Arran 2018 - Day Four

Sunday morning and time for a boat trip over to the Holy Isle - all bar John D, as dogs - and alcohol - are not permitted as it is the home of a Buddhist retreat. We drove over to Lamlash to check on the ferry times:

Departure time - "12-ish"!

Ferry sounds a bit grand - this was what was waiting for us:

It transpired that it was another vessel that took us over there, although the one above is the one that brought us back.

Our time on Holy Island was limited as the last ferry back was at 3 pm. Ken had hoped to go over the top and complete the circular walk back along the coastal trail, but it was soon apparent that there was insufficient time to complete this walk, particularly given that all the guide books warned of dangerous, precipitous paths down from the hilltop. In the end, it was a choice of a straightforward walk up the hill and back down again the same way or simply do the coastal trail out and back. It ended up an even split with 5 doing the climb and 5 the coast.

First of all, we had to have our introductory talk in front of the big house:

The coastal walk had plenty of points of interest - caves, rock art, Soay sheep, Eriskay ponies, Saanen goats, a buddhist retreat and lighthouses (2). Stewart fell at the first hurdle - literally:

The rest of us were a bit more careful as we checked out one of the caves:

Some of the other sights:

Rock art

Saanen goat

We think the so-called "tents" referred to above were these buildings, which looked very like upmarket holiday homes:

The 2nd lighthouse on the walk - the square one.

 We had distant views of shadowy Ailsa Craig:

We trooped back to the cafe/shop for tea and biccies, awaiting the return of the hill-climbers - and the ferry, of course. Ironically, the summit of Goatfell had been visible intermittently today:

The climbers at the top of Mullach Beag - minus photographer John

All together now, it was time to absorb some of the spirituality on sale in the cafe/shop:

It seemed a bit cooler on the return ferry:

Guess who actually bought a gift in the shop?

 The stats for the day's coastal walk:

Back at our hotel, some gathered to watch the Everton match before dinner. It was our last evening so it was traditional to share a dram after dinner - minus Messrs McWhinnie and Williamson, who wandered off to bed: