Scotland: One Month To Go (a small collection of thoughts)

It is reaching strange temperatures such as “10” and “12 degrees” here in Edinburgh, as every pale-faced Scot rushes to the nearest ice cream shop I am counting down my last month here in the country of my birth. I am not wishing the time away by any means, but it is tempting to do so, believe me. When I am back home I know I will miss this.

Skating Again

Today I went out skateboarding for the first time in 6 months, a hard hobby to keep up in Edinburgh. The streets are generally rough and difficult to roll on, a Scottish winter is a long one and, unlike their surfboard cousins, skateboards do not work well when wet. Today was warm and the best skate-park in Edinburgh was jam-packed with skaters, bike riders and kids on scooters. A kid on a scooter at a skatepark is a ten pin in a bowling alley, I know I will hit one – it is a matter of time. I find it awkward trying to comfort a crying child that I have just prostrated, especially when their parents are watching on.

A creaky smile and repeated apologies don’t really cut it so I try to avoid this situation altogether. Today I almost went through all of that, instead I swerved out of the way, lurched forward and fell down to the bottom of a ramp, forcing my knee through the fabric of my own pants. A successful day actually, A day I leave a skate park with a hole in my trousers and no injuries is a day I cannot complain about.

Working and Chilling

In some sense my life now is somewhat of a holiday from reality. I am staying with relatives whom without I don’t know what I would’ve done. At home I have family who are there for me too but when I am in Auckland I know I will have to work harder than ever to continue this goal of mine, it will be a case of hitting the ground running.

Now I am reading more than i usually do and lounge around in reverie because I can, but I cannot (and will not) do so when I am back in New Zealand. I can appreciate this time for all these reasons, and Edinburgh isn’t a bad town to kill a bit of time in either.

Build Something On Every Continent

I am looking forward to the next part of my goal, I still think of the fact that I went to Africa and smile at the achievement but most of the time I think about the next stage. I want to build something in a part of Asia, any part really, just as long as I do so around the coming new year or shortly after it. From now until then there will be travel, carpentry and an initially positive homecoming followed by a potentially boring reminder of why I left in the first place.

A Long Walk Home

Last week I landed at Edinburgh airport after visiting the Polish city, Szczecin, I caught the airlink bus into Princes street. I usually take a 1 hour bus ride to Tranent, where I live, but I started reading and walking along the bus route and after passing a number of crowded bus stops I simply kept going. Arriving home 3 and a half hours later. I’ll finish this post with the following photos I took during my unscheduled half-marathon: