Good evening all. Well I am on the Isle of Arran. I have told you that we visit here as we have family here and usually camp in Lochranza, it is always in the summer. We had an unexpected invitation to come over to a family birthday and reunion, after booking leave, the cat into the cattery, a self catering cottage, leaving at 7.30am, ferry over, 7.5 hrs travel, here we are! We have a lovely little cottage for a few nights, fully furnished, it's just lovely and with a bottle of red wine and some fresh flowers on arrival! On reading the guest book, many birds and red squirrels come to the garden, where is my bird food, at home! Well I packed everything I thought we would need! We met up with some family on the ferry and took them home, on the way one shouted, there is a huge bird sitting on that rock, it must have been a buzzard the other said, no far too big, I think it was the Golden Eagle!! My eyes are going to be peeled, hopefully I will get a few photos of some birds, wildlife and the views and post them when I get home. Lovely run down and over, dry, no wind, rain, snow, ice so fingers crossed!
Good evening all, just a quick update before beddie bies for an early start tomorrow! Have had a great week here, weather mixed but on the whole nice with good spells of sunshine. Packed for leaving, well hopefully we will be leaving tomorrow! What are the statistics of ferry problems two Saturday's running. You can get here via a small half hour ferry (20 cars) by coming all the way down the west coast, road is a bit twisty and it is a longer run or the main A9 + M8 for the bigger ferries ( approx 76 + 110 cars) that are an hour long. We had booked the 5pm sailing last Saturday, on arrival at 3pm were told that that ferry had broken down, but as we were early the 3pm was boarding and if there was room we could get on, no such luck, 5 cars in front and the boat was full. So we had a 3 hour wait until the 6pm sailing. Fine, we got that crossing and got here shortly after. Now tonight on having our last evening wth our relatives, she said l have bad news for you! What now. Tomorrow we are booked on the 11am crossing but that now is not running, as the boat has a crack on the main ramp! It is running all day tomorrow but for passengers only. As the second boat is smaller it will prioritise bookings on the two ferries tonight and the early one in the morning, great! We have a 7 hour journey once we hit the mainland, so later on in the day is really not great to be leaving. So, we are hoping to get the wee ferry at 9.30am, you don't need to book, so we will be early and hope and pray that everyone that has booked ferries are all going south so they will not all be waiting to cross when we get there!! Watch this space.
Once I get home I do have some photos for you.
Oh dear, that's not the sort of hassle you need at the end of a holiday. It's not just airlines that mess thing up. I hope you make it home safely in the end. Looking forward to your photos.
Am liking the fact that you posted an update CL but not the content ... fingers crossed you have a decent journey home!
Lynn L said: Good evening all, just a quick update before beddie bies for an early start tomorrow! Have had a great week here, weather mixed but on the whole nice with good spells of sunshine. Packed for leaving, well hopefully we will be leaving tomorrow! What are the statistics of ferry problems two Saturday's running. You can get here via a small half hour ferry (20 cars) by coming all the way down the west coast, road is a bit twisty and it is a longer run or the main A9 + M8 for the bigger ferries ( approx 76 + 110 cars) that are an hour long. We had booked the 5pm sailing last Saturday, on arrival at 3pm were told that that ferry had broken down, but as we were early the 3pm was boarding and if there was room we could get on, no such luck, 5 cars in front and the boat was full. So we had a 3 hour wait until the 6pm sailing. Fine, we got that crossing and got here shortly after. Now tonight on having our last evening wth our relatives, she said l have bad news for you! What now. Tomorrow we are booked on the 11am crossing but that now is not running, as the boat has a crack on the main ramp! It is running all day tomorrow but for passengers only. As the second boat is smaller it will prioritise bookings on the two ferries tonight and the early one in the morning, great! We have a 7 hour journey once we hit the mainland, so later on in the day is really not great to be leaving. So, we are hoping to get the wee ferry at 9.30am, you don't need to book, so we will be early and hope and pray that everyone that has booked ferries are all going south so they will not all be waiting to cross when we get there!! Watch this space. Once I get home I do have some photos for you.
What bind the wait for the ferry....
Still, looking forward to the photos when you get back.
I'm so sorry to hear about the ferry hassle and all the problems Catlady and do hope you manage to get on this morning and continue to have a safe drive home; sounds exhausting to me so have a good rest once you get home. Fingers crossed for you but sounds like you had a wonderful holiday stay and catch up with family members.
Hope you are home safe and sound Catlady, sounds very haphazard that journey, but that is island life for you I suppose. I would have been tempted to stay another week anyway, sounds a lovely island to spend time exploring.
A very quick update from one tired CL. Left at 8.30am and arrived home 7.45pm, phew, both exhausted! A lovely drive, but twisty, the scenery as always was stunning. Got the wee ferry, 9th in the queue so hubby was pleased about that. Will get the photos on in the next few days, thanks for all the nice comments. Away for a lovely cuppa, Night night!
So pleased to hear you are safely back CL, catch up soon!
Thank for the update and good to hear you are safely home Catlady but what a long and tiring journey, albeit a pretty one ! Hope you are having a a good rest and long lay in bed this morning as you sure deserve it. Look forward to the pics .........but only once you have recovered from that epic trip home !
Glad to hear you had a safe but long journey home CT, and you deserved that cuppa looking forward to your pictures.