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Thursday 7th October 2004
For some reason the Rough Guide had something against Fionnphort. We couldn't really work out what. The place was just a few buildings, really. After the sun had gone, we went for a few drinks at the only pub, Keel Row (another of these cosy affairs . . . okay-ish beer, a huge selection of whiskies, open fire, blah blah blah) . . . and a couple of games of pool . . . although there was a five pound deposit. What's all that about, eh? Tell a lie, it was a five pound deposit for the cues, the white ball and the chalk. I can only assume in summer it's a hell of a lot busier. At least, that's what the staff were saying. But it was a cute little pool room . . . the cues had been specially cut down to size as the room wasn't quite big enough for the table. Then we went next door, to the only restaurant in Fionnphort . . . it was one building, really . . . you asked for a pint of beer and the waitress would pop next door and get it from the bar-man. I can't remember what I ate . . . though it might have been something fish based. Or was it gammon? Maybe Tarn had the fish. Oh, I don't know. So, anyway . . . after that, maybe we went back to the bar, maybe we went for a walk, looking at the stars. It was a fantastically clear night, I remember that. One of those nights where you could see the milky way. Then we went back to the pub . . . I think it was starting to cloud over. That picture there was taken at ten to one in the morning. Erm . . . and I lost my snood, Henry. It had just acquired that name too. Damn it. I got a new snood anyway now . . . this one's called Ken. So I don't know what happened to Henry . . . probably left at the pub, no doubt. Ah well. So, yeah . . . that sign . . . it's hard to make out, but it's basically a huge list beginning with the word, in red, 'NO'.
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So . . . the following morning . . . I had scrambled eggs laced with salmon for breakfast (oh, and just a little bit of haggis . . . mmmmm, haggis). Tarn had smoked kippers. We had to be out of the B & B by 10:30, so I had a quick shower and then we waited for the bus (back to Craignure), not due until 11:20. The first picture was taken at 10:57 during this waiting period. Why did I take a picture of an old Shell truck anyway? Maybe it was the colours . . . there's only so much blue and green you can take. So after a bendy journey to Craignure, we had a few hours before the ferry back to Oban 
(we were to stay at Oban tonight), so we dumped our bags at the tourist information and went for a wander. The picture above to the right there, taken at 12:54, must have been soon after we reached Craignure, I'm guessing. I was trying to capture that yacht in the distance. Perhaps we were trying to decide what to do in the time we had. That picture to the left there, that was taken at 13:10 . . . this must have been when we had set off . . . heading south along the coastline, vaguely parallel to the train track of a tiny gauge train service . . . you know, one of those freaky mini trains . . . steam/coal powered. Anyway, the idea was to head for Duart Point (and Duart Castle) via Torosay Castle.
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On our way, we bumped into some freaky creatures in a rock pool (13:35) and had to endure paths that almost weren't . . . clearly few people ventured this way . . . but it was worth it . . . eventually, we found this jetty set in this obscenely serene location . . . the sun was out, there was no-one around and I think the only sounds were that of the water lapping against the shore and the stone of the jetty. This was about ten to two. In the distance in the third picture from the left there, you can make out Duart Castle . . . a lot further away than it looked.
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Up those steps in the previous set of pictures above, we found another cross . . . 14:14. But anyway, we carried on walking and reached Torosay Castle at about 14:25. We had no money to pay the entrance fee, but it was Duart Castle we were after anyway . . . the Rough Guide made it sound far more interesting. Following the path out of the grounds of the castle and back to the A849 (the main road passing through Craignure), we passed this weird looking house (14:29) . . . I thought the colours looked kind of Mediterranean . . . well, okay, so it was just the terracota and that huge archway, now that I look at it. But hey . . .
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so yeah . . . I think we got to the end of that driveway and kind of wondered . . . wondered how much time we had left. The tourist information in Craignure, where our bags were . . . that would shut at 5pm, and it was like about half past two now. We looked at the OS map, we looked at our watches, we considered how long it took us to get here and we thought . . . naaaaah. So back to Craignure. We could see Duart Castle another time. First picture there, 14:38, and some cows.
and a road sign, and a road . . . blah blah blah . . . We carried along this road, dying for some pub food, maybe a pint of ale . . . the first pub we got to . . . more frigging rally cars and this guy outside telling us the pub was shut, and how disgraceful, but there was another one down the road, about a ten minute walk . . . such-a-such road house. Tarn would later say, "I guess he was the landlord there then." So we went to this pub and, bearing in mind we have no cash, we're like, "Do you serve food?" nope. erm . . . "And what's the minimum transaction on VISA you'll accept?" well, that'll be ten pounds. "Ah . . . so that's . . . " four pints of beer, maybe and some crisps . . . not really what we were after. So we left, and went to the Spar/Co-op thing and bought some food there. Sat on a bench, eating sandwiches, ginger beer, crisps and Iona cheese. Mmmmmmm.
 The ferry journey was a forty-five minute affair, leaving at 5pm. It was a gorgeous journey. Barely a cloud in the sky. This picture was taken at 17:16. I somehow wanted people in the frame, but not people looking at the camera, damn it. And I had so little memory left at this stage anyway . . . the fools. From the ferry, using our Rough Guide, we could just about make out the location of our respective buildings that we were staying at that night . . . close together, but still a ten/fifteen minute walk from the train station . . .
 
those pictures to the right there were taken at 18:08 and 18:09 respectively, but I needn't have bothered. The beauty was in the movement. The way the light changed, the sound the water made. But hey, it also looked kinda nice. It was a good sunset that night. Later on, after checking in, we went back to our favourite Oban pub . . . the Oban Inn, and spent most of the night there, having an excellent meal and much beer and whisky.
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