Total adrenaline rush, then bagpipe music
Whhheeeeeeeeeeee!!!! This is the absolute berries. Totally bodaciously welly heaven. Forget everything that’s gone before. Today I’m flying. I’m crossing the Forth on an RNLI boat at about a million miles an hour. Crash into the waves we go. Up into the air we soar. Oh, man, this is too much!
It’s all over in a few minutes. I’m out of breath but that experience has without question made this celebrity wellie very happy.
Yep, the Lifeboat guys from Queensferry, out on a training exercise, kindly gave me a ride, wheeching me over from North Queensferry to South Queensferry on their RIB – that’s a Rigid Inflatable Boat, and you’ve got to admire the poor guy who has to blow it up. This ride has been sooooo cool. Okay, so I had to have the signing thing done (the very last time!) but that‘s a fair swap.
After all that, it’s back to normality. Gordon, Isabel and Louise whisk me away from my seafaring mates. They’re doing the last walk – a 13-mile stint in to the Shaw office in downtown Edinburgh. Highlights? Well, we walk past this mahoosive stately home called Dalmeny House, grand enough even for me. Then we reach a river where the nice folk at Cramond Boat Club have kindly volunteered to ferry us over. Everyone seems to know about me, which is fitting, and more photos are taken.
Then it’s along the esplanade until we come to Newhaven harbour, along a nice path via Goldenacre, and suddenly we’re in a big city. It’s culture shock time after a month of enjoying Scotland’s wonderful countryside (and Dalgety Bay). What’s even more shocking is that this is a big city with bagpipers. We reach the Shaw office to be greeted by three of these weirdos kitted out in Yellow Wellie T-shirts and – the bare-faced cheek of it – yellow wellies!
Bagpipe music. You gotta love it, eh? Anyway, loads of folk have turned out to greet my arrival at journey’s end. Fizzy wine is drunk, speeches are made, certificates are dished out. And what’s this? A gigantic six-foot high yellow wellie sits in the corner showing my amazing journey. I decide that this is not an insult but a compliment and go along with the spirit of the occasion.So I’ve made it. Some 26 people and a couple of dogs have helped me a bit over the 375 miles, but here I am, still looking fantastic, despite the signatures down my side. Like I said once before, you’ve got to give these people some credit for all their walking, running and cycling. It’s a great cause – remember? It’s for these fab Lifeboat people who have very cool boats and do good stuff. So go on, give the Shaw folk some more money.
I’m going to take a couple of days to reflect on all this and think about my next venture. Thanks for your company. Back to you soon.
