Surprise!!!

The first thing I wanted to show you today was the little video I wanted to put in Monday's post, however it was too large to be put in directly (a whole 10mb), so another solution had to be found. So, if you hit play, you should be able to see a bit of the match between Antrim and Down and how it goes about. And yes, one of them scores, I think it was Antrim.

That is not the surprise though. The surprise was completely different. I knew I had to do a certain run yesterday: Belfast to Glasgow and I knew I would do it in the mini bus. Well, I assumed so anyway. However, when I got to work, they pointed me towards a large regular coach and told me that was the one I was taking out! 

My heart sank.

Not this one!

They had wanted me to take a smaller bus (but bigger than the mini bus), but somebody else had had to take that one earlier in the day and that left me with the large one! 

The first bit to the motorway is narrow and windy and it's hard to see what's coming. I so didn't want any mishaps, scrapes or whathaveyous and drove at a snail's pace, coming to a complete stop whenever a car came from the other direction. I made it! Phew! On to Belfast.

View towards NI from the ferry

I got to Belfast in one piece, I made it to the terminal in one piece (with passengers), got on to the ferry (tight!!!), got off it again and drove a very windy narrow road to Glasgow. Fortunately I was stuck behind a few lorries who weren't going faster than 40 miles an hour. Perfect for me! 

Once we got to the motorway it got a bit easier again and I relaxed the teensiest bit, but soon we hit Glasgow and in to the city I went. I arrived at the bus station a few minutes late, but still in good time before the return trip. 

On my return trip I had a colleague with me to the ferry and we chatted the whole way. I stayed between the lines, didn't flinch as much and according to him, I was doing fine! Just the last bit (the windy bit) was again a bit tricky, but I made it back to the ferry safely. 

The island of Aisla Craig in the distance (through dirty windows). This is where the curling stones came/come from.

Once off the ferry again, the lovely sunny day was rapidly changing into a lovely cloudless night. That was especially tricky during the last few miles on the country roads, but I made it safe and sound back to the depot.

I was exhausted! However, I am quite pleased I did that well. I might have been thrown in at the deep end, but I managed to come out unscathed. Literally. I didn't hit anything, I kept clear of all parked cars and made it home in one piece. 

Today I am back on the mini bus. Relax a bit again!