We are familiar with the north end of Arran because of the anchorages and mountains but Kildonan on the south end, opposite the island of Pladda, with its lighthouse, and Ailsa Craig in the distance, was a new experience for us.
A warm evening in the garden of Kildonan hotel.
The furry lump in mid-photo is an otter, one of two I watched on the rocks on the shore.
We had a 'safari' jaunt in this huge vehicle! I tried to explain to Alastair how I spent all my summers on the beach as a child. Because my father had access to lots of big truck tyres I was always the kid on the beach with the biggest inner tube for playing about in the water.
We drove through some of the forests above Brodick and Lamlash. We remember parts of the island from 40 years ago, in the days when tree planting tended to be all Sitka spruce. It is more diverse now. This is Lamlash Bay looking toward Holy Island.
We visited standing stones on several occasions. There are remnants of quite a few stone circles on Arran. Alastair wanted his photo taken in front of one of them.
Ishbel found stone circles and burial mounds, 'really boring'. To help things along I pretended we were doing a fashion magazine photo-shoot. So here she is being a model for a cover shot. (She is, after all, 7 going-on-14 years old!)
Harriet is the opposite. She thinks piles of big stones are for climbing.
The beaches at Kildonan were wonderful. The kids larked around in the water while I spent time on the sand with Harriet (wearing Maggie's sweater that she knitted for Ishbel 7 years ago).
What it must be like to experience squiggy, wet sand for the first time!
Bottoms up!
John brought a kite which gave lots of play for the kids. Ailsa Craig in the distance.
And then there were those stairs to contend with.....
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