Two Kilts and 3 lungs across Scotland, Pt3

Day 8:

I was woken in the early hours by a strong gust of wind, I was just drifting off back to sleep – and the dawn chorus started. Loudly.

Oh well.

Mike and I toddled off to Aberfeldy for a £1 breakfast from The Birks Cinema cafe.

Whilst waiting for the cinema cafe to open were struck up a conversation with an English family in the queue. One family member had moved to Aberfeldy from Leicester 18 months previously, the rest of the family (also from Leicester) were about to move the move north, leaving England behind for a new life north of the border.

And why the hell not? Good luck to them.

We were then acosted by the lovely Julie & Kris, obviously attracted by the sight of two sets of mucky knees in the open air. Julie & Kris and their children can be found at Clanwander. They had recently returned from Nepal where they’d been locked down for 14 months with their children in a teahouse whilst on a trip to Everest Base Camp.

Julie & Kris were in the area and taking full advantage of being child free for a few days. Click on the link to read a bit about them and their family – and what they get up to. They’re quite inspirational.

Anyroadup, Julie suggested a photograph – and we, of course, obliged, hence the 'Abbey Road' photo.

It was lovely to meet and chat with them – and if they read this: thanks for the photograph Julie!

Whatever, back to business. The fact that the £1 breakfast cost £4 is neither here nor there, it was a good nosh in a lovely venue. You really should go.

We topped up with gas from the local outdoor shop, Munros, and had a pleasant chat with the two lads running it. It’s a good, well stocked shop – worth knowing about if you’re in the area.

We left Aberfeldy, following the riverside path & disused railway to Grandtully for a sit down, a drink, and a bite of something that had far too much sugar in it. Well I did, Mike’s not allowed.

Crossing the A9

Next stop was The Red Brolly Cafe at Ballinluig, but sadly it isn’t the Red Brolly Cafe these days, but we still had a good nosh.

We kept expecting to see Barbara Sanders, we knew she was just ahead of us from what others had told us.

Tarmac followed, not too much though. As we passed a house a young whippersnapper of a lad asked if we were walking west to east, which we were of course.

I’m going to send him this photograph:

I’d last seen Dan in 2018 when I walked this way (this way, not that way) – we remembered one another!  Ted said that Barbara ad walked past just a couple of hours previously.

Before long we were back on footpaths and LRTs as we headed for our next overnight stop;  Lochan Oisinneach Mor.

Tents up, kettle on, tea on the go, still no sign of Barbara.

More Scubbo

It was a bit cold and windy so at least we didn’t have midges to contend with.

I was carrying plenty of anti-midge and anti-tick stuff, just in case.

And so to bed. I’d switched my radio on to try to catch the news but fell asleep with it on.

Cuckoo count: 1

Day 9:

Headed north on a non-existent footpath. Then west on it. Then north, through a bog, all on the same non-existent path.

Mike's Happy Face.

Loads of heather-bashing and rough ground eventually got us to the Mains of Glenderby where we were able to pick up forestry tracks that delivered us nicely into Kirkmichael…and it’s very excellent village shop. We bought food, ate food, and I collected my food parcel.

 Kirkmichael's wonderful shop & cafe

Have you noticed the common denominator here? Food plays an important part of my life. If you hadn’t already guessed.

 Seriously Scary

The next few hours were rather tough going, more rough ground and all that.

We started to look for a suitable place to camp. There were a few good, flat spots, but no water.

At around 8pm we found a spring with a couple of flat bits of ground, just big enough to take our tents.

 

We’d stopped short of our intended spot, but when we passed that way the following day we found it completely unsuitable for camping: boggy and very heathery.

Tents were soon up – and so were the midges. I used my full armoury of Smidge, a strange ointment, given to me by my friend Catherine, Citronella incense sticks, and midge nets. I survived the onslaught. I don’t think the midges were impressed though.

Scubbo...

...and pudding!

A fine dinner of (more) Scubbo followed, which in turn was followed by finest tinned fruit salad. We know how to live!

We decided on an earlier start the following day, we were going to The Wee Bear Cafe at Bridgend of Lintrathen – for more food, and hopefully a nice place to camp.

Night night!

Almost forgot:

Cuckoo count: 0