Day 26, 12th June 2011, Tarbet to Oban
Today was a day when everything just hung together. We rode 103km, unusually on a plan today, to get to Oban tonight. We rarely determine a stop the night before, but this is a ferry port and the distance looked right.
Our host last night had met us at the door, and helped us with our wet gear. He took our wet shoes off to his drying room, and this morning presented me with my shoes, pronouncing them dry.
I rode today in soaking shoes.
The country is quite spectacular, huge towering hills and lochs.
Our host said that Loch Fynne was renowned for its oysters, so we stopped so Roz could sample some. I don’t do oysters for morning tea. She said they were superb.
We were on normal roads today, with some traffic, mostly light tourist vehicles and hundreds of motorbikes. I am still very impressed by the quality of the road engineering. The big hills we rode today were easy, with a very carefully calibrated grade of less than 5% for most of the time.
We arrived in Oban just before the tourist Information Centre closed for the night. B&Bs are often tucked away a bit, and we find the centres helpful in finding them. They charge 4 pounds. There are plenty that are visible on the main streets, but of course they get filled up quickly. So we checked in and had a chat with our hosts. Kenneth assured Roz that the oysters from Loch Fynne were rubbish and a rip off, and nowhere near the local standard. They kindly booked us into a restaurant on a little island in the bay, serviced by a ferry. We had some of their oysters and a nice seafood dinner that included a hefty charge for ambience. They served oysters of, according to Roz, no better quality and exactly the same price as Loch Fynne.
So far, we are finding Scotland somewhat easier than I expected. We are on a tourist route more or less, and that makes a difference. The quality of the roads, the riding experience, scenery, accommodation and food are all great.
We have seen numerous Australians and various Scots we have spoken to have also commented on the number of us around, probably reflecting the value of the various currencies.
We found ourselves talking last night about how we might round out our tour, as it dawns on us that the number of days is limited.
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