I am writing this one waiting for the ferry from Portavedie to Tarbet and it’s raining. The worst day we’ve had for the weather all trip. I read the timetable wrong and we are either 45 mins early for one sailing or have just missed one by 15 minutes depending which way you look at it. I’m going with the former as it fits with being prepared and, for me, being prepared also equates to being early!!Sometimes really early! But enough said about that! Being early has also given us an opportunity to take advantage of being in our van and making an obligatory brew. We had a near disaster (that’s not one of the close shaves although it could be considered as such) when we almost ran out of tea bags the other day. Well I say almost ran out, in my book of preparedness that equates to being down to the last 20, but let’s also leave that one there!

So we had a very nice sail across from Castlebay on Barra to Oban and spent a fair bit of time (after the obligatory CalMac breakfast, also a family tradition) up on the deck in what was turning out to be rather nice sunshine

It would have almost been tropical had it not been for the wind. The crossing time is around 4.5 hours so a good opportunity also to finish another book and make a fairly definitive decision that cruising would not be a holiday of choice, with my concentration span I think I would be bored after a couple of hours of embarking.

We had a bit of a hit list in Oban. Having arrived at our usual campsite, which we have never seen so quiet, we walked back into town in, what can only be described, in relative terms, as blazing heat.

Oban is a very special place and usually, for us, marks either the excitement of heading out to the islands or the sadness at returning. But, as I said, there is a hit list. Oban Chocolate shop is always a must go to. Note to reader they also do mail order!

I also have found myself looking increasingly like Robinson Crusoe (this evidently is a more fitting description than Leonardo DeCaprio in The Beach) and was badly in need of a hair cut before the aforementioned birthday meal. So this is close shave number one. Added to my list of things I’ve never done, I have never been to a Turkish Barber, until now! As I sat watching the person before me – who had his eyes tightly closed I thought this had the makings of a very relaxing experience… little did I realise that closing one’s eyes is an innate response, and possibly a fearful one, of the sharp blade that is being scraped across the face and various parts of the head and neck. I can only describe the experience as having a brutal head pummelling. Thankfully I’ve lived to tell the tale although I’m not convinced that the barbers promise of making me look younger has come to fruition!

Also on the hit list are always Waterstones – although the range of local books to choose from is becoming more narrow as we seem to have most of them! Another must in Oban is the Green Shack, the finest and freshest of sea food around.. obligatory scallops, oysters and mussels for lunch.

This always puts me in mind of my developing relationship with gout.. as I now understand it, oysters have very high levels of purins which cause gout. As the rest of the family remind me at very regular intervals, the sudden onset of my health condition did coincide with one memorable holiday when I ate around 30 (some say it was 35!) oysters over a two week period. The less said about that the better, that said, self control isn’t always a strong characteristic of mine. The other thing we were able to do in Oban was actually sit outside a pub and have a couple of pints.. almost amounting to an impromptu session! Only stopped by the prospect of somehow having to walk the three miles back to the van!

From Oban it was a bit of a hop up along and around Loch Fyne (avoiding further resistance to more Oysters) to Inver restaurant with rooms. And when I say rooms what a gift. The accommodation is actually in shepherds huts in the grounds.

And the view from that window is something else.

A living screen of beauty. Certainly never seen anything like it. The lady that brought us breakfast in a basket this morning

Actually said that someone has asked where the TV was!! Wake up and literally smell the coffee! Apart from a couple of episodes of Have I got News For You TV hasn’t really featured in our lives for the past four weeks and it hasn’t been missed. It’s so easy to get into the habit of just having it on for the sake of something to do.. again wake up and smell the coffee.. appreciate what there is around. Digression and contemplation alert. There is something, as mentioned in the last blog, in life about a grateful and mindful appreciation of what we have around us. So I can’t let this pass without saying thank you to the people that have made this happen. We have worked hard for everything that we have and it’s taken a large amount of effort on both of our parts. We are the legacy of what has gone before and our respective parents instilled in us an appreciation of nature as well as supporting us ( probably at times at their own cost and detriment with a tireless and un-compromised commitment ) to follow our dreams and achieve our ambitions in life.Without them our lives would have been very different and I wonder whether we would have ever done this so thank you.

Anyway back to the matter in hand..

In honour of Emma’s birthday meal we had a lovely evening and can heartily recommend Inver Restaurant to any foodies. There is a real emphasis here on sustainability and foraging and it’s well worth the drive in via a good few miles of single track roads. It was also nice to have a bit more space. Pleasingly though we were still on the same floor as the bathroom and we do really wonder how we will manage the stairs when we get home and will need to be very mindful that the toilet is actually going to be more than 4 metres away – might need an extra level of preparation for that one!

We even managed a drink outside before eating a fabulous meal. Happy Birthday Emma!

The second (or third if you count the teabags) close shave was when the window cleaner appeared at 10.00 this morning.. it was a close shave for him not us, I feel I should just be clear about that. Thankfully Emma was in the loo and I was making a cup of tea which saved him the embarrassment of seeing two middle aged people (one now significantly younger, at least in his mind, thanks to the Turkish barber) laying in bed admiring the view! I can’t help but feel it would have been like one of those real life nature programmes for the poor sod!

Talking of TV programmes we did wonder whether there might be a whole spin off series.. put two people in a 6 x 2.5m metal box for a month and see what happens. To be fair we both think we’ve done ok. We’re both still alive and still married so we’ve done something right… it’s been a blast and we are now blasting our way across the most choppy waters we have been on to the Isle of Gigha for our final two nights. Hoping for the rain to stop and the forecast winds to ease enough to get out and about tomorrow.. if the wind doesn’t drop, of course, we could end up marooned again and now that would be a travesty.. watch this space!