East Loch Tarbert

The day started very wet indeed. I checked the weather forecast on BBC Scotland and it showed that this partof Argyll would be wet, but that South of Tarbert on Kintyre might be dry after lunch.

So, we had a lazy morning. Maeve the Deerhound did a lot of sleeping. We watched "The Maggie" on DVD. One of my very favourite films. There are scenes of recognisable places on the Crinan canal and also of Islay. An appropriate film to watch I think, when in the area. The tale of an old puffer and its old skipper and the slow pace of life that was the norm in the West in the days before fast cars and good roads.

We drove up to Kilmartin and had lunch in the museum cafe. Last chance this holiday, so not to be missed. Then we drove South. No particular desination in mind. Just to try to find where the rain ended and somewhere dry. The rain was almost gone by the time we got to Tarbert, but we decided to go on to Tayinloan where we had taken the ferry to Gigha last year for a day trip. We stopped there and had a walk along the beach and took some photos as the ferry came in and went out again.

We were back in Tarbert by late afternoon. We walked along by the harbour and out the road past the slipway of the CalMac ferry to Portavadie (which we sailed on in May) and on to the old pier where the paddle steamers used to call. We watched the ferry go out and two fishing boats come in. I liked the colours of the hill behind this boat returning from a day at sea.

We were back at our cottage just as it was getting dark, delighted that we had managed to find places to go once the rain had gone :-)