It had been nearly seven years since I last went on a group
holiday with my friends Pete, Luc and Adam. That involved a trip to Blackpool
that led to half of us getting ill, one of us getting so high that they had a
panic attack and one of us getting a parking ticket for being illegally parked
outside a tranny bar.
Ah, memories.
Considering how long it had been since we had a jaunt away
from home, we looked to do something a bit different. We had had city trips to
Amsterdamn and London as well as seaside trips such as the one to Blackpool. For
our most recent holiday, we looked to two films that we all enjoyed for
inspiration in regards to the destination. Those two films were “The Wicker Man”
and “Withnail and I”
Thus we decided to rent a cottage in the middle of nowhere
in a place where the locals might be tempted to kill us in a ritual sacrifice.
Inverness fit the bill quite nicely.
In all seriousness, the inspiration was much more from
Withnail. The idea of getting away from it all was something that resonated
with all of us on a certain level. A chance to get away from work and other
personal commitments and just enjoy some peace and quiet. I originally looked
at getting a cottage in Waterville, which is actually in County Kerry Ireland. When
the logistics of travel seemed to be overly complicated, Pete suggested
Inverness. It didn’t take long for him to convince the rest of us that this was
a good idea.
I’d long been fascinated with The Scottish Highlands since a
very early age. The pure remoteness of it all and the beauty of the scenery had
always had quite a profound effect on my senses. I couldn’t really think of
anywhere further away that didn’t involve me getting on a boat or plane. The
Highlands are a place so remote and wild that even the Roman’s hadn’t bothered
to conquer them. They probably had taken one look at the roving hills and waist
high thistles and thought “Sod it, let’s just build a wall and hope for the
best”
Pete had found a cottage about a 45 minute drive from
Inverness. Not only was it literally miles from any town or city, but it was
also adjacent to its own private Lake called Loch Knockie. If that wasn’t
enough, the cottage owner had also promised us a rowing boat that we could use
to explore the Loch should we wish to. Pete of course wished to. To top it all
off, we were also 30 minutes away, at most, from Loch Ness.
The minute I saw pictures of the cottage I knew it was perfect,
as did the other two lads, so Pete promptly booked it.
So, we had a cottage, now we just had to get to it. That and
more in Chapter 2
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