Oban

Thursday, 12 September 2019

After two nights in Glasgow we are ready to head north.  Unfortunately the weather shows rain all day.  Fortunately, we plan on spending most of the day driving.  Unfortunately, we  are supposed to be driving through beautiful scenery that may be blocked by the weather.  Fortunately, we don't have any hiking planned for the day.

We checked out of the Glasgow apartment and started driving. By noon we reached "Rest-and-be-Thankful Pass".  This was named by the military unit that built and completed the original road up this pass.  The view was a bit foggy, but the rain temporarily stopped for us to walk around.

Our next stop is a seafood market where I bought some fresh smoked salmon.  Just before the market, we passed a sign advertising a brewery. We were about to turn in, but there was  larger sign that seemed to suggest they were only opened on Saturday.  After finishing at the market we decided to backtrack and see if they were opened.  Sure enough they were, so we of course had a flight.

Fyne Ales Farm Brewery, Cairndow, Scotland

While here, we had our first kilt sighting.

They had a pretty nice setup here.  Here I am showing off the two bottles we bought to enjoy later on.

The rain wasn't as bad as it could have been.  It rained for a while and then it would stop for a bit and then it would start again.  I guess it was better than a downpour all day.  We drove along multiple lochs (lakes) and drove by but didn't stop at the Inveraray Castle.

We were going to stop in the town of Inveraray, but as we drove through it didn't look too exciting, plus it was almost 2 PM and we had some other things we wanted to stop at before arriving in Oban.  Particularly, we wanted to stop at some ancient sites.  This area is littered with them.  Our first stop was Dunadd, a hill where a fort stood more than 1,300 years ago. 

From the parking, it just looked like a hill, but maybe there was more to it as we climbed it?  About halfway up, it still just looked like a hill, but it had a nice view.

Almost to the top.

We made it to the top and there was really little to see of the old fort.  We could make out some building ruins, an old well, and a rock wall here and there, but the view was worth the climb.

Towards the top, there was a rock with a footprint in it.  This replica of the original stone was supposedly where new kings were inaugurated by stepping in the footprint (size 6...same as me) and becoming one with the land.

Tim enjoying the scenery

A couple of miles up the road, we stopped at Dunchraigaig Cairn.  I think this was the first cairn we saw on this trip, so I didn't know what to expect.  Well..it is a pile of stones creating a round burial mound.

A short 10 minute walk across a field took us to Ballymeanoch where there were standing stones.  We like these much better than a cairn.

Just 1.5 miles later is the Nether Largie Standing Stones.  These are kind of cool.  There are 5 standing stones making the shape of an 'X'.  There I am standing on the middle stone marking the center of the 'X.'

One more really interesting site was just to in the next field from Nether Largie, it is called Temple Wood Stone Circles.  It is standing stones on a round field of rocks.

After having our fill of neolithic sites, we arrived in Oben with some blue skies popping out.  We checked into our AirBnB, relaxed for a bit, and headed into town.  Oben is pretty much a transportation hub with a huge ferry terminal that takes people to the Inner Hebrides Islands.  This is actually why we are here as well.  We will be visiting three of these islands tomorrow.

After a 15 minute walk, we arrived at the start of Rick Steves' non-walking tour.  This one he calls "The Burned-Out Sightseer's Visual Tour from the Pier."  Here we are on the "tour."

And here is what we saw from the pier.

This roman ruins looking thing looms above the town.  However, it is not ancient roman ruins, it was built around 1900 by a rich local businessman.  He died as it was being constructed and it was never finished.

After our "walking" tour, we went to a recommended fish shack and shared fish and chips and mussels.  We then stopped at the market on the way home to by some eggs and fruit.  Tomorrow we have to catch a 7:30 AM ferry, so I boiled up some eggs that we can take with us.

7:30 AM?!?  We better get to bed.