Day 2 - Aberdeen - Disaster narrowly avoided !

We awoke to the land of the barely conscious after yesterday's marathon journey took a "full English" breakfast (the lot with the lot !) and then set about trying to put our disassembled bikes back together.

It didn't take long before we realized that something wasn't right  - Monika's derailleur bolt wouldn't screw back into the derailleur hanger which also looked suspiciously off kilter. This was a serious problem unless Monika intended to carry her bike around Scotland  !

Plan B was quickly developed where we discussed getting Monika into a cab and to a bike shop before I realized that my bike also needed repair a flat rear tire and my handlebar spacers not seating correctly - again not a problem providing i didn't intend on steering !

Plan C was calmly developed after I first headbutted the wall, kicked the bike and swore in a language even hardened Scots would have been proud of !

Luckily our ferry wasn't due to depart Aberdeen till near 7 p.m  so Monika set about ringing and pleading with various bike shops before one agreed to see us straight away.

With stuff just thrown into bags we headed into town barely fitting into the quickly arranged taxi. Our bike shop mechanic promised to do the best he could in the time available while we were given 4 hours to visit sunny downtown Aberdeen and come up with a back up plan D just in case (... heading back home was high on the list!)

There was little for us to do other than scout this afternoons route to the ferry across a busy central area complete with trucks and lorries busily engaged with the various Nth Sea oil companies.

There were few obvious aesthetic highlights of downtown Aberdeen and in fact the garb and demeanour of the locals suggested that the city had taken a fair hammering with low oil prices apparently causing numerous lay offs.

About 42 cups of tea later we wandered nervously back to the bike shop to be told that our bikes had in fact been fixed ( Monika's derailleur hanger had been bent and  attempts to reseat the screw had in fact stripped the thread) allowing us to quickly load them and head towards the Shetland ferry terminal.

Finally the days dramas seemed behind us as we boarded our ferry and then departed Aberdeen for our Nth Sea journey to Lerwick some 12 hours away ! Hopefully our troubles are behind us !