The Lengths We Go

The other week saw us back up to Orkney again. In case you didn’t know this, it’s a long way to drive. Setting off at six in the morning we drove to Inverness and then up through to Wick and then up past John o Groats, yes that’s right, past John o Groats to catch the ferry at 2pm. That’s roughly 270 miles. Nae bother. In Orkney we were treated like royalty again. Nice hotel with a view over Kirkwall. All the beer we could drink. We played a massive two hour set to an appreciative Orcadian crowd. I got to bed around three. That’s a twenty two hour day for those of you counting.

Ok next day. Drive back to the ferry at eleven am, ten miles. On the mainland, thirty miles to wick, one hundred and twenty from wick to Inverness, one hundred and twenty from Inverness to Aberdeen. That’s another 270 miles. With only six hours sleep. Nae bother! In Aberdeen we sound-checked, had more coffee, and went on around eleven thirty and played another massive two hour set to an appreciative Aberdonian crowd. Back on the road at around two thirty, three am and another one hundred and ten miles to the Burgh at around four thirty am. Now for those of you counting, that’s around six hundred and fifty miles, four hours of heavy duty skank guitar, eight litres of black coffee, six hours sleep in forty eight hours! My community service must be up some time soon, surely.