Thursday 4th August 2022
Today we were going to continue going around the middle peninsula of the three Knapdale Peninsulas. There are no buses around here and so we will again be using my bike to retrieve our car.
We drove around to Balimore where we finished last night but down the west side of the peninsula because there is no connecting public road around the tip between Ellary and Balimore. (We did that walk there-and-back yesterday.)
We left the bike at Achnamara by the village hall and continued on to Balimore and left the car in the car park there. There had been rain overnight but it was a bright, clear morning with a gentle, cool breeze though the sea looked flat. The walk would be entirely along the road but the road is a very minor B road with passing places and we encountered very few cars.
The road descended gradually to the village of Kilmory which has no sign post to announce the village; just a finger post directing to Kilmory Chapel. As we passed through at 9.00 it all looked deserted though when I cycled back through the village at noon there were cars squeezed into passing places and lots of activity on the beach.
We had clear views across to Jura, though rain must have been in the air because there was a rainbow.
We passed Castle Sween which had the sunlight on it. It is part of the Ellary Estate and has a large holiday home park and so we did not venture any closer.
The road runs quite close to the shoreline and so we had quite good views all morning. We stopped for coffee and perched on some rocks above the beach.
Jill suggested that after coffee, it would be more efficient if I walked on at my own slightly faster pace to where we had left the bike and then head back up to retrieve the car. I pressed on and came into Achnamara at about midday. It took a few minutes to unlock the bike and pack things I didn’t want into my daypack and padlock it with my cycle-lock to a sign post.
I set off but I was only ¼ mile up the road before I met Jill. We had a brief exchange and I pedalled on since I had about 10 ½ miles to cycle back to the car.
The cycle was quite pleasant in the sunshine though a bit of a breeze had picked up and the surface of the loch definitely had waves on it whereas before it had been flat.
I was back at the car shortly before 13.00 and half an hour later I was back with Jill. We drove to the car park at Barnluasgan and left the bike there padlocked to a tree then drove back to Achnamara and parked the car by the village hall and started the 3½ mile walk to the end of the route at Barnluasgan.
The miles slipped by quite quickly with little of interest. Once back at the bike I hopped on and pedalled back to get the car.
It may seem a bit complicated using bike to get us between parts of the walk but it seems to have worked for us when buses are not an option and taxi firms seem to be non-existent.
The tiny village of Achnamara, where I left the bike first of all came to my notice the following morning as I was listening to Radio Four and happened to hear the racing tips when a horse called Achnamara was tipped to win at Newmarket. It came in fourth out of four. I hope that is not an omen.
Just Coasting 