Thursday 22nd

We slept extremely well and were away at 8am, not bothering with breakfast. (But confess to eating chocolate biscuits whilst waiting for the ferry!) In the summer months the ferry goes across to Claonaig in Kintyre and takes just 30 minutes. The weather in Kildonan had been OK but here it became increasingly gloomy and was raining by the time we were on board. Both Arran and Kintyre looked very bleak indeed. On arrival, we headed north, our final destination of the day to be Kentallen in Argyll. We stopped off at Tarbert where we had coffee and delicious warm scones and then set off again, luckily the weather improving all the time. The map indicated an NTS garden en route - Arduaine Gardens - so we stopped off there and were again amazed at the beauty of another Scottish garden, this time set right next to a loch. We hadn't planned this trip to be one of so many garden visits but it was turning out that way.  

We moved on to Oban, where we thought we'd stop for lunch, but as we approached the town, saw a sign for the Argyllshire Gathering - Highland Games. How very serendipitous, we really couldn't have planned it better. We found a parking space, paid our admission fee and there we were, surrounded by Scottish culture. It was great fun, bagpipes playing, dancers performing Scottish country dancing and all sorts of sports going on. Plus of course, the stalls selling all sorts of produce and crafts. Our lunch was venison burger and ice cream which we ate whilst watching the caber tossing and other such delights. I hadn't realised that the caber (which was about 20 ft high and very heavy-looking) has to turn over in flight - the winner is the one whose caber  lands closest to the designated line of flight. Not too many actually went over. I have a bit of a weakness for men in kilts so was in my element. We left before the end as we didn't fancy joining hundreds of other cars trying to exit the car park. Oban looked a nice place but we didn't have time to do more than drive through as we set off for Kentallen, just south of Glencoe, where we had booked to stay in a wonderful B&B, Ardsheal House. What a fantastic place, with views across Loch Linnhe and the Morvern mountains. We were greeted by the owner, Neil Sutherland, who very kindly provided us with a pot of tea and slices of homemade cake. I'd booked the four-poster room and we weren't disappointed, it was a lovely room with all the little touches that make such a difference - good quality toiletries, large bath towels, bath as well as shower, fruit, biscuits,  bottles of water etc. There are only 6 rooms available to guests.  

We were feeling quite tired so took a short walk around the garden which is very pretty. It was interesting to see such a garden in its infancy and really does much you appreciate how much hard work has to be put in. After our walk we had baths - always a treat after a busy day - and a rest before going out to dinner. We were recommended The Holly Tree just along the road but they were fully booked so we drove a little further to the Ballachulich Hotel where we found their dining room was also full! Fortunately there was room for us in the pub so we didn't starve. We ate very good haddock in beer batter and bread & butter pudding. On the way back Martyn stopped at The Holly Tree and booked a table for the following evening.

Friday 23rd

We slept well - it's a peaceful house - and had an excellent breakfast in the large conservatory. We met Phillipa, Neil's wife, and she told us how she loves gardening. After breakfast we went to the Glencoe visitor centre, another NTS property, and only recently opened in a new location. It's been very well designed and is full of interesting information about the area, the Glencoe massacre and mountaineering. We decided to walk to Signal Point but the directions given by the ranger were very misleading - fortunately we had a map. The weather had been clear at Ardsheal but was quite cloudy in the mountains, although still warm. Signal Point is a small NTS area quite high up, with good views all around, although it's very wooded. Apparently it was made famous in the book Kidnapped. We stopped off for a very welcome beer and a baguette at the Clachaig Inn on the way back to the car - I imagine it would be a good place to stay. We'd walked about 5 miles and decided it was time to go home. We gave a lift to a couple of German girls who had been also been misled by the directions. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't been able to complete their walk due to the time spent getting to the start of it.

On arriving back at Ardsheal, we were again greeted with tea and cake which was lovely.  We ate it in one of the lounges in front of a blazing fire. It was warm outside but I guess a house like that needs some extra help to keep it warm. We spent ages looking at a few of the many  books and magazines available, marvelling at the low prices of Scottish property. Later we walked around the grounds, had a drink from the tiny bar and went off to The Holly Tree for dinner. It's sited in an old railway station but is a far cry from British Rail! The dining room overlooks Loch Linnhe and we were seated by an open window from which we had a wonderful view. The food was superb - I had a starter of smoked ham and cream cheese in oatmeal, followed by Loch Linnhe scallops and prawns. Delicious. Martyn had the most enormous platter of seafood, which was wonderful although very messy. W were  full but couldn't resist the desserts and I had the best pavlova I've ever eaten. It was a superb meal in a beautiful setting. This would be a good place to stay if Ardsheal is full. 

Saturday 24th

We awoke to rain - clearly time to move on again! We promised ourselves we would return to this delightful place again one day. We'd considered a trip on the cable car to Ben Nevis but the weather scuppered that plan.  So we headed off North, stopping at Fort William for a little shopping and an hour at The West Highland Museum. Fort William wasn't much of a place but we enjoyed the museum, which contains many items of interest.     

Our journey west towards our destination of Glenelg was incredible, especially after crossing the Shiel Bridge. Visibility was quite poor at times with very low cloud as we climbed - as you can see from the photos. The roads we drove along were amazing, pretty hairy in places, and the scenery breathtaking, including the Five Sisters of Kintail. This area had been recommended to us by Loki, who had once worked here. He also recommended The Glenelg Inn, where we stayed for the next couple of nights - I'm so glad because this was a wonderful part of our trip and we would never have thought of coming somewhere so remote without the information he gave us. Glenelg is in Ross-shire, situated just across the sea from Skye and indeed that island can be reached by ferry during the summer months. 

We arrived at the Glenelg Inn at 2pm - it's a pub with 6 bedrooms and operates on a dinner, bed & breakfast basis. I'd fallen for the enormous master bedroom when looking at their website and it was worth the extra cost. There's a sitting area overlooking the bay and Skye. It also has the most amazing bathroom too, as the photos show. Unfortunately we didn't have enough bubble bath to make an impression on that huge bath! Be warned, the water is a browny colour, due to the peat in the area. OK once you know what it is! After admiring the view over a cup of tea, we decided to go for a walk. Loki had told us there were a couple of 2000+ year old Brochs about 15 mins walk from the inn. So off we went. It was a fascinating walk. Glenelg itself consists of a number of houses spread out along the coast, with many more sheep than people, some of which took to following us. One was especially intriguing and seemed to have Pied Piper powers. It ventured down to the shore, started making a noise and suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, sheep after sheep came across the hills to join it. Bizarre. We were also intrigued by the fleeces hanging over fences and even saw one when we were miles from civilisation. Our next surprise was the impressive WW1 monument - not what you would expect to find in such a small community. We'd been walking far longer than 15 minutes by this time and no sign of any brochs. Eventually we reached a signpost that said they were a further 1½ miles away - since we'd already walked at least that far, we continued.  The walk was very pretty, often alongside a stream but was all on the road so a bit heavy on the feet. Finally, we arrived at Dun Telve Broch and it was worth the walk. From one side it appeared virtually intact but it was far less so from the other side. It's an enormous structure and we found it fascinating. Another half mile up the road is Dun Troddan, which is less well preserved. It stands on a hill and from there we could see a couple of houses with grass roofs. It was getting quite late by then so we had to turn back - more than 3 more miles to walk! We were joined for part of the journey by a funny little dog. We had no idea where he'd come from and he disappeared as we approached Glenelg some time later. Once back we took full advantage of that fabulous bath, accompanied by a bottle of wine - just the thing for a couple of weary walkers.

The Inn serves the most wonderful food and we had certainly worked up an appetite to justify it. The menu is small with a choice of two dishes per course, but is changed daily according to what's freshly available - it was still hard to make a choice though. I forget what I had to start but followed with lamb and Martyn had turbot. We had puddings but skipped the cheese and biscuits. Coffee was served in another room, where I spent ages reading the guestbook. 

Sunday 25th

We slept pretty well although there was a lot of noise at 12.30am - the landlord, Chris, was chasing a load of children! I expect there's a story behind it but never found out what it was. Glenelg is a really unusual place, as you may have gathered! The weather was glorious between 7 and 8am, when I took this photo from our bedroom window. We had a good breakfast of haddock and poached eggs and set off for Skye, the weather being a little duller by then. We took the Kylerhea ferry for a cost of £10 return. It only takes a maximum of 6 cars at a time. We drove straight on and 15 minutes later were on Skye. The first part of the journey was on a single track road through heather-strewn moorland and was incredibly beautiful but difficult to stop for photos. In fact the whole island is impossibly beautiful - I wanted to stop  for photos all the time. We drove to Portree and first visited the Aros Centre, just outside town. Another fairly new attraction, this one tells the history of the island during the past few hundred years. It was very good and we also enjoyed browsing in the shop, where we bought a few gifts. The we drove into town and had a look around the visitor centre where we bought a few more things, including a CD by Runrig, a band we had been reading about at Aros. We walked down to the harbour and had a look at the boats. It's a  pretty place, with an extremely popular fish & chip shop, judging by the enormous queues outside it. We decided we just had time to drive to the north of the island and back again - the last ferry leaves at 5.45 on Sundays and it's rather a long drive round if you miss it. We saw some lovely sights, including the Old Man of Storr and Kilt Rock. We made it in time but were wishing it wasn't Sunday so we could have longer. The sun had come out again by then and it was glorious. 

We arrived back at the Glenelg Inn, determined to visit Skye again as soon as possible. It was very quiet as the inn is only open to residents on Sunday evenings. We sat outside before dinner - this was the only time we were bothered by the infamous midges. But they weren't nearly as bad as we'd been expecting. I was hoping for a good sunset and had to keep popping in and out to get some shots - my favourite one can be seen on the right. We had a wonderful dinner of scallops, halibut and strawberry pancakes.