I left the licking man shortly after, and as I was driving down the road, it started to rain. And rain it did. I was driving 40mph on a 60mph road as I approached a wide-stress-free bend. And then suddenly I was was facing the other direction, casually chilling on the verge, observing the now oncoming traffic as it passed. I say passed, as no one bothered to stop. Why would they? I'd only spun a 180, and ended up on the grass in the middle of a Thor shower. Somehow I lost the back wheels, and went spinning towards the verge, bumped neatly over the kerb and skidded across some previously-attractive gravel. Understandably so, I was shaking, my hands unsteady as I tried to roll a cigarette. After taking two pulls, it occurred to me that the next person to skid off this road, will likely end up right where I had 'parked'. So off I went at 10mph (literally) and found a nearby castle.
It wasn't an English Heritage castle, so there was a sign outside "warning" you'd have to pay £4.50 to park. I drove up to the gate human, told her the story and she let me in. She also reassured me that there must have been something on the road, oil she surmised. Not that it helped. (I was scared of bends for weeks!)
After another shaky attempt at rolling, I headed further north, much to the protests of my family, who after my stint as a stunt double, insisted I return to London.
It was, unsurprisingly, still raining. Triple wiper rain. Going so fast they were holding on to the windscreen for dear life, and still I could barely see. Yet all the while, I was being overtaken by lunatics. I'm driving 25-30mph on a national speed limit road and can see fuck all past the wall of water. I'd not been happier to see a HGV in all my life. Finally, I thought, something I can see. So much for that. Within five minutes he was half a mile ahead, and in ten minutes I couldn't see him anymore.
Still raining, I pulled into an Asda carpark to re-admire their weird food. The natives were in t-shirts. Out of 30-ish people, only one was wearing a waterproof jacket, and even he never bothered to put his hood up.
After distracting myself in Asda, the storm had passed, and I continued. I came across a sign for 'Foyers Falls' and took a detour. Still, after Whitby, I had not learnt, that when one walks down, one must walk up. The falls were stunning. Would I visit them again? No.
I saw hairy cows with horns. I have nothing further to say about this.
In Scotland, there is such a thing as a 'bothie'. We would describe it as an abandoned building in the absolute-there-is-no-fucking-road-middle-of-nowhere. They have been left there for walkers to sleep in, some, apparently, even have chairs.
Passed a 'petrol station'. I'm sure that in the back, a donkey was pumping the fuel. 143.9p per litre. I'd been warned about this in Hull, but daaaaaaaamn. The M25 service stations are cheaper.
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