this section of the journey every year as part of the ‘3 peaks by rail’ crew – but on the outward it’s dark and we’re asleep and on the return I’m too busy working to enjoy it.

19:00.

Sorry for the hit and miss nature of blogging today, truth was a combination of poor reception and computer issues made it difficult. Add in the fact I’m tired and fell aslerp on the train from Edinburgh to York and I disappeared into a black hole!

Right now I’m on the final leg from Leeds to Halifax on yet another busy train. The LNER ‘Azuma’ South was rammed leaving Edinburgh and didn’t get any better as it stopped. The seat reservation system was up the spout too, which added to the fun!

Much as I’ve enjoyed these past 8 days I’m looking forward to a lie-in tomorrow and not having to travel any further than the local supermarket! A day in the office beckons and I’m not complaining…

I’ll add some pictures to this blog as soon as I can. For now – here’s last night’s Scottish sunset.

21:00.

I’m now home and fed and watered. I’ve also repaired the glitch on my laptop that was preventing internet access which means I can hit the ground running in the morning. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with one last picture from yesterday in Oban.

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