If we get back on the train and head back to the mainland, we should notice that there is only one track on this viaduct. The train is a shuttle service which heads forth and back; so we will end up back where we were before we came to the island.
We're going to pick up a new rental car to head north with but it has a feature which is practically unique - a guidepin. The reason for this will become Immediately obvious once we have left the suburbs of Mornington.
Again we pass through suburbs with terrace houses that all look the same but take careful note that none of these houses have either a back nor a front yard. They are all built on a ledge which gets narrower the further we get north, to the point where the houses eventually have their front doors open directly into the street with no sidewalk and the last building is the Jazz Triangle¹ Hotel.
Here, we stop.
I have to pull a lever under the hood of the car which lowers the guidepin and as we tentatively move forward, the slotway that the guidepin fits into will come into view.
Driving slowly forward, we should hear a clunk as the guidepin trips a switch and opens the gates in the slot, so that we can head north. That switch will also trip a set of traffic lights at either end, which will stop people coming south at the same time. The last thing that we want is to see what we think is a light at the end of a tunnel; only to discover that it is another car coming at us.
There are no speed limits on this road. The reason for this is that you do not need speed limits if on one side is a sheer cliff face which stretches into the sky and on the other side is another sheer cliff face which stretches downwards into the sea. If you fall off the road in either direction, then certain death awaits and it will have been your fault.
Life presents us with a bunch of roads like this. We all know some people who have driven lonely roads like this who have made dumb decisions and either dented their car or in worst case scenarios have fallen off the road entirely and need serious help. If the guidepin is in place, then you can move on quite efficiently but sometimes, the rental company gives you a car with no guidepin and you just have to drive along carefully.
You're here for this ride as we move along slowly (albeit a bit boring) and while I can see storms off in the distance, I am thankful that they have not yet arrived.
There are various roadhouses along roads like this where you meet travellers, some of whom are heading in similar directions and some going in quite another. It is very tempting to suggest that the damage that they have incurred while driving along these roads is entirely their fault but that quite frankly ignores that they may have been trying to do the best job that they could with the equipment provided. It is also immensely hypocritical to point out the damage on someone else's car, while at the same time you have damage of your own.
The solution here is to stop occasionally and to allow yourself time to do nothing for a bit before you take off on yet another stressful leg of the journey or perhaps even more critically to do something which many people have pointed out exists in the owner's manual and that is use radical kindness.
Some people, especially those people who have a degree of power, who are either cruel or unkind need to be told as much; in some cases in really terse terms. However the people who you merely disagree with, have probably formed their opinions through some kind of rational set of information and viewpoint formation experience. There are even things that you might have a religious disagreement about but that still doesn't necessarily warrant unkindness on your part.
I have had interesting discussions with people who I disagree with by accepting that their opinion is rationally thought out (even when it isn't).
Sometimes though, one of the biggest acts of kindness that you can do, is what we're about to do here. That sign with the three dashes means that we come to the end of this particular slotway in three hundred yards. If you look way up the road, there is a van thing which appears to be towing a trailer behind. Now I know that we could get to the next section of slotway before they do but if they have children on board, or medical supplies, or are just really tired and or irritable² then they might need to go through before we do. It's often kinder to people to let them ahead of you because the world doesn't really need everyone making a rush all of the time. If you prefer someone else's needs, they will more than likely ignore yours but that's a better outcome than actively irritating people.
See, that wasn't so hard.
At the end of this road is the pokey little town of Ridge End. The only two ways to go are by sea and upwards by escalator. We will be riding the escalator and I hope that you will be prepared because it is a long ride but that's tommorow.
¹Famed Jazz Triangle player 'One Eyed' Keith McBongo was the best jazz triangle player³ of them all.
²which my tablet wants to autocorrect to 'Italian'
³mostly because he is the only jazz triangle player and partly because I have just made him up.
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