Bowmore Hotel

... drinking, special mention would have to go to Harbour Inn (for seafood), Old Kiln Cafe, and The Lochside Hotel (for the massive selection of Islay whiskys).



One thing that struck me on the Isle (especially compared to London) is that everyone is really friendly and there is a real community vibe. Even to the point that nearly everyone will wave at you on the road when going in the opposite direction.

... sober, so after a text message poll to fellow sailors, I settled upon a pint in The Victoria. Book, beer and a view across the harbour; can't beat it.

Next time I'll check the contours on the map before having a pint - hill over to the Arran ferry was a bit steeper than I thought!

... on top. It’s not posted yet, but look for us standing by the side of the road. Also there I finally got to see some of the shaggy island cattle that show up on postcards. Kildalton Cross is one of the few remaining intact Celtic crosses. It dates from the 8th century. The Laphroaig tour was fun, led by a local girl now at uni in Glasgow, with a small tattoo on her wrist and lots of black bracelets. Bill got to sign his name in the ledger that ...

... the simplicity of the liveaboard lifestyle and the friends that we made during our sojourn down to Greece and Turkey. We will always recall the thrill of dropping the pin in a new anchorage and then seeing a boat and crew that we recognise. We have indeed been very lucky. We hope that the photos in this blog give you some notion of why we love being here in Kintyre ...

... que nous étions (à savoir un anglais du sud, un ecossais, une galloise puis une autre anglaise et moi même) intervenions sur trois sites protégés : - Loch Gruniart, au Nord de l'île, grande réserve jouxtant un grand estran et donc des milieux très variés ; - The small farm, avec de superbes falaises au Nord, une belle population de Râles et une très ...

... space that affects one's critical faculties... The day was bright and breezy, so after a lateish breakfast we set off by bus, the three miles up the road to Benmore Gardens. They are famous for their 400+ species of rhododendrons and the avenue of Californian redwoods, splendid trees but mere juveniles when compared to the giants in their home state. To think that even today, logging companies are lobbying to 'harvest' the few ...

We woke to a beautiful, sunny morning and after a lazy breakfast, set off down the remainder of West Kyle and then 'round the corner' into Loch Fyne and sailed and motored across to the lovely little town of Tarbert, some 15 miles in all. Tarbert is a fantastically well sheltered anchorage, a 'hurricane hole' if it was in the Caribbean. It has a visitors pontoon that we ...

... us a 2.8 litre Audi Quattro! It really is great fun and is turning Rob into bloody Jeremy Clarkson - waxing lyrical, shouting excitedly and stuff like that - nothing new there then! However, with petrol at over a pound a litre his enthusiasm is likely to be short lived. We will be spending Christmas with Will and Angela before heading South for a couple of weeks to do a ...

... how it works, let's hope it's not a waste of money. With only 2 weeks to go, we're just trying to save that last bit of money by working our ass's off in Scotland, which has been and absoulte beautiful place to live. I highly recomend it to anyone. Okay then, cheers for reading, I hope you can benifit from this in anyway, not only that it's a good way for me to remember how I was feeling at the time. Well see ya in Paris....