Beinn Bhuidhe,Isle of Eigg.

Having enjoyed our day on Holy Island a few weeks previous another island was on the cards. Canna was out due to the timing of the ferries but Eigg was made possible by the timing of the MV Sheerwater out of Arisaig. An early morning run up Loch Lomond side, Rannoch Moor and the Road to the Isles in gorgeous sunshine proved the ideal taster for what was to come.

We arrived in plenty of time for the 11am sailing. Priced at £18 it is a bargain. Although the sun was high and the sky was blue there was a bit of a wind blowing to say the least..! I tried taking a
short video but standing up without holding onto something proved impossible and I didn`t fancy going overboard :) The Inter Island Games between Rum, Canna, Eigg and Muck were being held on Rum so the ferry was a little bit busier than usual. A few musicians were playing on the journey over to Rum....



Bob`s camera was poised and at the ready in case I was seasick but I managed to hold it down...just :) From the jetty on Eigg we wandered over to our campsite beside the beach, a short ten minute walk away. Because we are fed up taking photographs of each other we had brought along Andy this time just for a change. Andy and Bob heading towards the sandy campsite in the distance...


After putting the tents up we lounged around for half an hour before heading off to traverse Beinn Bhuidhe.We walked over the islands only road connecting the east to the west before heading northwards at the highpoint to start up the ridge.

Almost at the high point of the road...


An easy ascent from here and the views soon opened up. Trollaval appears over the Sound of Rum..





Further along we happened upon the Finger of God. We had a half hearted attempt at getting to the top of this but the combination of high winds and loose rock, never mind the 700ft penalty clause, saw us beating a retreat to the ridge again.


It`s probably only Diff/V.Diff and no problem at ground level but being that it was such a nice day neither of us wanted to die :)

Never mind, you could pose at will anywhere along this ridge....




By this time Andy had long gone ahead towards the summit depriving us of our modelling shoot. I reckon that this is one of the best summer hillwalking outings I have ever had. The views over to Rum were stunning. Andy met up with the only other two folk on the hill only to discover that they knew one of our club members. Small world indeed. A point of note here for baggers...the summit is about a km to the south of the trig point at Sgorr an Fharaidh. When we met up with Andy again we sought out a sheltered spot beside the trig point for a bite to eat and a look over to the Cuillin of Skye to the north..



Andy and I wandered over to the spectacularly situated old hill fort on top of Dunan Thalasgair whilst Bob went out on to the northern tip of the island....



Andy and I on top of Dunan Thalasgair....



Headed down the steep nose towards Camas Sgiotaig, otherwise known as the Singing Sands...




It was still blowing a bit...



What a beach and nobody else there :) We couldn`t get the sands to sing but they certainly did squeak, but then again, that might have been our knees. From here we traversed around the headland to Laig Bay crossing a profusion of tortured rock formations.






Yet again Laig Bay was deserted although to be fair it was around 6.30pm by now.


Our model for the weekend makes a belated appearance on the beach....


A walk back over the island towards the tents now but stopping for a beer in the island tea room on the way. I was half tempted to stay but we were pretty hungry so we left behind the accordionist ,guitarist and bodhran player and headed back to the tents. The midges were making a slight nuisance of themselves but nothing horrendous...a quick fire put paid to them...


Back over for a nightcap but we had been up since 5am and the eyes were getting heavy. Not as heavy it would seem as some of the locals who were now fast asleep on the tables.! We sat around the fire for a while unable to see the comet which is around in the NNW sky just now as it was hidden by the hills. A last look over to the pub at 11.18pm....almost still daylight.


An early rise was on the cards for tomorrow but that`s Bob`s story still to come....

PS: If the lawyer from Cologne wants to get in touch then we`ll send you a list of places to visit on your next trip over to Scotland :)
















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Festival Sunday.Kelvingrove Park.

A wee change for the camera this time.Asked Alex If he wanted to go to the West End Festival`s Sunday Parade.He doesn't like crowds or loud music yet he`s the one that's the people person,always starting up a conversation with strangers and finding out things in five minutes it would take me years to find out, if ever.He` s just got a knack of asking all the right questions.
Anyway he declined so I phoned a guy I thought might be interested along with his wife and daughter.John, Gail and Morven, proud owners of wee white dog Chalky who has appeared on here in the past.They accepted and we met up at lunchtime for a fun day out.
I`d been to this parade a few times,once years ago with the same family group when the parade used to go down Byres road and a heavy downpour melted the paper mache costumes of the giant Elvis and Marilyn Munro dropping lumps all over the street.It`s always a good laugh and an interesting once a year experience.

This year the Parade would go down KelvinWay and snake through the park ending up at Park Circus right at the top.As it gets bigger every year they need the space,Byres Road packed solid last year from top to bottom.The park is much better.Its sloping, you can see all the acts far better and it makes for a great picnic atmosphere watching the various bands.All of which were excellent on the main stage.

First though the parade bands.A great variety this year.Music groups, dancers , jugglers and stilt walkers.

This is a lively samba band ,very popular with the male audience.Girls loved the costumes too.

Berlin nightclub theme with these girls,also very popular with the guys for some reason :0)

I really liked this act as well they really put a lot of heart into it.Devil or Balrog?
We were standing not far from the start for these pics.Lot of photographers, professional and amateur side by side competing for the best shots.I`m not bold enough for close ups, too shy.
You could tell the professionals used to doing this sort of event as they had an easy charm getting in for a intimate snap and a way of working.Must say though its nice to get a subject other than hills ,animals and insects.Makes a change.


Really wanted to get a close up of the dragon`s head here but it moved around faster than a butterfly!

Back to birds.This heron seemed a bit put out by all the noise, trying to ignore the fact its normally quiet park was alive with people.The parade started at 3:00 pm and ended at 4:00pm.


Sea life theme.


I think this was a sea horse.


Horns at the double.Jazzy!


This was the group everyone wondered" how they would manage the hill?" as it`s quite a climb up to Park Circus.A round of applause greeted them all as they topped out with a little help from support staff.Best parade yet I think and a smashing effort from everyone involved.A brilliant day out.
It wasn't over yet though.We settled down in the grass near the giant scarecrows to watch the bands perform.I`m very picky about music but every band I heard here sounded terrific.This was a free event.I`ve paid good money now and again for bands I wanted to see and came away disappointed due to the sound or lacklustre performance or unknown songs.None of this here.All class acts.

The Amphetameanies.Madness type ska band really energetic and fun.I don't even like ska normally but they were great with their own driving rhythm.John Beattie Band were next up getting everybody jumping with classic rock and roll covers.


Here`s some of the crowd.

Looking at the stage.You can just see wee dug Chalky in the picture next to the girl with dark glasses looking at the camera.

Liked this one at the end of the parade.Team photo shoot.

Folk were making their own entertainment by this time and a few worse for wear young teams were getting their drink poured away by the police as it was a family event. Tut Tut.It wasn't too bad though and the rain came down on cue around closing time driving folk to the buses or the pubs nearby. A lot of the parade dancers had stayed on in costume with the crowd and were still dancing in stiletto's in some of the bars when we headed for home.A great day out in fine company.Thanks to my companions.Ya boo to Alex.Ya missed a real treat.

This samba band closed the show in style.Rain starting to fall.

Dunoon to Port Lamont.

Bloody hell.Catching up with this blog is hard work!I now have three still to write up and Alex has two.At this rate we will need to get a secretary in that can type a lot faster than us two one fingered duffers.This is from the First May weekend,done before the epic Bute trip and the journey that put the idea into my head in the first place as I was looking across at this island most of the day thinking I`ve got to get over there again soon.
As Alex was in Italy It was a solo venture again.Any chance I get to go myself I prefer the bike,saving any hills to do with him.This suits us both.
Only been on this cycle ride once before ,mainly because its the same long road in and out whereas I prefer circular outings if I can get them.Last visit was many years ago and I remember really enjoying it so time for a return.Weather was for heavy passing showers but at this time of year I decided they`d be warm or easy to sit out under a tree.I was off and that was that.
Even so I faffed around getting ready and left it a tad late racing out the house and down to Gourock only to get caught in traffic waiting for a Boys Brigade parade to pass.

It didn't take that long but I missed the ferry.Mind you when I looked over to where it was heading I was quite happy to stay here on the mainland .

It looked grim.Your average Munro day in fact.Brings back memories. :0)
I pottered about taking photos debating whether to cycle round to catch the smaller western ferry a mile down the road. This took advantage of the hourly crossing of Cal Mac by a 30 minute return service across the shortest point.Looking at the jet black clouds I knew a monster of a downpour was not far away so I captured pictures of tulips in sunshine instead and stayed close to shelter.

They weren't joking about heavy showers.The heavens opened but it only lasted fifteen minutes then stopped.I was here.Happy!Nothing better than a cloudburst when you can watch it in the open but under cover.Magic.
Here`s the tulips :0)



Its safe to come out again men the flowers are gone.
Now, in the dry, I cycled to the Western Ferries slipway.My momma didnt birth no fool.


This took me to Hunters Quay where I had a smashing level promanade glide past Kirn back into Dunoon.Kirn is famous for two things.This.....

And this......
Both painted in the same bold colours but only one of them is highly controversial and divides opinion.Can you spot which one?
By the time I arrived in the Victorian confection of Dunoon the sun was coming out again.I met a fellow cyclist here who joined me for a mile or two.He was a big miles man."If I do a hundred miles today I like to batter on and do a hundred and fifty next time I`m out." Although both on bikes we had nothing in common :0) Nice guy though.
Happy with my sub 30 miles for today I glided on.Flat easy roads,big rambling houses round twisting bends and hidden golden sand coves,monkey puzzle,and copper beech trees overhead.Another crap day in the west of Scotland.

The miles rolled by as wisps of steam from the drying out wooded cliffs above drifted upwards turning the long coastal escarpment above the houses into a lost world vision of paradise.Talk about a feel good factor.Christ on the cross would be belting out show tunes here.
Innellan is a long glorious strip of houses two and three levels high off the main street with a nice war memorial frontage garden.
The lighthouse at Toward point however was not the make for highlight it appears on the map as it is private and out of bounds.Boo hoo!
Instead I followed a white road (oh no, you mad fool!) beyond Toward point which snaked down to Ardyne Point and along the coast to Port Lamont.Hadn't been down here before.It started off as an easy dirt track but soon disappeared at a three way split leaving me in a field with waist high grass.Its not that I`m a crap navigator ,I`m actually pretty good as you`d expect after all this time but white roads ............
Faint heart never won fair tarmac however and I don`t scare easily.I knew where I was heading and some determined portage later........

Through bog ,bramble,bush and beast saw me on solid ground again.

Not only that it looked like an old runway or a very wide road overgrown and slowly reverting back to nature.It was a surprise to find a semi industrial setting down here,loads of oil rig cables,fish farm junk and heavy haulage gear.Both now and in the past by the looks of it.Cycling was now easy however round the small harbour slipway and along the beach to Port Lamont where I had a view of this.

And this....
This being the Maersk containers ships lying idle here until the economy picks up.Loch Striven is a popular place to hide ships like this waiting for an upturn in the economy to make them viable again.
The fjord like Loch Striven was also used during the second world war as a testing ground for the highball project.A Barnes Wallis Bouncing bomb enterprise to sink the German battleship Tirpitz Based in a similar fjord in Norway.In the end midget subs carried out the deed but over a hundred highballs lie beneath the cold, deep waters of the loch.Inactive of course.The six container ships are being used as the setting for a CBBC TV Si- Fi series called Mission 2110.
On the way back took the high Innellan roads for better views and a different route back.
Two of Rothesay from Ardyne Point area.


And one above Innellan.

My next day out has Live Dancing girls,Dragons and Devils..............Stilts, Stilletoes and music...........Alex refused to go.....shame that `cos he missed a fabulous day out with me ,Chalky the wee white dug and the family he looks after.
P.S. Don't sit under a Monkey puzzle tree during a" passing heavy shower".Amazing tree but It makes a crap umbrella!.Horse chestnut or beech is by far the best.