Island Hopping Part 2 - Arran

We leave Edinburgh to freeze itself rather than us on Wednesday morning. We have to drive nearly 2 hours south-west to Ardrossan to catch the ferry that will take us island bound again.
We pick up our second hire car, a Vauxhill (Holden) Insignia. It's a sedan rather than an SUV but it has an enormous boot. All our rubbish fits well and off we go...

The ferry ride was the smoothest one yet, very tranquil. Funny thing was we arrived quite early to board the 1.50 pm ferry, so we lined up with everyone else. It wasn't long before they started loading the cars, which I thought was a bit early. Anyway..... we went upstairs to find a seat and were surprised to find the place nearly full. We eventually sat at 12.25pm and next minute the departure warnings were being made and we were on our way. It's only 12.30pm! Are we on the wrong ferry? Well yes and no....Yes we're on the ferry to Arran just the one before  our scheduled one. No wonder we can't find the rest of our travelling party. We chatted to 3 nice young Bangladeshi boys from London. They were doing a day trip to Arran and were having a ball. They had beers and whisky and big smiles.

First stop the Isle of Arran. This is so different from the barren islands of the Outer Hebrides.

As we approach we can see green fields and lots of trees, much softer.












Our hotel, The Douglas, in Brodick, was right by the ferry terminal and looked very good online. It was even better in real life. Really comfortable large rooms with modern bathrooms which is a bit unusual in these out of the way places.



The Hotel

Our Room



 







The others arrived on the later ferry and checked in.....let the party begin.

Oh, but wait, Sascha and Julie have to unpack. It could be a long time till Beer o'clock...

Beer o'clock did arrive and we sat in the sun outside. Haven't been able to do this often on this trip, so we're really soaking it up. We all had dinner together in the hotel dining room and the food was exceptionally good as can sometimes not be the case.
The next day we did our own independent things sightseeing and joined up to walk to a local restaurant. Wow, wow, wow. They smoke their own salmon and specialize in fish....You decide.....

Oven baked Sea Bass

Bouillabaisse

Scallops with Creamy Curry Sauces




 

They also had one of the innovative things I've ever seen. It arrives to the table as a tablet . Put it in water and it converts to a refresher towel.