Arran birthday
Categories: places
Date: 05 June 2009 18:30:06
So, now that life has officially begun I feel, well, not much different really – creaky still, but I’ve been creaky for years! I had a lovely birthday, and feel very blessed and loved and cared for. The actual day itself (Wednesday) HD and I got up early and after opening my presents and cards we set off for the coast, Ardrossan to be precise, to catch the ferry to the Isle of Arran. I’d wanted to go there for ages and ages, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
Arran is the 7th largest Scottish island, and the 9th largest island surrounding the mainland (presumably the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight are the two non-Scottish islands that are larger). It is also just under an hour away from the coast, so very accessible for a day trip, although there was lots to see so it would be easy to spend a week there and not be bored, we could only scratch the surface really. After arriving in Brodick we drove around the north of the island (there is a road which circumnavigates the island), stopping first in Lochranza on the north-west of the island. It was a really lovely drive – the north is the more mountainous/hilly half of the island (Arran is often referred to as “Scotland in miniature” due to the similarity to the Highlands in the north and the southern lowlands) and I noticed that all the wild flowers seemed to be out – lots of purples and reds, it was beautiful. I should also mention that it was lovely and sunny – not as warm as earlier in the week, but still gorgeous.
Our first port of call was the Isle of Arran distillery at Lochranza – this is Scotland’s newest distillery, and it produces a light, non-peaty single malt whisky. We joined the tour round the distillery, and were also rewarded with seeing two golden eagles flying high over the nearby hills. At the end of the tour was a whisky tasting – as HD is the whisky connoisseur among us (I can generally take it or leave it, though the odd sip I can cope with) he particularly enjoyed that bit, and we also found one he particularly liked so that’s his birthday present sorted out : -) We stayed there to have lunch, and apart from the tea and coffee afterwards taking ages and ages to come, I’d definitely recommend it as somewhere for lunch – they use lots of local produce, and our various salad dishes came with huge chunks of Arran cheese (which we quite often buy from our local farmers’ market and already know we like).
From there we drove just a short way and parked up on the coast at Lochranza, and then took a brief walk to have a look round Lochranza castle, a ruined castle that was apparently the inspiration for a castle in one of the Tintin stories. We then carried on driving down the west coast road, through some villages until we reached Machrie Moor. On the moor are a series of stone circles so we walked to see all of them – in the background are Goatfell (Arran’s highest peak, not quite a Munro but not far off) and neighbouring peaks, so we had a beautiful backdrop as well as a pleasant walk. 
And on the way back of course we had a view over the water towards the Kintyre peninsula (although an island, Arran is surrounded down both east and west lengths by the mainland, thanks to Scotland’s interestingly shaped coastline!).
At that point we weren’t sure if we’d drive through the middle of the island back to Brodick for the ferry or if we’d carry on round the south. In the end we decided to do the southern coastal road, so that we could say that we’ve circumnavigated the island – we’ll just have to come back and explore the inside of the island a bit another time! We drove all the way round until we reached Lamlash, 4 miles south of Brodick, where we stopped for a quick drink and a walk. The bay at Lamlash is really pretty, featuring Holy Island (as with so many of the Scottish islands, and also (I think) Anglesey in Wales, islands with a smaller satellite island just off them often seem to call the satellite island Holy Island). Arran’s Holy Island is now owned by a Buddhist group who run retreats and things. We took a look along the sea front and harbour, before heading back to Brodick to catch the ferry. It was a really full day, and I think the only thing I had wanted to do but didn’t get the chance in the end was to look at house prices in an estate agent’s office! We 
noticed loads and loads of “For Sale” signs, so I was really curious to see what they’re going for (given that the house prices we saw on Cumbrae a few months ago were very tempting!). Unfortunately we never did find an estate agent, so that’s something else to look for, if we ever manage to get our broadband sorted out (it’s still not working and we’re still dongle-reliant, grrrr).
Sadly the day ended with me having a killer headache – all I can say is hooray for Migraleve which did wonders, but I was miserable and probably not very good company on the drive home from Ardrossan, it was a shame to end such a lovely day like that but there we go. Anyway I’ve got lots of lovely memories apart from the evil headache, it was a really lovely birthday, and 2 days later I can say that I don’t feel any more decrepit than I did beforehand : )
You’ll be unsurprised to know I took lots of pictures – here’s a link to a selection of them on flickr (if you’re a friend of mine on facebook you can see the entire 111). I’d definitely recommend Arran for a holiday, it was great for a day out but there was so much it would keep you going for a while.