Goodbye

 It was a grey vista over the loch as we woke for our last day. 

The little ones rose early to leave about 9am for their loooooong journey home. They called in at the Falkirk Wheel on the way, where the sun was shining!

A boat in the wheel

There it is again

Food and a boat!

The Falkirk Wheel in the sunshine

Meanwhile, in Loch Etive, I was giving the house a once over in the rain. 

After lunch the rain stopped, the sun came out, and it was glorious again. We decided to take the rubbish and recycling the two miles to the bin in the car, then go down to the loch from the wobbly bridge. We thought about walking along the river but the way was guarded by a huge herd of cows and a bull, so we went via road. We could see across to  Taynuilt’s top pier, which was heaving with people and canoeists. We could also almost touch the spongey hill that Ian climbed up on our ill fated first expedition. Misty had a swim.

Back at the wobbly bridge

Looking across at the Big Jetty

Misty has a swim in the sunshine

Looking over at the spongey hill. Our expedition floundered within touching distance of where we wanted to be!

Meanwhile, in Gretna Green

The weather stayed dry, and the reflection of the mountains in the loch was stunning

The little ones all arrived home safely, Kathy being the last, arriving in Whiteley at 23:17.

Despite not seeing the northern lights we had a fabulous holiday, now I can’t wait to get back to work!

Rain

 The day started very clear and bright, but we were forecasted the dratted rain later. We had decided on a drive up the coast from Oban then through Glencoe for the last holiday day with the little ones. First stop was castle stalker which we viewed from the castle stalker cafe and gift shop. Apparently it is habitable, and was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Viewing castle Stalker

As we entered Glencoe the clouds descended and the rain began. It gave the glen a moody forbidding look. We decided on a walk anyway, to signal rock where the signal for the massacre wasn’t sent from! 

On top of signal rock

We continued our drive through the glen, stopping every now and then for photos, and looking out for somewhere to eat a full three course meal. 

And then, ahead, The Bridge of Orchy Hotel. ‘Real food, Real drinks, Real Bridge’. Perfect! We sent Alex in to scope it out and, yay, they could accommodate a six. It was really nice. Friendly, with real food and drinks. Afterwards Ian and Chris took Misty down to the real bridge, but she wasn’t over impressed. The good thing about the Bridge of Orchy Hotel was that it stood right on the turn for the Vale of Orchy. So we could cut the corner avoiding Tyndrum, and take in more SC. 

Misty examines The Bridge of Orchy

We arrived back at the ranch about 5pm after another fun filled day. The house is lovely and warm, despite being in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Scotland, but Alex loves building a fire, so we got a roaring log one going. We quizzed a bit before retiring early as the little ones have a long old journey tomorrow. 

Only bad thing about the day was the 97th minute massive freak deflection Huddersfield equaliser.

Sunshine

 Apparently the rest of the country was to have heavy rain and wind today as storm Alex blew in. But not us. Our day was fabulously sunny. The sky was chocolate box blue and we all needed our sunglasses. Once again we were to separate. Vicky was working, Alex was going for a run up a mountain, and the rest of us were going for a drive. We headed east toward Bridge of Awe, and dropped Alex at the bottom of Ben Cruachan. We later learned that it is almost straight up, and he needed to climb bits and traverse a super narrow ridge. But he made it!

View from a mountain in the sunshine

Meanwhile, we took the narrow road down the side of loch Awe where we stopped to give Misty a swim. Here we were approached by a gilly checking to see if we were fishing.

Loch Awe in the sunshine

At the end of Loch Awe, a very long loch, we came to Carnasserie Castle (closed due to Covid).

Carnasserie castle in the sunshine

After the castles day debacle we put Kathy in charge of lunch and she found us the best cafe at Kilmartin museum (closed due to Covid but cafe open), with great toilets as a bonus

Kilmartin museum cafe in the sunshine

It transpires that little old Kilmartin is the centre of Druidism in Scotland, so we set off in search of the nearby Baluachraigh standing stones and Temple wood stone circle

 

Temple Wood stone circle in the sunshine

Baluachraig standing stones in the sunshine

We carried on our circular route up the west coast through some fabulous scenery (SC!) before coming to Loch Feochan where we stopped to let Misty have a swim

Loch Feochan in the sunshine

Then we were back in Oban at the washing machine garage!!

Washing machines in the sunshine

We arrived home just as Vicky finished work, and just before Alex who had made a mad dash down a mountainside for the daily bus. For those of you who look at Ben Cruachan and feel that it is just above our house therefore he could have just ran down that side to get back (me!), that side is even steeper than the scary way he ran, so no he couldn’t. 

The sunshine meant for some amazing colours on the loch, and the bats were out in force again. A perfect end to a perfect day

Twighlight on Loch Etive

The bat cave

The Expedition II - The Bridge

 After yesterday’s rain it was nice to wake up to more sunshine. We messed about in the Walters way, before finally deciding to make another assault on Taynuilt. Vicky was working and Chris didn’t fancy it so just the four of us set off along the forest road. We passed the Inverawe smokeries before arriving at a wobbly bridge over the river Awe. The steps were steep, metal, and open. No problem for misty then!!! More of a problem for me as Ian did his usual jumping up and down, and there was no mystery voice shouting at him to stop like there was in Canada. Over the bridge, through cow fields, past the oooooold iron works, and down a road and we were at Taynuilt jetty. Taynuilt, huge metropolis that it is, has two jetties. We walked along both. In between Misty swam in a pond and played with a mad dog and a cute puppy. We retraced our steps having found the holy grail, then found another. The Inverawe smokeries cafe was open! We all had some fish based sandwich (except Alex) and a nice cake. Plus coffee.

The morning view

The crew on the wobbly bridge

Taynuilts second string jetty Can you spot Kathy and Misty?)

The ooooooold Iron works (closed due to covid)

Taynuilt’s premier jetty 

Stepping stones fun

Swing fun

Back over the wobbly bridge where Misty skipped down the scary steps

The evening view 

The front of our cosy little bothy

Later on we treated ourselves to a meal out at a very nice restaurant in Oban. We went via Connel as I had seen that the falls of Lora would be visible. Alas the falls were not falling as advertised. Meals included fish mornay, fish platters (huge) cauliflower burgers, and chicken. Can you match the meals to the diners?

A clue to a couple of the meals

Back at the ranch there were no bats visible. We had all seen a white tailed sea eagle earlier on though, all except Ian, who was in the shower.