Not long ago, our family had one of the best holidays we’ve had in years. Partly this was due to the fact that the Dafter is recovering so well from her ME/CFS. And partly it was due to the lovely island we visited, the Isle of Arran.
When I’d booked the holiday in the spring, I found a wheelchair-accessible hotel room with a view, as the Dafter was then only able to be out of bed a few hours total a day. What a different holiday we had than what we’d originally envisaged! Instead of the wheelchair, we were able to bring one of the Dafter’s oldest friends along with us. The girls had a fantastic time together, and to my surprise they wanted to do quite a lot with me and Michael as well. So we had a lot of laughs in their entertaining company.
The ferry ride is less than an hour, and we had beautiful weather:
The Dafter on the ferry to Arran. August 2014.
I really enjoyed visiting the garden at Brodick Castle. I’d wanted to go there for years! It obviously has a very temperate climate, as there are lots of palm trees, unusual plants from the Canary Islands, and many eucalyptus. The smell of the eucalyptus trees reminded me of visits to San Francisco when I was a child.
The justifiably famous garden at Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran. (With me in the way!) August 2014.
I’m wearing a cardigan that I copied in the early 1980s from one my mother had made in the 1950s – it’s actually an Elizabeth Zimmerman design for a pullover that my Mom had converted into a cardigan. I was startled to recognise it in Vogue Knitting when they reprinted the original pattern in the winter 1988/89 issue. I’ll just mention here that I don’t think there’s a connection between the Isle of Arran in Scotland and the Aran islands off the west coast of Ireland. It’s from the Irish islands that the famous Aran patterns (such as in my cardigan) come.
While Michael and I explored the garden, the girls enjoyed playing in the adventure playground. What a joy to see the Dafter running and jumping!
Scary Dafter at the Adventure Playground, Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran.
We had beautiful weather, and of course, this being Scotland, some rain as well. But that didn’t stop us from having fun! Behind the Dafter is Brodick Bay, with the peak of Goat Fell, and (if you know where to look), Brodick Castle.
“We’re Scottish, a bit of rain doesn’t bother us!”. Brodick Bay, Isle of Arran, August 2014.
The sunny days were so sunny that certain people, who had not thought to pack sunhats, had to go shopping:
Matching father-daughter sunhats were necessary!
The girls went swimming in the sea, and also did a 12-mile cycle! One evening we drove up to the village of Lochranza. There is a beautiful ruined castle there, and the heather was coming into bloom on the hill behind:
The heather beginning to bloom on the hillside behind Lochranza Castle. Isle of Arran, August 2014.
The deer in those parts were obviously quite tame. A herd of them was hanging about the village, with a posse of boys “tracking” them. The boys would rush out, or ride their bikes around at them, in an attempt to create a stampede. But it took quite a lot to frighten the deer.
Very tame red deer in the village of Lochranza, Isle of Arran. August 2014.
The midges that evening were unbearably thick and biting. However, we were indoors at a family ceilidh (pron: KAY-lee) in the village hall:
A wonderful family ceilidh at Lochranza Village Hall. Isle of Arran, August 2014.
It was really packed with people, of all ages. There were lots of small children learning the dances with their parents, and near us was one grandfather whose granddaughter danced with him. There were other tourists like us (one French family who were learning all the dances for the first time), but obviously plenty of local folks or perhaps people who come to Arran on a regular basis. We all loved dancing – the Gay Gordon’s, the Canadian Barn Dance, the Virginia Reel, and other dances. The Dafter won a prize in the raffle! We would have stayed longer, but the sensible Dafter remembered that we had to be back at the hotel by 11 pm, so we made a swift exit and I drove very carefully past sheep on the road and the deer as well. We made it just in time!
Michael enjoyed having some time to do some extra-curricular reading, and kept laughing aloud at Bertie and Jeeves:
Reading PG Wodehouse.
And you can be sure that I enjoyed having time to knit:
At the beach – knitting, as usual!
There was a gorgeous sunset on our last night:
Sunset to the northwest, with Brodick Bay in the foreground. Notice the mist creeping in!
What I believe is a Fisheries Protection ship was at anchor in the bay:
The Fisheries Protection vessel (I believe) in Brodick Bay.
Our last morning on the island was the day of their Highland Games, and there was a fantastic festival atmosphere. An earlier ferry than ours was leaving, and was packed with people singing together and cheering the pipe band practising below:
Pipe band practising, cheered on by the crowds on the ferry. Isle of Arran, August 2014.
We got to watch the parade, which included more humble participants such as a man and his dog, and grander sights and sounds, such as the pipe bands:
The Isle of Arran pipe band, Brodick, August 2014.
The Dafter and her friend were both sorry to be leaving, they’d had such a good time:
The Dafterwas very sorry to be going home!
The crossing back was gorgeous:
Goodbye for now, Arran: “Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again”
After only about an hour in the car we were back at home, with Tilly very happy to see us. The Dafter’s friend stayed that last night with us, which extended the holiday for us all. I was very sorry to see her go home the next day.
But I have a feeling we will be going back to Arran. You could go there for the day, on the train, with a bicycle. Hmmm….
Filed under: Scotland, Scottish countryside, travel Tagged: beauty, family, fun, Isle of Arran, ME/CFS, Scotland, summer, travel
