Posted by Will Allan | Posted in Oban to Portree | Posted on 00:16
My first virtual ride starts in Oban (the Little Bay), on the west coast of Scotland, in the region of Argyll.
Oban is a lovely town with a small ferry terminal and a harbour. Above the town sits an interesting structure called McCaigs Folly. Built by John F McCaig, a banker from Oban, this was meant to be a minature replica of the Colluseum in Rome. Unfortunately John died before the building was complete and so it never was.
Across the water from Oban lies the island of Kerrera and beyond that across the Firth of Lorn is Mull. Oban is known as the "Gateway to the Isles" as ferries leave here headed for many locations.
Oban is quite a special place to me. As a child I spent almost all of my holidays at my Uncle's caravan in a place called Benderloch which is just a few mile out of town (and which my virtual journey will be passing through really soon).
My memories of Oban are wonderful. A trip into the town was always exciting and we usually returned to the campsite with a new toy or a magazine.
I used to love watching all the fishing boats offloading their cargos and the smell of the fish. I was always terrified of standing near the edge of the pier not just because I might fall in but because I didn't want to get squished between the the boats and the side.
Much as I loved the boats however, my favourite place in Oban was John Menzies with it's rotating door. To a small boy this was an aladins cave of goodies and somewhere me an my sisters always wanted to go.
I've been to Oban many times since then. One such trip was in 1997 when I went on a friends stag weekend. We got shamefully drunk in the Oban Arms (which I think has now closed) and hand-cuffed the poor guy half naked to railings outside. The next morning, Oban Camanachd, one of Oban's two shinty teams won the Camanachd Cup and we all joined in the celebrations not really having a clue what was going on. A few of our group even climbed up on top of a telephone box to celebrate with the locals and made it into the local paper.
And so I'm quite pleased that for my first virtual journey the pin fell on Oban. I'm also pleased that this is a virtual journey, as the road I'd be taking out of Oban is very steep.
My journey starts tommorow, let's see where I get to.
Oban is a lovely town with a small ferry terminal and a harbour. Above the town sits an interesting structure called McCaigs Folly. Built by John F McCaig, a banker from Oban, this was meant to be a minature replica of the Colluseum in Rome. Unfortunately John died before the building was complete and so it never was. Across the water from Oban lies the island of Kerrera and beyond that across the Firth of Lorn is Mull. Oban is known as the "Gateway to the Isles" as ferries leave here headed for many locations.
Oban is quite a special place to me. As a child I spent almost all of my holidays at my Uncle's caravan in a place called Benderloch which is just a few mile out of town (and which my virtual journey will be passing through really soon).
My memories of Oban are wonderful. A trip into the town was always exciting and we usually returned to the campsite with a new toy or a magazine.
I used to love watching all the fishing boats offloading their cargos and the smell of the fish. I was always terrified of standing near the edge of the pier not just because I might fall in but because I didn't want to get squished between the the boats and the side.
Much as I loved the boats however, my favourite place in Oban was John Menzies with it's rotating door. To a small boy this was an aladins cave of goodies and somewhere me an my sisters always wanted to go.
I've been to Oban many times since then. One such trip was in 1997 when I went on a friends stag weekend. We got shamefully drunk in the Oban Arms (which I think has now closed) and hand-cuffed the poor guy half naked to railings outside. The next morning, Oban Camanachd, one of Oban's two shinty teams won the Camanachd Cup and we all joined in the celebrations not really having a clue what was going on. A few of our group even climbed up on top of a telephone box to celebrate with the locals and made it into the local paper.
And so I'm quite pleased that for my first virtual journey the pin fell on Oban. I'm also pleased that this is a virtual journey, as the road I'd be taking out of Oban is very steep.
My journey starts tommorow, let's see where I get to.
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Hey, I love hearing all your comments. Let me know if I'm due to virtually cycle through your town and I'll drop by for a virtual cup on my travels.