Isle of Arran

No opportunity for a lie in today, as we had to be out of the house.  We didn’t have much to pack, but pitched in to help with the general tidying and cleaning.   In the midst of all this, our friends were considering their plan for the day, as their ferry booking was cancelled, due to the Isle of Arran  ferry not being back in operation.  BB and I took a walk to the Blackwaterfoot Bakery and purchased a few treats to take home.  It was a beautiful day, and typical that the best weather made an appearance on our last day. 
 
Once the house was sorted and locked up, we all headed to the Lagg Distillery.  Once again TT and L went with no intention of buying anything, but of course  purchases were made.  We then said our goodbyes, with our friends heading to Lochranza to join the ferry queue there in the hope that they would get off the island – but then have a very long drive home.  We three drove round to the Lagg Hotel where we had a lovely lunch in the sun, which set us up for a walk to the beach at Kilmory.  The tide was going out so we walked the length of it and practically had the whole beach to ourselves.  It was such a lovely afternoon – we could have been in the Mediterranean.  Sunshine, blue sky and sparkling sea.  We would have stayed longer on the beach, but we had a ferry to catch, so then drove back to Brodick, through Whiting Bay and Lamlash.  We needn’t have hurried for the ferry was running around an hour behind schedule – though we didn’t get that information straight away, and we were wondering whether the ferry was every going to arrive.  Thankfully we had picked up a few provisions to keep us going.  We wandered in the early evening sunshine, and I randomly bumped into a colleague from work, who had been over for the day, cycling around the island with a friend.  We had a lovely chat, which filled more of the waiting time.
 
When the ferry eventually departed there was a huge cheer.  The sailing was almost magical, as the sea was like a millpond.  The sun was setting, there were porpoises swimming alongside the boat and also something else further out – and  much bigger.  There was talk of it being a whale, but I wondered whether it was a basking shark.  We’ll never know, as no one had binoculars to check it out.  We eventually got home around 11pm – very weary.  The boys were starving.  I made do with some toast, left the sorting out food, and then went straight to bed.  It’s been a lovely few days – good fun and very relaxing.
 
This is a view from the ferry.  The extras are the boys walking along the beach at Kilmory, and Goatfell – the first time the clouds lifted all weekend.