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Published: October 15th 2014
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No sooner had we arrived in Glasgow than we were away for the weekend. The weather forecast was hideous and we were secretly pleased that our plans had had to change a little. Russ's cousin, Ruth, had invited us over to their caravan for a weekend with her family and offered to lend us a tent so we could camp outside. The forecast, however, was about as grim as it gets so we decided to go on the Saturday morning rather than the Friday evening. Lady luck smiled on us as the tent had been forgotten and we would all have to squeeze into the caravan for one night only. The price to pay - a trip into Glasgow to find a haberdashery as Ruth needed to knock up a pair of curtains in a hurry. The joys of having a craft-savvy cousin!
The weather was awful as we headed out of Glasgow. Trish, who doesn't sail well, was dreading the short crossing from Gourock to Dunoon. She needn't have worried though as it was nowhere near as bad as anticipated and we were off before we knew it. It was just a bit cold and wet. From Dunoon we
had about an hour's drive along narrow country roads to Tighnabruaich. It should be a lovely drive but we didn't even know there were mountains either side of us until we did the return journey! Once there we had to find a place with mobile phone reception so that we could get further directions. The caravan site was well hidden away along a waterside track, and what an amazing location it turned out to be. The Kyles of Bute is a narrow stretch of water separating the mainland (yes, we were on the mainland, albeit a very long promontory) from the island of Bute.
The idea had been to do some walking in the area but it was so wet we all went for a drive instead. We followed the road down to the southernmost point from where, on any other day, we would have had a clear view of the Isle of Arran. It wasn't to be though, and we headed to the new marina at
Portavadie. This development has only been around for a few years and it boasts a really cool (but slightly expensive) shop and an excellent cafe. They even gave Russ some black pudding
as a side order for his fish and chips!!
Back at the caravan, the weather was a bit better so the kids took us off exploring the shoreline. Mum and dad came too, of course. Lots of jellyfish have been washed up this year and they are quite a curious thing to see stranded on the rocks. We were also introduced to the local donkey who was very friendly. Slightly less friendly to look at were the long horned Hebredian sheep but they were nothing to worry about. Cool horns though.
It was a wet, windy night as several storms blew through and rocked us to sleep. The morning brought much nicer conditions and we all went in to Tighnabruaich to have a look around. All around the area we had seen several unusual scarecrows outside houses and at road junctions. This turned out to be a special event to bring in tourists on a "scarecrow trail". They came in all shapes and forms. One dressed as a mermaid attracted us into an artists studio where we saw local artist (although originally from Basingstoke),
Robbie Baird, at work. His colourful portrayals of local life are fantastic.
All too
soon it was time to head back to Glasgow. We said our goodbyes and got to enjoy some of the views we had missed the previous day. Maybe next year we can go back and enjoy some better climatic conditions. Thanks to Ruth, Peter, Albert and Hettie for having us! xxx
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Scotland
Always love following your blogs. Love this little guy.