We reached our hotel in the continuing drizzle and checked into our room overlooking the airport. Not many flights tonight and as the room had double double-glazing we didn't notice them anyway!
Saturday didn't look as if it was going to be much better weather-wise - thick fog in all directions.
We stayed at the hotel for the morning as the Rugby World Cup Final was played this morning. Unfortunately England were beaten by South Africa.
Moving on after the disappointment we headed for Ardrossan, planning to travel slowly up the coast.
Arran had just about disappeared under the cloud ….
but we sat and watched the birds on the beach - and the ferry - for a while.
No wind meant the water was calm and moving on we called in at a couple more villages down on the shore to see what birds were about before the tide came in.
Largs gave us a good view of a pair of dippers where a waterway enters the sea.
We spent a while talking to a local man about dippers who also suggested we might be interested in the 'Greenock Cut' where he had also seen dippers. The 'cut' is an aqueduct that was specially built to carry water to industries in Greenock and supply the area with drinking water. In use until 1971 it then became a Designated Ancient Monument and now has a Visitor Centre and a selection of walks with scenic views, as part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. We went to investigate and followed narrow roads, with passing places, through the hills to eventually find the visitor centre. Stunning scenery on the way with a patchwork of colours on the hills.
We decided we didn't really have time for one of the walks today, so made do with tea and cake before moving on to our hotel in Greenock, thinking ourselves lucky that the weather had stayed dry all day.
Having enjoyed our visits to various villages on the coast yesterday we thought we would continue the trend and visit some more along the coast from Greenock today. We began at Lunderston Bay which is also part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park. It is the nearest sandy beach to Glasgow and has a mix of sand, pebbles and rocks and a footpath goes in both directions above the beach. There are great views over the Firth of Clyde towards Dunoon and the Isle of Bute, which were definitely visible today with the very calm weather we were experiencing.
There were a flock of male and female eider ducks drifting along the shore. We love the sounds they make as they communicate with each other.
Having enjoyed our walk by the shore we moved on to Lochwinnoch and Castle Semple.
We have visited the RSPB bird sanctuary here on several occasions but today we called at the Visitor Centre by the watersport centre on Castle Semple Loch. This is also part of the Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park and is a 1.5 mile long inland freshwater loch with trails and walks. There was actually a craft fair on today with some interesting stalls. The sunshine we had been experiencing so far today deserted us as we set off on a walk by the loch and the grey skies soon turned to rain.
The weather now became very showery so a last walk on the beach near Ardrossan was quite short - but the view between the showers was worth it!
Home today - but continuing the theme we travelled down the Ayrshire coast, which is one of our favourite journeys. A stop at Lendalfoot to see the seals on the rocks, the view of Ailsa Craig and any wildlife that may be around, never fails to disappoint us.
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