Saturday 29 October 2016

ISLE OF BUTE - the cycling adventure

isle of bute is one of those places which are not on the 'bucket list', i'm sure of it. it's a small island, barely for a 1 day trip, not spectacular, just another small island really.
unless we make it exciting. so how to make it exciting? explore it on a bike! 
it was a 2 hrs drive from Edinburgh to a ferry terminal in wemyss bay, then 40min crossing and we set our wheels in rothesay. it's got a rather 'deprived' reputation, well, i would say ... maybe 'ran down'.. i can easily imagine it was a great place many decades ago, what was left of this splendour were beautiful large houses (especially on the east coast), however now they were a bit grey and 'unloved'.. 

.
.

wyspa bute to jedno z tych miejsc ktore na pewno nie znajduja sie na liscie 'koniecznie zobaczyc'. jest to mala wyspa, akurat na wycieczke jednodniowa, choc przyjemna to jednak nic wyjatkowego... chyba ze zrobimy ze zwiedzania jej jakas fajna przygode.... tylko jak to zrobic....? wziac rowery!
dojechanie do przystani w wemyss bay (z edynburga) zajelo nam ok 2 godz, prom plynal kolejne 40min i wtem postaly nasze 'kola' na wyspie bute, w stolicy -rothesay.
rothesay ma dosc slaba reputacje, powiedzialabym ze jest rowniez dosc zaniedbane. wyobrazam sobie ze dekady temu wyspa bute mogla byc pozadanym miejscem urlopwym, ale wszystko co ze splendoru zostalo to wielkie wiktorianskie chacjendy (szczegolnie na wschodnim wybrzezu), ktore jednak dzisiaj wygladaja na .... niekochane, powiedzmy. 




ferry terminal/train station @ wemyss bay
stacja kolejowa pelniaca rowniez funkcje terminala promowego, retro :)



ok, we're crossing to rothesay. ferries go every hour, great! £6.80 return
plyniemy do rothesay, promy kursuja co godzine, super! bilet dla niezmotoryzowanego kosztuje £6.80


isle of bute, waking up late!
wyspa bute budzi sie dosc pozno 








almost there!   /   juz prawie!



last chance to admire lifting clouds over cowal peninsula
ostatnie chwile podziwiania zaspanego polwyspu cowal



streets of rothesay







we didnt spend much time in rothesay and pedalled south, along east coast. roads were very quiet, hardly any traffic, hardly any people around

nie zwiedzalysmy za bardzo rothesay, za to popedalowalysmy wzdloz wschodniego wybrzeza na poludnie. drogi byly prawie puste, w sumie nie widzialysmy prawie nikogo




kerrycroy
we left the main road here and found a gate, at the far end of the village. the gate to mount stuart estate. it was a great ride thru magnificent woodland, really nice old trees there, we loved it :)

tutaj zostawiamy glowna droge i udajemy sie na drugi koniec wioski by poszukac bramy do terenow nalezacych do 'mount stuart'. bardzo nam sie podobala jazda przez tereny tej posiadlosci, piekne stare drzewa, bajer :)



mount stuart
of course we had a snoop around!
oczywiscie ze poszlysmy powalesac sie i pozagladac we wszystkie katy 














the estate includes a magnificent woodland, gardens, a park and a mansion.
i must admit it had an eerie feel to it, felt a bit dodgy.  

na terenie posiadlosci znajduje sie wiec las, o ktorym wspomnialam wczesniej, park, ogrody oraz dworek.
przyznam jednak ze byla tam jakas dziwna atmosfera...
























mount stuart











they had a thing about camels, there were figures of them in random places
mieli cos do wielbladow, ich figurki byly tu i tam























lunch time!




ok, we left the estate by a country track which soon changed into a minor road and left the woodland.
when we climbed the hill saw this! well, it's not isle of bute :) these are mountains on arran!

no dobra, ruszylysmy z mount stuart mala drozka ktora niebawem dolaczyla do kolejnej, jeszcze tylko wjechac na gorke i oto! to juz nie wyspa bute, otoz to sa gory na wyspie arran!























exploring kilchattan bay. 















all quiet. not a single soul. 
nikogo nie ma, nikogusio!



back to the main road and soon we're turning into the unknown, towards dunagoil
dobra, wracamy do glownej drogi by zaraz znow odbic na jakas malutka drozke, tym razem do dunagoil



dunagoil fort
what's interesting here is a small basalt outcrop, however it was really small, only a couple of columns. 
co tu jest interesujacego to miejsce gdzie odsloniete sa kolumny bazaltowe, ale prawde mowiac - dosc slabe.. 



however the area was nice so we went to a little walk
jednakze okolica zdawala sie przyjemna wiec poszlysmy na maly spacer



mountains of arran seemed so near!
gory arranu zdawaly sie tak blisko!







interesting, volcanic rocks :)
ciekawe skaly wulkaniczne







so what's around here? a couple of basalt columns, small beach, croft, a small swamp, amazing views to isle of arran :)
wiec co tu mamy - kilka kolumn bazaltowych, mala plaze, pastwisko, male bagienko, niesamowite widoki na wyspe arran!































back to the main road again (pass the standing stones and airfield) and offff weeee gooooo!
spowrotem do glownej drogi (mijajac kamienny krag i male lotnisko) i jedziemyyyyy dalej!



scalpsie bay, good viewpoint :) down in the water we saw some seals
scalpsie bay i punkt widokowy na bawiace sie w dole foki



here they come!  /   jada dziewczyny!












there was nobody, so quiet.. and suddenly a group of cyclists arrived 
nikogo nie bylo az tu nagle grupa rowerzystow do nas dojechala



suddenly it was crowded!  /   i nagle zrobilo sie tloczno!




@ ettrick bay
nice small beach, great views to arran, nice wee tearoom and.... yeah! people! tourists!
fajna mala plaza, niezle widoki na arran, male kafejke i.... ludzie! turysci!




























isnt it beautiful?!  / czyz nie jest pieknie?!



a very short ride away from ettrick bay (and flattish!) is port bannatyne and kames castle
z ettrick bay szybko dojechalysmy (nawet calkiem plasko) do port bannatyne i zamku kames




















port bannatyne



bus stop?  /  przystanek autobusowy?







back at rothesay, we were too late to see the famous victorian loos
i juz jestesmy spowrotem w rothesay, nieco spoznione by zobaczyc slynne wiktorianskie kibelki







good night arran (mountains)
good night bute (black flat line)




sunset at the ferry terminal/train station @ wemyss bay













trasa dnia / route of the day
map copyright ordnance survey


No comments:

Post a Comment