Wk 4 – Scotland 2 Northern Ireland

Mon 6 – Sat 11 June
Skye, Oban, Glasgow, Belfast, Londonderry

Mon 6/6 – Portree to Oban -235klm

It was a beautiful day and we’re 0n the road early as we have a ferry to catch. Now this was a change from my original plan because I’d met a Scots biker bloke in Gairloch who’d suggested my previous plan was for mere tourists and we couldn’t be classified as that now could we. Hence the altered plan – he also hinted that our Oban 2 Glasgow route was for sissies as well. What is it with these Scots, they have the sweetest way of insulting you in a language that’s a little odd. (Note from Editor who is constructing this in Donegal, Ireland – but nowhere near as odd as the Irish)

So we left Portree on a hastily planned route that had us calling into Iselornsay where we observed some folk who had their priorities in perfect order as they came ashore from their anchored yacht.

We continued on to the ferry terminal at Armadale arriving early enough to beat the queues for both position and coffee. I’d previously booked the ferry.

The 20 minute ferry crossing was full to capacity and quite uneventful except for the very sudden, very loud and very low fly by of an F-35b Lightning of the Royal Airforce. This abrupt wake up call was no doubt in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee which was in full swing at the time. Actually this one’s Australian but as close as I could find on Google.

The rest of the day was without incident and also without a lot of interest apart from being a very pleasant ride on lovely motorcycle roads that were virtually vehicle free.

We stopped at Strontrian for a brew then took the 5 minute free for motorcycles Corran Ferry across Loch Linnhe before crossing the quite striking Connel Bridge which is a cantilever bridge that spans Loch Etive. It was opened around 1905 and originally used for rail only before having a roadway added in 1914 with the bridge being effectively operated as an extended level crossing with gates. In 1966 the bridge was converted for the exclusive use of road vehicles but still requires traffic lights at each end because it is so narrow.

And so to Oban with its population of some 8,000 souls that triples in the holiday season. Nestled on a near perfect horseshoe bay in the Firth of Lorne and protected by islands all around, Oban is beautiful with its majestic Victorian mansions / hotels / holiday homes promenading along the shoreline. There is also a constant flotilla of ferries servicing the many outlying islands.

Tue 7/6 – Oban to Glasgow – 200klm

With overcast conditions we go through the, what is becoming the norm, practise of donning our Dainese rain pants. These are light weight, compact 100% waterproof pants. Now you may be wondering why I keep banging on about this, but for those of you not from Australia you need to understand that it is quite a rare thing for us because it’s mostly dry where we come from, and so having to kit up in wets is not normally part of our riding experience. So now I’ve got that out of my system let’s move on.

To Kilmartin where we stopped for a brew. With it’s many standing stone circles and such this is quite a popular area for many on the quest of meaning. I’ve been there and done that.

We then followed the western shore of Loch Fyne to Inveraray where I bought a Hoggs of Fife Countrysport flannel shirt to commemorate our Scottish sojourn – it wasn’t cheap.

Crossing Aray Bridge (above) on the way out of town I spied the picture perfect Inveraray Castle. This is a Google image as there was nowhere to stop.

But this is my own. Garron Bridge is an elegant single stone arch bridge, built in 1748 it crosses the Gearr Abhainn at the head of little Loch Shira, an inlet of Loch Fyne a couple of miles north of Inveraray

Below is Butter Bridge built in 1745, it originally carried a military road into the heart of the Highlands to keep those troublesome Scots under control.

And so to Glasgow via the beautiful Loch Lomond and the Erskine Bridge over the River Clyde.

Wed 8/6 – Lay Day in Glasgow

Yep, it’s still raining, and we’re still smiling as we do the mandatory walk around Glasgow. And a truly lovely city it is.

Nothing but diamonds and very expensive watches in Argyll Arcade.

Before watching Tom Cruise save the world, again, at the boutique Everyman Cinema where they serve you hot chocolate and cake – free, but it’s only one session a month. How good is that.

We’d booked a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour. We sat on the open top deck in the drizzle with our umbrella, but we did get to see it all on this bleak day.

Thu 9/6  – Glasgow to Belfast

Come on, look at those skies. Move on Larry.

Paisley Abbey with Paisley Town Hall behind it.

And what is left of Kilwinning Abbey which was founded in the late 1100s and ‘cast down’ following the Protestant Reformation of 1560, though its magnificent south transept still stands nearly to its full height today.

To little Girvan Harbour.

It was still raining as we caught the afternoon ferry to Belfast.

Bye Bye Scotland. Thanks so much for the pleasure, we loved every minute of you, rain and shine.

Fri 10/6 – Lay Day Belfast

Belfast’s majestic City Hall.

And the obligatory Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour.

I find the whole story of Belfast to be quite heartbreaking. I’m in no place to make comment but it does anger me that religion is often blamed, but the truth is that true religion has, and never has had, anything to do with it. In fact, from where I stand, true religion is its only answer.

Hens Party Belfast style – pedal harder girls.

Sat 11/6 – Belfast to Londonderry – 215klm

On the road early today, there’s a lot to see.

Carrickfergus Castle, built in 1177 and has seen its fair share of sieges. Not the best of pics – it’s hard to get good photos in the rain 😢

This could be interesting – on the hard next door.

Now TomTom has generally been very good 99.9% of the time. Our next effort was the .01% when it failed, and that possibly because I’d set a wrong perimeter.
Anyway we ended up here, which looked dubious to start with on a 10% slope but deteriorated to deep gravel which isn’t the desired surface for a heavily laden touring bike. The upshot is that we came to a dead end before TT said sorry and took us back from whence we’d come. It’s a whole lot steeper than it looks, but going back up was easier than going down. The scenery was nice 😃

One way.

Cushendun. That’s a pretty bike hey, even if its not a Moto Guzzi.

Speaks for itself. At least it was assessable whereas The Giants Causeway just up the road was awash with buses and people and officialdom. It was also bucketing down so we left it on our right.

But not before popping into nice little Ballintoy Harbour in it’s comparative seclusion squashed between Northern Ireland’s 2 most famous tourist attractions.

Through Portrush which was very busy also and onto Portstewart where we propped at the old Rock Castle which was originally built in 1834. The castle was sold to the Dominican Sisters in 1917. Wikipedia says that the College “is concerned not merely with imparting knowledge and skills, which have their place, but, more importantly with training pupils to think, to evaluate and to make decisions.”
We had a brew and admired some brave person’s proclamation – go you good thing.

It started to rain in earnest so we pushed on to Londonderry with its city walls built between 1613 and 1619.

We really liked Northern Ireland and its busyness and party and beauty. But we couldn’t escape the sadness of the sense of an underlying vengefulness. For a country that has a ridiculous amount of monuments to Jesus Christ, those who control this place don’t know a damn thing about Him. It distresses me to be quite honest.

Tomorrow we’re heading south to Donegal – looks like rain 😜