Wednesday 11 May

​

We walked to Oban from the site, a distance just shy of 3 miles but we took the windy scenic route up and along the hills. Once we'd negotiated the boggy bits and climbs we were rewarded with stunning views across to Kerrerea and Mull beyond. We passed a bleached sheep's skull, and quite a few other bits of it as well scattered over a few feet. It's either been prey to something or its parachute didn't open. 

We could witter on about the views but by now I fear your tiring of endless descriptions of sunny hills and Lochs, besides I'm running low on adjectives and feel the need to re-stock before we hit the road again and head through to Glencoe.  Which we're reliably informed requires a whole new vocabulary. So for now lets content ourselves with our trek to to Pulpit Hill viewing point from which the  views were delightful.

On our decent we met some serious walkers, kitted out in khaki shorts, waistcoats with multiple pockets, hi tec walking hats and every other accoutrement the man in the shop could sell them. In-spite of all their  gear they were navigating from a map that was essentially an oval marked out in red dotted lines on a piece of white paper with Oban written on it. There was no indication of heights, distance or from what I could see landmarks. Nevertheless they were jolly and intrepid and after seeking directions from us set off in roughly the right direction with a jaunty determination to their stride. 

Oban isn't the most picturesque town, with a busy port ferrying people, goods and suchlike to the nearby islands but in the sunshine the waters sparkled and people went about their business in the slightly lethargic way that a blazing sun educes. 

We had our obligatory post walk cuppa where we watched a woman painstakingly move individual cakes in the display cabinet with tongs, taking great care not to come into contact with the tinyiest morsal. She then took step back, eyed them with a critical look and rearranged them by hand. 

After an amble about and an indulgent stop in the Chocolate Shop cafe we walked back along the road. By now we were both glowing pink from the constant sun, despite liberal applications of sun-cream, which didn't stop us sitting outside Mavis to enjoy the sunset back at our site.