Isle of Bute  Friday 16^th October 2015

 

We travelled by car with the tandem in the back until we reached Gaurock. The shortest route is from Wemyss Bay but it is undergoing repairs. From Gaurock to Rothesay takes an hour by boat and we decided it was as cheap to take the car as it would be to leave it for the weekend in a carpark.

The larger than expected ferry should have left at 2.55 but it was late. There were quite a few cars and we sat inside with lovely sunny views to the side. This ferry has a designated area for people travelling with pets and despite the large signs saying so we had inadvertently managed to plant ourselves amongst all the dogs. We felt rather out of place as owners compared pooches and swapped titbits. It did get quite noisy and we could have moved but it was interesting to watch how they all interacted- from great danes down to poodles.

It is beautiful scenery down the Firth of Clyde and the sea was like a millpond.

We disembarked at Rothesay and after a short ride we found our B and B for the weekend. The Boathouse overlooks the harbour in a terrace of Victorian buildings. Our room has a sea view from a huge bay window.

 We were a bit disappointed with the lack of choice for eating out seeing as we were in the main town but we plumbed for the Victoria hotel. The food was nice enough but the atmosphere was a bit “stuffy” and I got a bit tired of the waitress from somewhere in the EU who maybe was trying to use her limited English but ended up telling us off for leaving some “healthy” vegetables. Perhaps she was a dietician the amount of times she used the h word!

We had hoped to have a really dark sky but unfortunately the street lights were really bright. It did seem that Bute was going to be a really pretty place though.

 

Saturday

After hearty breakfasts including porridge, haggis and black pudding-  for which I was very grateful later on as places for refreshments were sparse after the town, but our waitress friend would have been horrified-we left under a blue sky and the sun trying to vaporise fog over the sea and mainland. The isle of Arran seemed to be surrounded in mist most of the day with just the highest land floating on top.

The views all day have been fantastic. We set off towards Mount Stewart which we would have liked to visit but it is closed from the beginning of October. Despite this we thought we might have a glimpse if we rode down the long drive to the visitor’s centre passing orchards with apples still on the trees. We didn’t even spot a chimney so the estate must be vast.

Back on the road with the sea towards our left we carried on till the track for St Blane’s church. There is no proper parking for cars. We could lock the bike against a fence- not that we think Bute in any way a crime spot- but we do wonder if parking here is a problem in the summer. It was a 20 minute walk up a fairly steep hill where there is part of a ruin of the 14^th century church with fragments of 11^th century monastery walls dotted about. The light through gossamer mist gave the site a magical feel and we didn’t regret the walk though it was much harder walking back down the hill.

Back along the lane to the road we saw the huge rock formation that is the fortress- Dunagoil and we lingered a little while this time. It is a place steeped in history with marked paths for walking. I would have liked to have seen the caves there. As we looked I was sure I saw a large fin pass in the sea behind the fortress. We had been told to look out for basking sharks.

Moving on we passed an airfield- literally a field with a wind sock- and standing stones then more sea views till we reached Scalpsie Bay. There is a small car park with bike places here but there was only a motorcycle. We followed the path through the fields to the bay hoping for sightings of seals. There was a route marked on a sign with a map but we were unsure how far it was and it meant us disturbing the sleeping motorcyclist on the sand in the sun. We went the other way admiring the pink rock, looking like rose quartz, scattered over the shell strewn beach.

A couple of women were also trying to seal spot and the motorcyclist sat up and started playing a composition on a guitar. As we came closer he broke out into a rendition of “Here comes the sun” and I couldn’t help myself from joining in- he was good! In the sea we saw the dog like heads of several seals skimming over the water before diving.

We needed to press on so we carried on up to the custom made viewpoint, a platform fenced and gated looking out to sea. There were several people on it with binoculars getting excited. We could see a fin and when we looked through the glasses we could see the long outline of the basking shark, silvery where the sun hit its huge shape. We were lucky!

Keeping as close to the coast as we could down to Etterick Bay we took a footpath cum cycleway. We had to get off the bike for the sandy bits and our pedals got caught in the tussocks of grass- not really suitable for bikes but it was nice to be closer to the sea. This took us down to the only refreshment place outside towns (of which there are 2) a beach café. It was bustling with people and although a simple sort of shack it had waitress service and the cakes were to die for. Everything was homemade and we learned later that it was owned and run by a man in his 80s who works 7 days a week. What a gold mine!

Here we turned and rode across Bude past St. Colmac and more standing stones. Then came the Marina, Kames Bay and we were on the other side- there were no roads up to the tip of the island from Ettrick Bay.

After 5 miles we reached the other ferry at Rhubodach which has a really short crossing, about the length of 3 boats I thought. Farmers used to send their livestock across the water here to the mainland at Colintraive. We passed Rhubodach Forest with paths for walking but it looked foreboding today. Perhaps in the summer!

We watched the ferry leave and then rode the 8 miles back to Rothesay passing the other town of Port Balletyne. We wanted to visit the Victorian toilets in Rothesay. It cost us £3 each and as there were no other gents around I was allowed in to see the marble urinals and glass cisterns of which there were many. Victorian ladies didn’t have public toilets  and these  decorated with ornate tiles must have been a statement of prosperity. It was well worth a look.

We ate at the Esplanade which was good for real ale and then we watched a fabulous sunset.

 

Sunday

This was a really friendly place and we’d certainly go again. We caught the ferry at 9.45 after walking round the castle noticing a heron on the battlements.

The ferry had left on time but this is often not the case. There was some cloud but still a bit of sun. At night we had noticed a ship lit up in what looked like fairy lights across the water. We had passed it on the way to Rhubodach and heard gunfire here. It belongs to the ministry of Defence and is where nuclear submarines fill up their tanks. Now on the ferry we pass by a line of 3 frigates( out of a possible hundred) on Nato exercise, each with its own police escort. Just one sports a union jack but they are devoid of markings, stark grey.

It’s strange to think that this lovely place is probably less than an hour from Glasgow.