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itsmosblog · 7 years

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Saint Spook

After a difficult week of pig herding which had put a bit of a strain on our relationship, I asked Spook if he’d like to join me on a gastronomic tour out on the Morvern Peninsula, Strontian and the shores of Loch Sunart. It seemed the least I could offer after all he’d been through and I’d just been invited to take part in a short video being made to promote an adventure in Lochaber for a project called SAINT - Slow Adventures in the Northern Territories.

http://saintproject.eu/

http://www.ardnamurchan.com/about-ardnamurchan/area/lochaline-and-morvern/

A companion was required to join me and I couldn’t think of anyone better suited - especially as his body was so sore from recent events, that slow was all he was capable off. I just crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t push the boundaries of his reserved nature. Sara of SAINT had assured me we would take part in some light exercise and lot’s of eating. Jodie of the OCUK would manage the day for us and Cameraman John would demand very little of Spook regarding acting skills and only use footage of his best side. Never mind slow adventure - I was looking at this as The Outdoor Capital of the UK’s Relationship Repair Service (OCURRS).

We started our day on the Ardtornish Estate near Lochaline. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend staying here as Spook and I had a fantastic week in this house back in 2014 for my best friends 50th birthday. It’s a big house, with loads of space and character and was very affordable for a big group. I wrote a blog about it.......

http://itsmosblog.tumblr.com/post/93861150932/as-spook-and-i-settle-into-life-as-part-of-a-house

http://www.ardtornish.co.uk/achranich/

On this trip we hired bikes from the estate and set off to explore the immediate area.

The Ardtornish Kitchen Garden was amazing. Richard has spent 2 years taking it from a ruin to a bountiful and inspiring display of tasty produce. He invited us to pick veg to take away for lunch, and opened the first pea pod of the season for us to sample the sweetest pea that you wouldn’t want to put anywhere near boiling water. Unfortunately the OCURRS faltered a little at this point as apparently I went on a bit too much about how tall Richard was, and how much I admired his dungarees (I have some myself) and that I thought his neck tie was lovely......and wasn’t it fantastic that he’d grown all that stuff himself blah blah blah. Not to be outdone, Spook showed how earthy he could be himself, by insisting on carrying the basket.....

The garden is open to the public from 9-5 Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri. It is well worth a visit. http://www.ardtornish.co.uk/ardtornish-kitchen-garden/

There is so much to explore on this peninsula and keeping Spook to an eating agenda was quite difficult. He knows there are coastal nooks and crannies aplenty, but he allowed himself to be woo’d by lunch at The White House Restaurant in Lochaline.

Mackerel and potato pie doesn’t look like this when I make it. Art on a plate and absolutely delicious. It was painful to see Jodie, John and Noah (The Runner) salivating, so we shared our treacle soda bread and caboc cheese - grudgingly - but there was no chance we were letting them get their fingers into these plates

(my gazpacho soup photo - how can cold soup taste so wonderful? I’d stick this in a flask and use it to sustain me all day without need of anything else. A big flask.)

.The restaurant has it’s own kitchen garden so we added stuff to Spooks basket...

http://www.thewhitehouserestaurant.co.uk/

We took a cycle down to the shore for a wee gaze across to Mull and to let our lunch go down. This is a wonderful place and back in 2014 I was determined to come back and spend more time here and now I have renewed that pledge.

It was off to Strontian which is about 20 mile of slow uphill (it’s a slow adventure after all) with great views and an exciting decent to Loch Sunart. We had an afternoon picnic date with Kate Campbell at The Ariundle Centre where she had prepared us a hamper. Our next adventure was Canoeing and with more time we would have been taking our hamper on the canoe to a remote beach, but time was short - so we just had to eat it.........I’m more of a ‘throw a sandwich into a rucksack’ kind of adventurer, but THIS is the way to picnic.

https://www.facebook.com/Ariundle/

Kate lit up when we asked to see her spinning wheel - this is a slow adventure - no nipping out to buy a ball of wool for Kate. It is an earthy and absorbing past-time.......

But we had to be a bit more energetic to work off some of the calories, so we cycled off to Otter Adventures, just outside Strontian. Karl was a friendly and relaxed guide with a clear passion for what he does, who talked us through getting our canoe to the water and how to paddle if in the front or at the back. This is another opportunity for making or breaking a relationship and I wasn’t risking things breaking down, so took the easier position in the front of the boat. I did exactly what Karl told me to do and Spook, glad to be in safer, non-gardening territory, was masterful with the steering. It requires a bit of skill to get where you want to go and not where the tide and boat takes you. We took a wee tour around an island and were quickly surrounded by curious seals, bobbing and diving close by. Karl understood the concept of the comfort part of a slow adventure, and recognized that for some fok, it’s just a short paddle to a beach that would be hard to walk to, perhaps our picnic hamper to consume, or his outdoor coffee maker and cake, and a paddle home. If you’re not used to the efforts of paddling, you don’t want to have gone too far. But the potential for bigger explorations are all available in the expert hands of Karl.

https://otter-adventures.co.uk/

Had we been staying the night, we might have taken the comfortable and good value option of a cabin at Sunart Campsite. We checked them out and this is my way of camping. Cosy and comfy with no tent to wrestle with....

http://www.sunartcamping.co.uk/cabins.html

But whilst we were not staying over, we did have dinner to find and were getting used to fine dining, so we took advantage of the non-resident option at Kilcamb Lodge. If Spook had any stress and strain left from life in the piggy fast lane, it began to ebb away as soon as the wonderful staff made every effort to make us feel welcome....

This was the final glue in sticking us back together....

The First Class treatment from staff, the fantastically tasty and beautifully presented food, the comfort and wine..........the welcome of non residents for breakfast, morning coffee, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner - at prices which you would happily spend for a treat without hesitation (and I know that Spook will surely be working out how to treat me to a stay in the Lodge itself) make this probably our biggest surprise of the day. You could have all sorts of adventures out on these western peninsula’s, but topping it off with a visit to Kilcamb Lodge would be the icing on the.......well..... the ice in the bucket of wine.

crudities of the loveliest kind

The best melt in the mouth beef Spook has ever tasted.

https://www.kilcamblodge.co.uk/

Spook and I had a brilliant day out. When we got home, we got the map out and plotted all the adventures we are going to have way out west. And the food we are going to eat - not sandwiches.

Thanks to Jodie of OCUK for managing the day so calmly and not making us feel guilty about all the food we ate which they didn’t. To John for his One Shot Wonders which kept Spook on the right side of happy and to Noah who fulfilled his role as Runner beautifully by checking that the Caviar really doesn’t taste at all fishy. And to Sara of SAINT for asking us to be Luvvies for the day.

And to all those on this Slow Adventure who allowed us to try their wares.

And to Jodie for all the above photographs. Johns 55 sec video to come later......

#OCUK #Lochaber #Slowadventuresinnorthernterritories #SAINT #Ardtornish Estates #The White House Restaurant Lochaline #Ariundle Centre #Loch Sunart #Otter Adventures #Kilcamb Lodge #Morvern Peninsula #Ardnamurchan Peninsula #West Highlands #Scotland

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