October 2024 Islay (Part 8 -- going home)

Day 8 -- Saturday, the 19th October

It is an earlyish start again. Our ferry is a couple of hours later than I thought, but, in order not to rush...

For breakfast, we empty our stocks: buttered toasts, cereals, and a roadkill banana that we found, intact, under the Arona last night. Soon enough, it is time to tidy up the place, load the automobile and depart.

It is a quiet drive to Port Ellen, on the old road. We are treated to a gorgeous sunrise, a fitting goodbye to this beautiful place.

...right?

We are at the ferry terminal with twenty minutes to spare. A long line of cars occupies the stand-by lane: the forecast for tomorrow is rough, and CalMac have advised to not travel tomorrow. In fact, they cancelled some crossings. Many are taking their chance to escape today, while they still can.

It feels about time to play Peat & Diesel - Island at last. By the time I finally think of that, we are called onto the ship, and the song plays out on the car deck.

We find ourselves a spot with a view We take great fun looking at the car-Tetris the CalMac people play below to pack in as many vehicles as possible.

We also rejoice we are not that grey Volkswagen that is made to come forward, only to be turned away two metres from the ship, because it is full. Aouch.

Yup, this one

Today, the crossing is a breeze. We spot gannets in the distance, while bidding the Kildalton triplets goodbye, then we go for a late full Scottish -- served by a slightly-grumpy crew.

The road trip from Kennacraig is pleasant enough at first. Rest and be Thankful is still accessible via a convoy, as it was on the way out, and the old road that we take is perhaps even more frightening on the way down than it was last week. In Arrochar, we know better than the satnav, and take the road to Helensburgh. It is a difficult road, single-track most of the way, but it is quieter than going along Loch Lomond, which is always a huge time sink. The military base at Faslane is rather impressive, by its size, if nothing else.

We fill the tank in Helensburgh and continue. From Dumbarton onward, it is the usual driving-in-Glasgow malarky: we make five mistakes, despite having satellite navigation, which adds around thirty minutes to our journey. Nae bother! We had contingency.

We drop off the vehicle well on time, and it is a breeze. It takes ages for our taxi to show up, but, once more, we reach the station comfortably on time. There, we meet up with DH who brought Tantrum doughnuts to ease the heartache we feel at leaving Scotland. Thanks.

Our train is delayed by a few minutes, but once in, it goes relatively well. The fracas of the city awaits. The adventure is over. :-(