Tuesday 6th June 2023
We went to Arran today. The intention was to walk up a hill of 874m called Goatfell. I was a little nervous as I know my feet are shaky and I'm not walking (hills) fit. But we set off early in the dull but warmish morning. Scotland has 790 offshore islands and Arran is the largest one in the Firth of Clyde (estuary). It took us about an hour on the ferry to cross the water from the town of Adrossan and I'm still in awe of all this ferry business. I find it so exciting and it distracted my brain from worrying about the hike up the hill.
I was brave by not taking a warmer jacket but had layered on 2 long tops and oddly enough it worked. The dull cloud stayed overhead and blanketed the hill for most of the day until late afternoon when the sun dissolved it all. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and we walked along the sand beach up onto the golf course to get to the start of our walk. I lagged behind and heard my brother talking all the way and I knew he was fit to do that. As the path got more rugged, I started struggling and sweating and I realised that I was holding them back. I made the decision to turn back and investigate the castle rather.
Munching on cheese and bovril sandwich overlooking the Broderick Bay was very pleasant. I made my way down the boulders and thought of my Camino back in 2016 and how I'd managed it. Walking alone gave me much reflection time and I thought about my twenties being devoted to my sound operator job, my thirties -studying and complementary health, my forties - long distance running and my 50's most certainly traveling. I had lots of interesting thoughts and I realised that the downhill felt easier than my up and I was very grateful for the use of a walking stick.
I spotted the sign for the castle and turned off the main path and came across the cemetery. There were some notable graves of the Hamiltons and I'm going to have to do some research on them. I get so excited about graves that I sometimes wonder about myself, lol.
After a long wait at the bottom of the hill, in the comfort of the restaurant, Alfie and KJ arrived looking rather tired so I was very grateful to have listened to my body and not continue upwards with them.
A comedy of errors ensued with no buses, taking wrong paths and missed ferries, but the sun shone and we got back a lot later than we'd anticipated. I'm pooped now but a very happy pooped. Today I walked on land I've never walked on before. What an honour.
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