Day Trip to Gigha
For my latest day trip, I took a hop down to Gigha - approximately 4 hours coach ride from Glasgow to Tayinloan and then a short 20 minute ferry hop over to Gigha. Thanks to the new bus fare cap, the coach singles Glasgow to Tayinloan were only £4 each.
The Gigha run has been in the hands of CalMac's Loch Ranza for many years. One of the original "Loch class" vessels, identical to the Loch Striven that carried me to Lismore last month. She's 40 years old this year, but CalMac have plans to replace her and the other Loch class vessels with new all-electric ferries in the near future.
The ferry was surprisingly busy, nearly full on the car deck, although this was coming just after a one hour break in the normally hourly service. It was a surprisingly rough crossing too despite only moderate winds, with significant swaying. It was only a short hop though and we were safely on Gigha.
Once landed on Gigha, it's a short walk uphill to the main village of Ardminish and the island's main north-south road. There's a lot to explore on the island, but for my short visit I headed south around a mile to probably Gigha's most well known attraction - Achamore Gardens.
A relatively compact but attractively laid out garden, Achamore is known for its particularly diverse collection of rhododendrons, though unfortunately I wasn't visiting at the right time of year to see them at their best. The gunnera were at full size though, and there were a wide variety of fungi to be seen as well.
Heading back to the ferry, I called in at the island's shop which sold useful basics as well as hosting a little gift shop. Next door there's also a tiny little takeaway, The Nook, selling fish and chips and other local seafood. I had a classic haddock and chips, which were excellently fresh!