Phase I : Scotland

Tarbert, and Yellow Pages

Kilberry Castle

We took on, as well as the local Stewarton and Macrihanish run, a big run at a place called Tarbert. It's a very picturesque little harbour town, where the Kintyre peninsula is almost severed from the mainland. It is here that King Magnus in 1093 dragged his longboat across the isthmus, thus "sailing" around Kintyre in order to win "all the land he could sail around" Read the story here
The Tarbert run was about 900 books, which we did in three trips. The little Pugeot was fairly laden first up in the morning,with 300 Yellow Pages on board. It handled it well, but we did knock the exhaust off on the first day. It was a Sunday, and town was chokkers because it was the local yachting week. They wanted more than the car is worth to come out and fix it, so in the finish I took the silencer off altogether and, using Tich's beanie for insulation, hooked the pipe back up. It sounded real sporty! We actually finished all the YP deliveries like that, figuring that the loads and rough farm tracks you have to go on would only knock it off again; on one farm (are you listening, High Tifergus??) even with only the pipe it came off four times :( When it was finished I took it to the local exhaust shop and it was only a fiver to fix!

One thing about YellowPages is you have to go everywhere, so its a really great way to explore. We saw grotty tenements, quaint cottages, castles and all sorts. One farm had fantastic standing stones in the yard, and a flock of peacocks. There was some fantastic country, especially around Killberry, and we went through some magic fairy glens; moss covered walls and trees, and little brooks and waterfalls. And Tarbert itself is magnificent, with the yachts in Loch Fyne it's a real sight.

posted by The Boemelaars @ 2:03 pm