Sunday August 4

Today I set off to travel the western side of Loch Lomond and do a circular trip that included travelling along Loch Long. I am afraid to say that good road signage does not seem to be as important as making sure the signs have Gaelic as well as English on them. Consequently, I took a wrong turn twice before I really made any progress and once later on. At one point a road was closed but I saw no signs saying this, just some "Diverted Traffic" signs later on!

I had filled up with petrol at the Morrisons store in Dumbarton, £52 worth! Petrol is more expensive here that in New Zealand and that makes no sense at all. I got it at £1.359 per litre, equivalent to about $2.72 in New Zealand terms. I have seen it as much as £1.45 per litre (NZ$2.90). I also got a prawn and egg roll for lunch!! The weather was fine with plenty of sunshine and varying amounts of cloud during the day.

 

So I finally found a road that made some sense and I was travelling the round trip by the reverse route but no worries. I travelled part way along a sea loch called Loch Long and then had to take a roundabout route because of a road closure coming back to the loch at a place called Garelochhead. Here there is a large British Royal Naval Base and further on a lot of MOD land.

 

The views of and across the loch are beautiful as there is a backdrop of mountains in many of them. The road was narrow and windy but it was a lovely drive with few cars. I stopped at a small place for a coffee (Arrochar) and drove down to the head of Loch Long to drink it. It was at this point I made my second mistake with no signage but when I realised I was going around Loch Long I knew it was the wrong road. The trouble is that many Scottish roads are so narrow with few turning places!!

Finally, I was on the right road and was soon driving down the other side of Loch Lomond. There were some spectacular views both along and across the loch to Ben Lomond. I wanted to stop at a place called Luss to have a break and find somewhere to eat my late lunch. What a good choice this turned out to be! I parked my car at a local Hotel as I thought I would have a coffee there afterwards.

 

I walked through the village, such pretty cottages with many lovely gardens. I then found myself at the pier with a lovely sandy beach beside it. It was such a pretty setting and I waked as far as we were able to. There were a lot of people enjoying the afternoon by the loch, obviously a well-known place and I spoke with a few of them as I wandered along. I might add that the midges were also in attendance!!

 

There were ducks on the water as well as a large family of cygnets with their mother!! I shared the top half of my roll with the cygnets and they even ate from my fingers, I think their mum was a bit worried but they are obviously used to being fed!! It is such a lovely place!!

 

After a couple more photos including one of Ben Lomond with no cloud cover I headed back to my car. The coffee in the Hotel was excellent and I then headed back to Dumbarton, my base to catch up on things and get ready for the last day of my holiday.

I have had a fabulous time and want to return to Scotland again, there are still places to be explored!! However, I am ready to go back home and see my Honey, it will be good to sleep in my own bed again! Tomorrow, I will fill the car up again and then walk from the Hotel to Dumbarton Castle to explore that.