Oban to Islay, the long way

Wednesday morning we were up and out. We shot for the Glencoe Cafe but were on the wrong road over- looking the Loch.  I do think I saw a Loch Ness monster but we were on Loch Leven so it must have been a cousin of Nessie (or garbage.) We took a look around the Glencoe Visitor Center which chronicled the history of the area like a Michener book from the big bang through pre-historic geologic times to the Massacre of Glencoe and to present day. There's a nice synopsis here of the messy massacre:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/unioncrownsparliaments/massacreofglencoe/

Our drive to Oban was only 45 minutes but we stopped half way to view Castle Stalker from a vantage point and to visit the gift shop. It's a wee bit of a castle on an very tiny island right off the coast. It is now privately owned having been purchased and traded between clans several times over its history. It also makes a cameo appearance in the last scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Castle Stalker

 In Oban we were too early to line up for the ferry so we walked to town for fish and chips at George Street FISH. There was  a KRONK's deli like in the Disney movie The Emperor's New Groove, but we did not go in. It was a bright sunny day and we wandered around Oban (but did not go up the hill to see McCraig's Tower (or McCraig's Folly) in person. We saw it from a distance, looking like a mini black colosseum in the Roman style. McCraig had planned a museum and art gallery but died with only the outer shell completed. Now it holds a public garden.

this photo from Wikipedia--ours was almost as good

Kronk's Deli

special delivery

ferry to Islay

 

what the ferry visor looks like when it's up for disembarking

Ferry coming from Mull

We were first in line at 3pm for the 3:30 pm MV Hebridean Isles Ferry (a 4 hour cruise to Islay.) Judd was in awe at how the front of the boat tips up to a 90degree angle for cars to enter and egress. Once on board, we were taking movies of it going down when a flashing light and blaring alarm kept sounding.  We had already left port when engineers in a varied pecking order of dirty overalls to clean overalls to white shirts, ran forward and climbed down into an area to work on whatever the problem was keeping "the visor" from returning to horizontal. Someone finally shoved a rag into the blaring alarm speaker. But the actual problem was not resolved so the ferry started to make a 180degree turn back to shore, then another 180 degree circle waiting for a berth to open up, then another 180degree turn to get us back to the dock.  1.5 hours later, they inform us that "it was a critical failure" and everyone needed to disembark. During all this we made the acquaintances of a British couple on their way to their second home in Colonsay. A different  British man who lives on Colonsay had just decided to go shopping in Oban for an afternoon. He was disappointed to be waylaid. We also sat near a rather old hiker dude who had a very retro, heavy-looking canvas backpack, destination the person who harvest scallops on the island.

We were told the Isle of Mull ferry would be coming "shortly" to pick us all up, "we think today."  I was stressed  because we had no idea when we would be arriving in Islay and no cell service to call the inn keeper and say we'd been detained.  While Judd was rearranging the car between the first failed ferry and queuing up for the rescue ferry just arrived from Mull, I ran to the ticket counter and asked our previously friendly ticket agent if he could possibly call our inn on Islay and say we'd be a late arrival (11pm ish.)  I ran back to the car in time but realized a tip might have made that more likely.

The ferry was enormous and an entire fuel truck drove on below us with 20 or so cars, while there were  decks of varying restaurants, cafeterias, gift shops, bars and viewing sites above. Four hours zipped by and it was very dark when we arrived on the Island of Islay. Happily it was a pretty direct 25 minute drive and we found Skerrols House about 11pm. Thomas the innkeeper said he HAD been forewarned of our late arrival which he appreciated.  He showed us to our rooms and apologized that he did not hold a liquor license and could not sell us any spirits. However, he said he could just pour a wee dram for a friend.  We tasted the Kilchoman, the youngest distillery on the island. It warmed our cockles right up and we slept well.

"the visor" stuck open

Clyde, all tuckered out under my new wool scarf