Loch Lomond etc - part II

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

and so to the second part of our weekend - and this time we were a bit more organised - we had a plan! We took the short drive north up the west side of Loch Lomond and parked at Tarbet, then waited for the 11:30 cruise across the loch to Inversnaid. This was a recommended route for walkers, called the West Highland Way Rambler II, which involved what they said was a 7.5 mile walk south to Rowardennan, where we would get picked up again and sail back to Tarbet. Here's Jo on arrival at Inversnaid:

Just a mile along the road we stopped at a little beach - Jo had to brush her hair - and we got invaded by midges!:

Further along, after a bit of a climb, there was a nice viewpoint:

We were a little surprised to come across these 3 wild mountain goats:

Time for lunch - and we found a lovely outlook, which even had a bench:

At the end of the walk, there's a strange modern sculpture:

Nice walk - and it stayed dry. All the stats etc on my hill-walking blog (http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/).

On Monday, we took the short drive over to Helensburgh, where we thought we would use our National Trust passes and visit one of their properties - The Hill House - designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh - but it didn't open until 1:30 pm, so we just had a quick stroll round their gardens:

Apart from the big houses on the hill, Helensburgh didn't look all that impressive to us, for an area that is renowned as key commuter territory for the Glasgow professionals, so we left and drove up past Rhu and Faslane - and the peace camp there - up the eastern shore of Loch Long and back to Arrochar again. We had hoped to find a nice tearoom somewhere, but there was nothing to be seen. We stopped in Arrochar and probably should have gone back to the Village Inn, but we thought we should try somewhere else for tea and coffee, and we spotted Ben Arthur's Bothy, which had an outdoor, shoreside area for drinks etc. It was pretty grotty, but we sat there and admired the views of the Cobbler opposite:

Wrong angle to see it properly, I'm afraid.

Here's another panorama shot of the area:

Then it was back to Cameron House to have lunch with Barry and Helen, after which Jo and I used the superb spa once again:

So that was it.

Loch Lomond etc

From http://ianrstewart.blogspot.com/

I'm back in my office today, but, if we hadn't been going to USA next Thursday, we could easily have stayed at the Carrick Club a bit longer than the 3 nights we enjoyed this weekend. Thankfully, Barry and Helen have now taken up residence there so our week hasn't gone to waste - hope they're enjoying the spa and the scenery as much as we did. It's certainly one of the nicest resorts we've ever stayed at.

Gary and Luca made good use of it on Saturday night too - and Carole would have loved it - if only she'd known beforehand what was on offer!

Our weekend started off with a very nice lunch break at the Drovers Inn, Memus. It's a bit off the main road, just before you get to Forfar, but it's well worth the trip - especially if the weather's nice, as it was on Friday afternoon. They have a lovely big, grassy garden where the kids can run around to their hearts' content. Jo was reading her book when I got back from the loo:

As we were well inland at this point, sat nav directed us cross country through Blairgowrie etc to Perth. It's a lot slower, but it appears we missed a major log-jam on the Dundee - Perth road, so it probably eased our journey a bit.

Our apartment was in the Mansion House at the Carrick and it had a huge living area, and it overlooked the 16th (I think) green of the Carrick course, which is already looking a lot more mature than when I played there a few years ago, not long after it opened:

 On Saturday morning, we drove over to the east side of the loch, up the narrow loch-side road until it stops at Rowardennan, where we got out the car and noticed the start of one of the trails up Ben Lomond. We hadn't planned anything, so weren't organised - no drinks, no food - but decided to start walking up the hill anyway. We took some detours, and then I remembered to switch on my GPS tracker, after almost an hour of walking. Eventually we got to about 800 feet, where Jo said "no more!", so we headed back down for some lunch. It got a little damp on the way down and Jo's neatly coiffured look took a bit of a beating:

We drove back to Drymen and had lunch in the Clachan Inn - very nice. Our first visit to the spa at the Carrick was later that afternoon, just before Barry, Helen, Dawn and Jordan came to pick us up and take us up to Arrochar for dinner at the Village Inn.

Gary and Luca were in Glasgow watching Partick Thistle beat Celtic in a friendly match, and we'd pre-arranged that they would join us for dinner. The look on Luca's face when he walked in to the restaurant and saw us, was, as the Mastercard advert says, priceless. His Dad hadn't told him he was meeting us there.

After eating, Luca and I crossed the road and went down the steps to the beach, which was covered in mussel beds. Luca just wanted to throw them back in to the sea "to give them a little drink"!:

Luca and Gary stayed with us on Saturday night and drove home in the morning - and that was the end of the first part of our weekend adventure.