Today thinking of mum. Would have been her 95 th birthday. She and dad loved this part of the world and spent many happy holidays here in the west coast of Scotland … including the ones we had as children in various damp cottages!
The wind was still funnelling down the valley creating quite strong breeze in the bay. This lasted the whole time we were there . We too the dinghy ashore and set off to explore. There are no tarmac roads just dirt tracks on the island. We landed the dinghy on the far side of the long pontoon ( my idea 👍) so it was on the calm side. All The other ones were moored up on the windward side and were bouncing around all over the place, presumably getting a bit wet! But it’s an observation ….. we humans are like sheep and tend to follow what previous people did. When we got back they were all on our side! We noted that a water tap and hose had been placed conveniently on the pontoon, excellent as we’d brought our water cans over for filling. Walking along the shore we noted a trail marked otter hide so thought we’d do that on the way back. A very leafy shore so grateful for the breeze as had forgotten to bring the insect repellent ☹️. First came across glam ping pods … a shut tourist information hut…. the bunkhouse ( amazing.. check it out) , a tiny craft shop selling crocheted bikini tops amongst other lovely things, and eventually ended up at the village shop and post office. Here there was also a shack doing food … but only open certain times. We bought some handwash stuff and a couple of ice creams and I posted a birthday card for Will but we’ll see whether it arrives! We then set if in a short circular walk into the interior of the island. Such a shame the cloud was still low as the views of the mountains would I’m sure have been wonderful. No midges thank goodness but a lot of cleggs ( aggressive horse flies ) have lots of bites! The path led down a peaty stream/ river and eventually rejoined the main road. From here we returned via a look at Kinloch Castle. What a strange, amazing but sad place. Unlived in and looking very unloved. Worth checking out its history. It’s in a state of dereliction but the interior looks just like the dusty setting for a Agatha Christie drama …. just no people there. Still furniture, books, artefacts, tea services and stuffed eagles in glass cases. Even a snooker table with the balls still on the table and just left. Completely bizarre. Just to the right of the castle I saw the most beautiful stag with huge antlers…. just standing, staring at me still as anything. I thought for a moment it was a model, or stuffed or something…. until It moved its head and then slowly ambled away into the greenery. Left me humbled once again. The next stop was the otter walk to the hide and then back to the boat. We filled up our water cans with rather peaty looking water, but did a taste check and it seemed fine!
What I learned today…… leave the insect repellent IN the rucksack!
Sue x
Angelique 