Our third day in Inverness began the same way the other days had begun, with me dragging myself out of bed around 9ish while Adam lay prostrate in the other bed. I think I may have been the first up this morning, so I ventured down to the bathroom for a shower. However, I reached a stumbling block in my plan when realising there was no hot water.
Pete and Luc also noticed this and promptly put a call through to the cottage owner, who said he would send someone down to have a look at it. We didn’t spend too much time on it though, as we had a boat to row! The childlike excitement of Pete at the prospect was infectious. What’s more, the weather had decided to be kind and we were met with opulent sunshine as opposed to the dismal downpour of the previous day. After a modest breakfast, we were ready!
As mentioned in a previous chapter, on day two we had visited a Charity Shop in Inverness and had purchased some cheap togs that we didn’t mind getting dirty. Adam had purchased an outrageous pair of white trousers which made the situation look more like Tony Montana was going out yachting as opposed to us hapless four having a row in a small boat.
I had purchased a pair of trousers and a turquoise plain t-shirt from the same shop. I had tried the trousers on back at the cottage to find that they were smaller than the label in the shop had suggested. It just goes to show that even in Charity Shop’s you should try clothes on I guess. The t-shirt thankfully fit just fine and I still have it to this day. I put the trousers in a drawer in my room and promptly forgot about them. They could still be there for all I know.
So it was to the dock I went wearing my jeans. Thankfully, I’d brought two pairs of trousers, something that I would be very grateful for at the end of the days boating. We all piled into the boat and set off to a nearby island that was roughly parallel to the cottage. We set anchor, or in this case just tied the boat to a tree, and disembarked to inspect the terrain. That took all of 30 seconds as the island was rather quite small. It seemed the only creatures that inhabited it were little frogs that jumped around to avoid us.
There was a blackened circle in the moss, which suggested someone had been on the island and lit a fire before. We jumped back into our boat and continued our voyage to shallow bay. It was here that Pete decided he was going to take a dip in the Loch. Originally, he’d planned to skinny dip but now he decided it would be better to have a paddle instead. I originally had been against the idea, but I was warm from sun and decided it might be a good idea.
Pete had stripped down to his boxer shorts but I decided to just roll my jeans up instead and wade in that way. This was a mistake as the jeans soon unravelled pathetically into the water with a miserable plop, leaving me with wet jean bottoms for the rest of the day.
The water, despite soaking up the sun, was incredibly cold. At first I didn’t really feel it and was more worried about the jagged stones on the shore that felt like they were cutting the soles of my feet to shreds. Once past them though, I felt it. The cold was as intense as any I’d ever experienced. It was so cold, it was almost as if it burned. My skin was screaming and I let out a pained yelp.
Adam, who was filming it all for posterity, found my pain to be hilarious. He had elected not to take the dip himself. Luc waded into the Loch and entered an even wussier display than myself. He pretty much dipped his toes in and decided it was enough. I at least went in until the water had gone past my ankles. Pete ventured further than any of us, and look contented to go even further. I doubt he would have been as happy to dive into the Loch starkers, as had been his original plan. A paddle was a decent compromise I feel and reminded me of when we used to go to the seaside with my granddad and he’d get his feet wet in the ocean before returning back to the beach. He was a dour Catholic Irishman, but it was one of the rare times he’d indulge himself, a smile never leaving his face while doing so.
We all posed for a picture in the boat and hit the water again. Our journey was far from over and I’ll cover that when in the next chapter
(Probably won’t be another one now until Saturday as I’m going to Lille to watch Everton)
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