The Tangle o' The Isles and Machrihanish

On Friday morning we headed off on the long drive from Carnoustie to Machrihanish. It's a monster drive, but it was such a wonderful day that we actually took a detour to see Oban, the Gateway to the Isles. Driving through the scenic West of Scotland in the sunshine is a rare treat and we thoroughly enjoyed the journey. We eventually got to our hotel on the Mull of Kintyre with 5 mnutes to spare for dinner and slept very well !

  

On Saturday morning it was off to the wonderful Machrihanish golf course and onto the scariest first tee in Scotland. You have to drive across the beach .. scarey, but wonderful.

 

 It was a bit wet to start with but it soon brightened up and we had a great round. It's a brilliant course wth lots of blind drives over dunes, a bit like a more wild Ballyliffin. Fantastic course.

We were very lucky that the sun shone for most of the round, as it allowed us to see the best of the course and enjoy the wonderful views.

Lunch was in the Old Clubhouse afterwards and then we went for a drive and a walk around the Mull of Kintyre and saw St. Columba's footsteps and well. We came across a family of seals on the rocks. They were so well camouflaged by the black rocks that it was only when they moved that you could actually make out their shapes against the rocks. Here they are - in the middle at the back ..

This trip to Machrihanish was a great addition to our golf week and worth every mile of the monster drive ! The journey back down to Glasgow and on to Cairnryan on Sunday wasn't quite so good. It rained very heavily nd the small mountain roads are not so charming in the wind and rain ! Nevertheless we survived and really enjoyed the trip.

That's it for now. Next action is Killarney in late May.