The 2014 Challenge, day 5: Down (but not out) to Kinlochleven (10)

I did some laundry and enjoyed a pint (or maybe more ... I can't quite remember) of cider; and then I took my camera out into the hotel grounds to capture the evening sunlight on Loch Leven. This photograph is one of many that I took. Other guests out in the gardens were soon asking me for advice and photography tips, and I gave them what help I could.

Early in my photography session, my camera dropped from three bars of battery to two bars of battery. This didn't trouble me unduly. I was 5 days into the Challenge - a third of the way through - and I had a fully charged spare battery with me. So it looked as though I had plenty of battery power. However, that assessment depended upon the assumption that all three battery bars are equal ... and as I soon discovered, they ain't! Soon after the camera dropped to two bars of battery, it dropped to one; and almost immediately after that, it flashed up an emergency "low power" warning, and died altogether about 10 seconds later. This put an altogether different complexion on things! I was now a third of the way through the Challenge, and I had burned my way through fully half of my available battery power. If I didn't slow down, I was going to run out of battery before I reached the coast. Clearly, therefore, I was going to have to start rationing myself!

I put the camera away and went for supper. There was little on the menu that I could eat as it stood; but the chef was very willing to try to adapt and adjust to accommodate me; and in the end I had a very interesting meal. For a starter I had scallops served with a Portobello mushroom stuffed with tomato and mozzarella; and this was followed by smoked salmon with coleslaw and chips. It was all very good; and I retired to bed a happy man.