Wednesday 29 May 2019

Scotland, Spring 2019. Day 5

A long day today so we were up and breakfasted early.  I wanted to drive up to Seil Island on the west coast and we had promised Thomas that we would go to Oban bike helmet shopping.  Although it was not the promising day of weather as we set off, the sky rapidly cleared the further north and west we went and we had a magnificent day.  The weather was very local, however as the Munro Baggers on the Arrochar Alps had a very wet day.

Our journey took us once more to Lochgilphead, this time turning north along the Crinan Canal, rather than South towards the Mull of Kyntyre.  Seeing a sign advertising a coastal view point we called in at Askneish Bay where found an attractive hotel and bistro.  What a pity we were somewhat pushed for time and it wasn't lunch time.  We also discovered some excellent gardens that we separately became lost in.  Slightly more formal that Ben More, they were still magnificent with ferns, azaleas and rhododendrons.



Continuing north, it wasn't long before we were crossing over to Seil Island over the narrow strip of 'sea' separating it from the mainland via the very hump-backed Clachan Bridge, known affectionately as The Bridge Over the Atlantic.  Crossing the island we parked up at the superb viewpoint of Port a'Mhuilinn where we had lunch in the warm spring sun looking across a sparkling sea dotted with islands ranging in size from Lunga, Scarba and Jura to the tiny Garvellachs.  The rocks were dotted with beautiful delicate sea pinks which made excellent foregrounds for photographs.






Lunch over we continued the short distance to Easedale which we enjoyed pottering around and photographing.  The views to the impressively steep cliffs of Mull were fabulous.

All too soon it was time to continue to Oban to complete our errands.  The owner of the bike shop alerted me to the fact that there were black guillemots nesting in the harbour wall.  This was too much to resist so, while Heather pottered round the shops I wandered round to try my luck photographically.  Mt information was correct and my only regret was that I hadn't driven round with the big 500 lens - ah well!!


I did get some images with the 200, however, and I found a very cooperative hooded crow foraging on the tideline.

All too soon, having secured a bike helmet for 'the boy' it was time to continue our journey.  We drove east from Oban, along the north shore of Loch Awe, stopping briefly in increasingly overcast weather to photograph the magnificent Kilchurn Castle.  We had our eyes open for the ospreys that breed along here and caught a brief glimpse of one as we walked don the the loch side.  It didn't seem long then before we arrived back at Inveraray in increasingly deteriorating conditions; we had certainly had the best of the weather.




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