A long long way away, in a far away land, there stood a castle.......

Castle Stalker could be reached at low tide. Fortunately for the inhabitants of the castle, the tide was never very low otherwise they would have been inundated with visitors. The two of us!

It's been there since the 1300's and it seems amazing that someone still lives there - though there were no lights on when we walked past. Maybe they'd popped out for takeaway or to pick up a pizza for dinner.
It's an amazing structure sitting on its own wee island.
On the mainland opposite there was a boatshed with rail lines heading into the sea for the boat to go across to the castle.
Not the usual way to bring home the groceries.

We had been in Port Appin for just on a week and the weather hadn't been kind to us. Apparently in Scotland on average they receive 10 feet of rain each year and I think we've had it all in this one week.

One of the best things we discovered while staying in Port Appin was just how fabulous the UK health system is.

I had reason to visit the medical centre due to a small problem with my ear.
Did I have to wait.....Well I had just made myself comfortable and was flipping through a magazine full of photos of Wils & Kate when I was called in. Could I just take the magazine in with me....... Possibly not the done thing to do.

Well to spare readers the tedious details, the doctor told me to call back later that afternoon after she had done some further investigations or as you say 'ring a specialist friend'.

Chris and I returned to our little cottage for a cup of tea and a bit of lunch. While sipping on a cuppa who should arrive at the door ..... the doctor.

We invited her in and she sat down for a chat and a cup of tea.
It was good news all around, for me and for all those lucky people in the UK who benefit from such a personalised service at no extra cost to themselves.

Below - photos of the Port Appin area on the west coast of Scotland.

 

Boat Tracks

Jubilee Bridge - footbridge over boggy ground

Boggy Ground

Castle Stalker

Camera Shy

Don't shake the bridge!

Down a country lane

In search of the pot of gold!

We finally had a sunny day and thought we'd visit the Isle of Lismore.
This week we'd been staying in a wee cottage in Port Appin, a quiet village on the loch, south of Fort William, on the western coast.
Across from where we were staying is Lismore and to get across to the island you caught a passenger ferry for £3 from the pier.
The day we went we shared the voyage with two Scottish terriers.

At the pier, from which the ferry left, there was a gorgeous hotel where the rich and famous wined and dined.

We had called in there a few times during the week, on the pretense to have a drink, but really it was to get wifi access.
We'd watched and envied guests partaking in fabulous meals. It had the reputation of being one of the best seafood restaurants in Scotland.

Each time we arrived there was a roaring fire creating a very convivial atmosphere. We'd met a lot of people, all very friendly.
One afternoon, I'd indulged in the most delicious fruitcake served with butter, very scrumptious and yummy. A whole new way to enjoy fruitcake

I was there tapping away at the ipad, one night, when one of our new found friends bought in some of his entree for Chris to try - blood pudding with scallops on a pea purée - appetising heh!
Unlikely as it seems after a 'taster' like that........... Well er, we decided we'd splurge on a meal at 'The Pier'.

Check out the photos below.......those red things that I'm eating are langoustines - Scottish equivalent to a prawn. They are red to begin with, unlike Australian seafood which turns red after cooking.

Anyway to return to Lismore - a very green isle where apparently a lot of people had left their motorcycles in search of a pot of gold. They must have found it because the motorbikes looked pretty abandoned.

Highland Colour and Scottish Buses

Autumn in the highlands is magnificent, copper, red, orange tones with carpets of golden leaves.

Every so often when we are out driving I call out to Chris to 'stop'. It seems to be around every corner there's another fabulous photo waiting to be taken.

I've been doing this so often lately that I've a sneaking suspicion that Chris is beginning to ignore me.

My suspicions were confirmed recently when we were on a roundabout in Oban. Seeing a bus speeding towards us I shouted out 'stop'.

Chris didn't and neither did the bus.

For a moment there I thought well this is it, the gruesome finish to a fabulous
holiday.

Fortunately for me, since I was closest to the bus, they both came to a stop within inches of each other.
I looked up to see a very angry bus driver cursing us.
I looked across to see a very white faced Chris.

Lesson No 1 - bus drivers don't give way to drivers on roundabouts over here in Scotland.

Bus drivers on the highway also have their own set of rules. If you are not driving as fast as them they will toot or flash you to get you to pull over, even if you are driving at the correct speed.

Scottish Bus drivers appear to have either an unusual sense of humour or no sense of humour altogether.

On catching a bus while in Edinburgh I asked the driver for change. "Nay, I don't give change". Thinking he was have a joke with me, I asked again - he pointed to the sign NO CHANGE GIVEN

Lesson No 2. - Always ensure you have the correct money when catching buses in Scotland.

Compassion, yes they have plenty of that. One night, Chris was returning home from a rugby match south of Edinburgh. The bus driver instead of waking him up to get off, let him sleep all the way to Glasgow. How considerate is that!