Oban

Stephen was keen to travel through the Great Glen which runs along side Loch Ness so we chose Oban as our next destination. It was about a three hour trip through very pretty scenery. We travelled past Urquhart Castle and fortunately we had decided not to stop as we visited it last time. We couldn't have stopped even if we had wanted to such were the number of people there, the carpark full and it was raining! We travelled on down through Fort Augusta and Fort William and we still the roads were busy to say nothing of the atrocious driving skills of some drivers particularly the impatient ones trying to pass on blind corners and putting all of us at risk.

 

We decided to make a small detour into Glencoe for lunch. Glencoe is a place that is of interest on two fronts. Firstly it is a farming area in Southland that our friend Brian hails from and secondly I read a book once called Witch Light which is the story of the McDonald massacre in 1692. We found a park bench to enjoy our sandwiches before walking along the path to the monument.

 

 

 

We travelled about another hour along the coast line to Oban. It is a small fishing port and also an access point to many of the Islands such as Mull so we were somewhat surprised to find the place teeming with visitors. We found ourselves a quiet camping ground just two miles from the town centre and set up camp. It was a lovely sunny evening and we ate our meal looking out onto farm land.

 

 

 

 

The next day (Sunday) we spent in the town having a good look around. We walked right along the promenade, evading the information boards as we went before walking to the outskirts of town to Dunollie Castle. We went into the museum and watched a video about the places of interest in the area before walking up a steep hill to McCaig's tower. This landmark over looks the town and looks more like the Collesseum than something you would expect to find in a Scottish town. It was a relatively modern build that was never completed as McCaig died before it was finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had traditional haddock and chips for lunch and later completed our day with a cuppa in a small cafe on the water front so we could watch the boats and ferries coming and going.

 

 

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