Dear Friends, it is post-breakfast and Wes
has just gone for a walk leaving me in control of the laptop, so I thought I
would update you on our latest adventures. But before that I need to explain
something and make a confession. At Inveraray Castle I got very excited when I saw
a herd of deer sitting quietly under a tree and pointed them out to Wes, who
said they were the fattest, laziest deer he had ever seen and more resembled
Scottish Highland Cattle….and he was right. I haven’t lived that down.
Also I need to explain that when I said we
were getting in free at lots of National Trust places because of our Australian
membership, there are just as many places that are run by Historic Scotland
(previously Dept of Works) and they don’t recognise National Trust. Plus some
of the castles are privately-owned and operated. However, we have more than
redeemed our membership fees by visiting the many places that are run by the
National Trust of Scotland.
Our last full day in Oban was wonderful. We
walked Jacob’s Ladder to visit John McCaig’s Tower, which is the
highest spot in town and a magnificent unfinished monument built in 1900 in the
town’s botanic gardens. We strolled back down to the Museum with all its old
photos and history, and finally drove for 45 minutes to Ardfern, where we caught
a 5-hour Wildlife Watching Cruise into the Atlantic Ocean.
What a thrill that was! The water is clear
and shining and very blue. We saw (or had pointed out to us might be more correct)
red deer, seals, a nesting osprey with three babies, mountain goats and
porpoises (pronounced by the locals as poorpoys,
which gave us the giggles). Wes was happy to be on the Atlantic Ocean, but the
highlight for me was the whirlpool at the confluence of tides, which spun our
flat-bottomed boat around and around!
When we got back to Oban, we had a fish tea at Rick Stein’s favourite fish
and chip shop, which was doing a roaring trade. We had a glass of wine in the
garden of our B&B afterwards and enjoyed the stunning views. I hope we get
back to Oban; it was a very enjoyable experience.
The next morning, after another lovely
breakfast, we set off for Girvan, on the West Coast. On our
way we detoured to Alloway, where Robbie Burns was born. They have a wonderful
interactive museum, you can visit the cottage where he was born, and then walk
to the Kirk where his parents are buried.
We were surprised to find our current
accommodation The Auld Creamery, was actually in Pinwherry, about 11 kms out of Girvan. It is on the main road,
which isn’t very busy, and is fairly basic with a bathroom the size of a large
cupboard slotted into one wall. However, our hosts are very generous and we
have full use of their kitchen, lounge & laundry. So we have taken
advantage of all three as there is nowhere to sit in our room.
On Friday morning, Martin gave us a cable
to connect the laptop to the TV, so we watched the Carlton vs Collingwood match
on a big screen. Afterwards we drove to Hendrick’s Gin, one of the two
reasons why we are staying here…we parked in the car park, followed the welcome
signs for visitors, reported to the front office and were told no visitors were
allowed! How disappointing.
We
decided to park and walk the foreshore to the lighthouse and back, and were
very sad to discover the current Council
removed a Victorian bandstand, bathing boxes and a children’s train about 5
years ago, which is why we had the beach almost to ourselves. As well we drove
to see the famous golf courses at Turnberry, where a round costs £190. We
then had a late lunch at a local hotel, which is the only place around offering
all day dining.
Yesterday we set off for Wigtown,
Scotland’s Booktown, and although it is much smaller than Hay-on-Wye, we did enjoy
our visit and spent 2 hours wandering in and out of the bookstores and having a
cuppa in one of their two cafés. We came away with 9 books, not quite the 63 we
brought back from Wales.
Our next stop was Dumfries, where Burns
lived most of his adult life and where he died. We followed most of the Burns Walk around town including the
Museum, his Mausoleum and his Cottage. We had a late lunch, before setting off
back here via Ellisland, his farm,
and then spent time at Threave Garden, with a wonderful
walled garden, a secret garden, a lily pond, a sculpture garden and a woodland
garden to wander through.
We are planning to go to Ayr
Races later today and then tomorrow we leave here and have a big drive
to Bradford,
our half-way point on the way to Nottingham and the 1st Test
at Trent
Bridge. We are meeting Jeff & Kev for lunch on Tuesday, and, after
three weeks on our own it will be good to spend time with them again.
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