Tuesday 13th -- Killin to Oban

Today we leave Killin. As Deb says to me at dinner time, You've had a difficult day.

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The day starts well. Another hearty breakfast: grapefruit, orange juice, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, toast, marmalade, porridge, tea and coffee. I decide that that's enough, without adding haggis, baked beans, bacon or cereal.

The porridge is... not as I make it. Killin Hotel porridge is made with milk and is still runny. I eat it with jam, a practice I picked up from my cousin and his wife.

The food service is very very fast... Today I just manage the timing: grab juice & grapefruit. Place hot food order. Make tea, make toast, butter half. Hot food arrives, I'm almost ready to eat it. Porridge and coffee come last. Today I realise, I could always tell the waiter, No, I am not yet ready to order the hot food...

We leave the hotel just after 9:30. And stop two minutes later, at a bank. It's a Bank of Scotland, with the St Andrews Cross in front of the name. I can't help reading it as the X-bank of Scotland. There's an ATM round the side, we only realise this because we see a man using it. Deb withdraws fifty pounds.

For a while I thought we were going to have a cash-free holiday. Then I remembered packing money left over from the last English holiday. (I keep leftover cash rather than exchange it. It's good for the next holiday, or for the next family member going on holiday.) The cash is immediately useful -- cards are no use at the long house, nor at yesterday's tea rooms. Mind you, the notes are good but the pound coins are no longer valid currency.

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We drive out of Killin. It was a good village :-)

On to a main road. Busy but not too bad, I can occasionally pull over -- lots of "truck stop" style parking spots -- to let cars pass. We've been here before. Either traffic is slightly less or I'm getting used to it.

In one village we stop to look for a cache. It's a bit of a walk up a hilly road, on the other side of a railway station. We don't find the cache but enjoy the walk. We drive a couple of miles down a single lane road for another cache -- which we also fail to find. But it does lead us to a nice walk -- through forest, to a waterfall. It's not "Stoney" Hill but something similar. The cache is off the walk trail and into the forest, we don't even leave the trail. Again, an enjoyable walk.

We also find Angus's Gardens, an open display garden. It's a memorial garden, in memory of a son who was killed aged 28. The mother wanted a less formal, almost natural landscape. Photos show lots of flowers and flowering shrubs. Today it's green and pleasant and in need of some pruning.

We wait in the car while a heavy shower of rain passes over. It's fine and almost sunny for the rest of our garden visit. Typical weather for this holiday. btw: I think we are in Glen Lochie.

The garden is big enough to get lost in, so we do. Deb asks me if I would like a memorial garden, she finds the idea a bit weird. We agree that a memorial compost heap may be more suited to my memory :-)

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Back to the main road. A mile or two further towards Ft William. We turn off known roads, towards Oban. The road gradually drops down, to run next to Loch Awe. Mountains in the distance but this loch is between almost gentle hills.

We reach Connell(?) which has a distinctly seaside feel: it looks like there is seaweed on the edge of the water. Of course I could be imagining it, as driver I don't have much time to look.

So far so good. And now the day goes downhill :-(

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We reach Oban -- and traffic stalls. It's bumper to bumper all through town. Okay, we keep moving but it's stop-start. We want to stop for lunch, parking areas are full. I finally grab a roadside parking spot, two spaces. My careful rental car parking -- making sure there is enough room in front to get out again -- takes up a bit more than one space.

It starts to rain. Heavily.

It's ticket parking, we have no good coins, the ticket machine rejects the "old" coins. (The honour box at the garden had no such problem... I'm sure the coins are acceptable at a bank...) We make a hasty purchase in the nearest shop and ask for change in coins. Buy an hour's parking ticket.

Walk through the rain -- and traffic -- to the nearest cafe. I sit, Deb goes to order at the counter, which is out of sight. It takes so long to place the order that I start to worry, I stand up to see if she is okay. Food -- eventually -- is good.

The rain has almost stopped. We go back to the car -- just as the parking ticket expires -- set the gps to our accommodation and start driving. The somewhat shortened space behind us is still empty, makes getting out quite easy :-) though we still need to wait for a kind driver to let us out into the still bumper to bumper traffic.

The gps wants us to turn right across one full lane of traffic and into another. I refuse to even try, I make the easier left turn.

The gps recalculates and sends us in a circle to the same intersection. I make my own way through town. The gps recalculates. Guides us into a no-entry one-way road. No, can't go there, it's the wrong way. I drive past. The gps recalculates, turns us into a dead end, someone's private parking. I manage to reverse out.

The gps recalculates, I ignore it and drive out of town. We try again. The gps wants us to turn right at that awful intersection. By now the traffic has cleared, the turn is easy. But pointless.

The gps recalculates, tries to get us against the traffic into those one-way roads. I drive way out of town in a different direction. Amongst farms and past a golf course. Deb and I check maps. We head back into Oban.

This time we have managed to approach town from the correct direction... We easily find our Glenroy Guest House. Even the gps knows the way... this time.

We arrive -- pull into the private parking area -- and check in. Phew.

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We walk into town for dinner. Fish and chips outside, on the jetty. Then coffee and cake in a little cafe. At least I ask for coffee, I get tea. Deb says, You've had a difficult day.

Now it all gets better :-)

We walk round town. The Oban Distillery visitor centre is still open, we buy whisky. The centre closes while we are there. Not to worry, we don't want to *learn* anything. Though a distillery tour would be interesting -- if they were not fully booked.

We walk back home via some steps. (Deb has a tourist map, far better than a gps.) The steps... go up a long way. I guess it's good for us...

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And we find our way back to our b&b. Ready to rest.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
             Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." … Blazing Swan Survival Guide

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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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