Thursday 21st May

Today the weather forecast wasn't so good for this afternoon so we started off going to Crarae Gardens which is also known as "The Himalayan Glen".  There were walks around the garden in 5 colours representing Tibetan prayer flags.  Not only this, but there was a theme of plants and trees which had been brought here from places in the Far East such as Tibet, China, India, Singapore, and even as far as Australia and New Zealand.  There were a few wicker animals such as a deer, an otter, a koala and a panda in their 'native habitat' which was quite fun.  It was a rather enjoyable garden to visit!  As we left, the rain came and we had lunch in the car.

Onward we went to Lochgilphead to have a look around the town.  There really isn't much here for tourists, just a couple of gift shops but otherwise a working town with shops selling what people really need, and many of them family busniesses.  We made our way to Tarbert which was a little more 'touristy' I guess you could say but was still very much a working town, but had more in the way of gift shops, and also the Castle which is basically a ruin but definitely worth having a look at.  We went to the Castle first and made our way along the shops until we reached the co-op where we bought a few necessary bits and pieces before getting back into the car.  It was 3pm and Mathew really wanted some chips because he could smell them, however when he went to get some the shop had closed, probably reopening later on around 5ish.  So no fish and chip shop chips on the harbour :(

We continued our journey down the west side of the Kintyre Peninsula just to have a look at the landscape as we had not been there and hadn't identified anything of interest to us there.  It was very plain, although on a nicer day would have had a better view of the Isle of Ghiga across the sea, otherwise there pretty much isn't anything going on this side.  Back around through Campbelltown (another working town although this one has nothing for tourists at all), we continued around back to Carradale.  It turns out that the weather forecast was wrong today - we only had drizzle between Crarae Gardens and Tarbert, after that it was just overcast.  No heavy rain as predicted....!