#Oban

Day 87 July 24th. Oban and a wet farewell

luffin21 Comment

It rained cats and dogs last night. Everywhere was wet or steamed up, but too warm to put heating on to dry things out. Russell & Nicola wanted to see Oban so we caught the first water taxi across. It’s a busy town, and a main transport hub for this part of Scotland. We visited the chocolate shop and cafe, Oban Museum, and several shops, usual touristy stuff. A nice pub lunch, then a walk up to the colosseum, no we’re not in Rome, but there is a colosseum overlooking the town, known as McCaigs Tower.

The structure was commissioned, by the wealthy, philanthropic banker, John Stuart McCaig to keep the local stone masons busy during the winter months. McCaig died before it was finished and it now stands as a public garden.

Back on the water taxi to the boat for Russell and Nicola to pack for their journey home and us to say goodbye 👋. Scotland also bade farewell in typical fashion by pouring with rain. They probably got wetter going from boat to the water taxi than they’d been all holiday.

We spent the rest of the day rearranging the boat back to two person living. ie. spreading out again.

Tomorrow we make the short trip to Oban North Pontoons to enable us to re stock the boat ready for the journey south.

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Day 49 June 16th. A soggy day in Oban.

luffin22 Comments

For no reason in particular, we decided to spend the day in Oban. Now while most of you are basking in the sunshine on the south coast, we are enjoying some dismal weather. We awoke once again to the patter of rain on the roof. Even the locals are getting disgruntled with how cold it is this year.

Oban marina is not actually in Oban, but half a mile away on the Island of Kerrera. To get to Oban you have to get a ferry, to get a ferry you have to book it online, to book online you have to buy credits and the man that is taking the booking is also the boatman and is sitting 50 yds away in his office and will only still only take the booking online. So we book to go at 10.00 and a return at 1600. All good so far. Now the ferry runs every two hours so when we get on we ask, “if we want to come back early can we just turn up at the jetty”. Ah well, he replies, If nobody has booked for the 1400 run then the 1400 run, won’t run. So if you go online, cancel the return, get your credits back, book a new time, then the ferry will run. .

Anyway ferry politics aside, once ashore in Oban, we found another castle to visit, more of a ruined tower really, but it had a small museum, some very nice gardens and a garden shed nobly named “the kettle “, where a staff of two were on hand to serve coffee and cakes.. Afterwards we returned to town to the whisky distillery which unfortunately was fully booked, (probably saved us a fortune). So we consoled ourselves mooching round the shops and had a hot chocolate and cake before catching the return taxiboat to the marina.

We ate out in the evening at the marina resturant which doesn’t have to be booked online and where during the day you can get coffee and cake which you pay for on a honesty box basis.

Two very different approaches to running a business!

As I sit writing this blog, the wind is howling, the rain is lashing the windows and the boat is being buffeted about, could be a disturbed night, luckily we can lay in, in the morning.