So we arrived safely in Oban amid beautiful sunshine for 5 minutes, then the wind and rain picked up as we staggered the 1 mile to our boutique hotel. The hotel was warm and welcoming and our room had a sea/loch view if you stood far left of the window and twisted your head 90+ degrees. The antler chandelier was thankfully not real but the bed was comfy and the shower easy to operate, although the sliding doors to the bathroom didn’t always slide enough…
We headed out to eat at Coast – a lovely restaurant that had previously been awarded Michelin recognition. I had scallops and langoustines which were delicious. Husbant plumped for hot smoked whisky salmon (delicious) and hake. We had a tasty bottle of Grillo and Husbant got quite tipsy.
We tottered back along the windy prom and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
So the boutique hotel puts a basket with fresh orange juice and pastries outside your door every morning at 7am so you can have a pre-breakfast breakfast. What’s not to like! I woke up and listened for the footsteps from the pre-breakfast fairy. Lo and behold, the soft footed fairy crept up the stairs and left a basket. Sadly the pastries were a mini chocolatine which really only was one mouthful. But I loved the concept and might encourage Husbant to adopt it at home. Why just bring a cup of tea when you could also bring fresh juice and a chocolatine?! No brainer.
Having given up our bags to the boat people, we wandered around Oban looking for a newsagent which sold the FT. It took longer than you might expect. Meantime, Husbant had bought two scarves, some gloves and two beanies. I exaggerate – I bought a beanie. FT procured, we headed to Cafe Shore, a local establishment where tinned french onion soup was available accompanied by a cheese and ham toastie – aka a soup combo. Had to be done. I kept checking out other people to work out if they might be on our cruise. One couple in particular stood out – slightly older than us but looking slightly bewildered – bit like us.
Time to get into the tender and motor out to our home for the next four nights. Everything went swimmingly. I got an inkling that Husbant might be slightly worried but he seemed fine. As you can see from this picture…
After a safety briefing we were shown our cabin and ensuite shower and toilet. So luxurious compared with my previous experience of holidays on boats when there was just a bucket and no shower. The other guests are a writer’s dream. So I think I might introduce them by day.
Strangely – or maybe not so – we are the youngest couple and everyone is from the south of England save for an American couple from Colorado Springs.
Am sure we will end up being great buddies. A few of them are quite deaf so they speak very loudly or very quietly, which can make conversation quite tiring. But it’s early days and the Straits of Hormuz have already come up… am not judging anyone yet.
Very proud of Husbant for embracing the “at sea” adventure. It was a bit choppy when we left the safety of Oban but we arrived a while layer in the Loch of Drambuie (see above for proper name). The weather was good and we saw bottle-nose dolphins, red deer, shags, black guillemots, kitiwakes and manx shearwater. So all-in a pretty good start!
Dinner was more langoustines followed by beef and meringues. Good food!
We are lying in our matchbox bed as the water slurps and gurgles at our porthole. I know I will sleep well. Am hoping Husbant does too (he will have to climb over me to get to the loo so that might be interesting at 2am…)
Snoo's kitchen 