Across the Clyde

Well, last night's stay at Lochmadon was ... OK. I can't put it any more strongly than that. A poorly signed site which, despite it not being high season yet, was almost full. Being told to move pitch by another resident as the pitch was reserved (for someone who never showed up). And midges. In late May. Sigh.

So today we drove on to the Kyle of Bute via the little ferry across the Clyde and the via one of Iain Bank's "Great Wee Roads"¹ to this camp site where I'm typing this. A lovely site looking across towards the Isle of Bute and ... yup, more midges. This is not looking good.

The other bad news today is that Beth has worked out what the peculiar "banging" noise is from the lilo. This happened once in Wales a couple of weeks ago and happened twice last night. A very odd "thump" from under the lilo. We wondered if it was moving about.

No, it's internal tearing. This is a very old double lilo: the traditional sort with tubes down the length of it. Each tube is made by the top and bottom sheets of rubber being bonded together along, I don't know, perhaps 9" lengths however there are deliberate gaps in this bonding to let air pass between the tubes. What is happening is that the bonding between two tubes is failing, catastrophically, a section at a time between these gaps.

This is not good news. Especially as we'll be on Islay tomorrow, not the most obvious place to find an airbed shop. If it holds out until next Friday we're fine as we're passing through Oban then on our way to Mull and that's got a Millets, but that's six nights away ...

Anyway tomorrow we're catching the 10:45 ferry across to Kintyre and then the 13:00 to Islay.

1. Mr Banks' fine tome "Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram" is a very fine read even if, like me, you don't actually like whisky as it's also a good touring guide to bits of Scotland. Recommended.