Travel notes: sheep on a beach

(Top photo: House for an Art Lover. Bottom photo: Oban - from the ferry to Mull- taken by my partner)


We left an hour later than planned on the Saturday both secretly wondering whether it was going to be a problem that the boot and the back seat were full of luggage, camping gear and other equipment but both really excited...

First stop, Carlisle, our jumping off point to Scotland if you like. We were going to be staying with a friend I hadn’t seen in 8 years. We had a great time catching up and finding out what was new with our lives (quite a lot as you can imagine!) We went into the Carlisle that evening but I was so tired from the drive (and also lack of sleep from the night before) that we headed back after one drink. We’ve invited them down to London, hopefully they’ll come, and hopefully I won’t be so tired…!

We drove via Gretna Green (not the most inspiring place to get married in my opinion) and then up through Dumfries to our final destination for that day, Glasgow. We drove through the most spectacularly valley on the way to a village called Elvanfoot (the most magical place name ever!). Because we were the only car, I was safe to pull to a stop and just gaze up and around me. It was fantastic and a portent of the kind of scenery that would become an everyday fixture in our holiday lives.

We met a friend of my partner’s – unofficially her godmother – and she took us down to two festivals; one a street party, the other a Mela (big Asian festival). The atmosphere was terrific. Time was catching up though and we jumped back in the car to drive to the other side of Glasgow to stay with another friend and her partner. We ended a long and busy day with beer, gossip and good food.

By the time we had down some shopping in the city the next morning (we never meant to go shopping, honest…) we only had time for a gorgeous lunch and one of the two museums we had planned to visit. So we decided to take in House for an Art Lover that afternoon and Kelvingrove the next day. HfaAL was built in ’96 to the exact specifications of designs drawn up by Charles Rennie Mackintosh before his death (obviously before his death because that would be quite weird and black, we think, would have featured more heavily…)

It’s not that big a place (three rooms and a corridor full of information) but I suppose the upkeep of the house and grounds warrants the cost of entry. Anyway, it was quite interesting and I got some good photos (though I was cursing my lack of technical knowledge as I struggled with deep shadows and piercing shards of sunlight. Some photos did come out though.)

The next day was Kelvingrove a sort of Scottish equivalent of the British Museum and really worth a visit. It’s free to get in and the displays are fantastic; interesting, varied and very innovative. Where else would you get a full sized stuffed elephant called Sir Roger and an exhibition about violence against women rubbing shoulders?

We were on the road again afterwards, to Oban, where we would be camping for three days and as it turned out, where the most wonderful thing would happen…

The campsite was great! Small, picturesque and with fantastic and very clean facilities, it was 12 miles outside Oban and there was a bar serving food on site. I polished off steak and chips quite easily that night, not to mention three pints of Guiness...

The first day we drove into Oban, had a nice big breakfast, bought ferry tickets for a trip to Iona the next day and then pottered around the shops, buying a few presents for people. We found a lovely beach and sat in the sun for half an hour, marvelling at the beautiful islands and scenery visible off shore. Later we bought the ingredients for our dinner and then had one of the best meals ever back at the campsite (more impressive is that this gourmet feast - pumpkin ravioli, asparagus and cherry tomatoes – was made using only a camping stove and saucepan!)

It was up early the next day to get the ferry across to Iona, a beautiful and mysterious island where Columba (which is Latin for dove) arrived from Ireland, supposedly exiled after a terrible war in Ulster which its said he caused by plagiarising a book in a time when the ownership of books indicated power and wealth. Christianity had already arrived in Scotland but he was instrumental in spreading it still further and setting up the Celtic Church. To this day there still exists a religious community on Iona. The Reverend of which has recently argued in a very important meeting of the Church of Scotland that gay people enrich the church and the community and are as welcome to her church as any other member of society. Go lady vicar!

Anyway, back to our holiday! It’s a bit of a trek to get to the island: we drove to Oban, took a ferry to Mull, caught a coach through Mull, and then another ferry to Iona. But it was worth it! It was a blazing hot day and we walked through the island (a tiny place) with me snapping happily at the various cows and sheep we passed until eventually arriving at a beach of white sand and blue clear water. Sheep wondered past on the beach as if it was the most natural thing in the world and as we sat down, my partner got something out of her bag, went down on one knee and asked me to marry her. I said yes….