Sue's Mum, now 86 years old, lives independently in her bungalow in Ashford, Kent. Sue travels south for a fortnight every three months to stay with her Mum, and also to visit her sister (in London) and numerous other friends in the Ashford area.
When we first lived here, Sue would make the journey by coach - Portree to Glasgow, Glasgow to London Victoria, and train out to Ashford. The cost was reasonable, and Sue coped with all the bouncing-around in the coach as it raced through the Highlands... but one time she tried the train... This was better! I now regularly take Sue to Kyle of Lochalsh (our nearest station) where a little train trundles Sue to Inverness where she boards the Caledonian Sleeper overnight to London Euston. These days, Sue then takes a tube to her sister Helen's where she picks up a car that we share with Helen and drives it to Ashford. This means Sue has use of a car while she is in Kent.
Sue tried flying down just once. The cost is not hugely different to travelling by train, but the hassle of being at Inverness airport at the right time, and then getting from Gatwick to Ashford, and having little room for luggage (unless we paid extra) all proved too much to be bothered with. So for now, the train is the way for Sue.
As for me - I travel south three or four times a year. I visit family and a friend in Devon (Okehampton and Torquay), friends in Hampshire (Hedge End near Southampton) and a cousin near Oxford. I have always travelled by road, and for years, have coped with the 700-mile each-way journey with one overnight stop. I have made it part of the trip to try a different bed-and-breakfast every time I travel. I've also tried a few different routes, and I usually take my overnight break somewhere in the border country. I have to say, over the years, I have enjoyed visiting many small and interesting border towns including Gretna, Langholm, Hawick and Lockerbie - places so many tourists dash past without a second glance. I would really like to get back to Jedburgh and Melrose some time in the future, too.
Now, however, even in my super car, the experience of sitting on ever-busier roads for pretty much two whole days at a time, is beginning to become less and less fun and more of a chore - to the point when I am considering taking to the air for at least one trip in 2017. I can fly direct from Inverness to Bristol, where I will hire a car to do my visiting, and drive rather fewer miles. I feel it is worth a try. If the journey proves to be relatively hassle-free and I enjoy the trip, then maybe... just 'maybe', Puss will be staying in her garage when I go south in the future....
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| Kaged Kat |
