John O'Groats to Land's End - 1989

August 13th,14th and 15th - Going nowhere 
                
These three days were an enforced gap in our schedule, due to Julie's hospitalisation. We had arrived at Ayr youth 
hostel feeling quite tired, but expecting to recover during the evening as usual. But then Julie started to feel quite 
groggy and, with the help of the warden and his wife, I took her round to Ayr County Hospital. The wasp sting (on 
her thigh) was now a bright purple, and she was kept in for observation. I returned to the hostel and phoned Mary to 
tell her not to worry - not the brightest thing to do, as Mary was so frantic she almost came up on the train. Next day 
(13th) I visited Julie, who was trying hard to be cheerful, and learned that she would not be coming out to play that 
day. Same message again on the 14th, so I had another day in which to discover the hidden attractions of Ayr. These 
turned out to be rather too well hidden, so it was with some relief that on the 15th we were allowed to continue on our
journey - with strict orders from the hospital that Julie must not, under any circumstances, ride her bike. So we caught
the train to Carlisle, having had to cancel the bookings at Kendoon and Dumfries. Walking around the town, waiting 
for the hostel to open, Julie created quite a stir with the technicolour patch on her thigh.                                           NEXT