What is becoming an Annual Girls' Day away on the Isle of Arran

For over 30 years, I have had the pleasure of living in a gorgeous area of Scotland, with the Isle of Arran on the horizon - maybe not everyday! Many days, the visibility is not what you would hope for and Arran is almost like Shangri La - only appearing when it wants to!

But something that has become a requirement for me to do with visitors is to introduce them to this island which is considered "Scotland in Miniature".  It is accessible from Ayrshire by ferry and has mountains, distilleries, castles, both well preserved ones and ruins and prehistoric monuments.  What more can you ask for?  Ok, breweries, chocolate making, cheese making and a fabulous cosmetic industry plus local artists!

For too short of a time, I had the privilege of working on Arran a few days every so often. I loved that because the office closed a few hours before the next ferry. So I had time to kill in Brodick.  There is not alot to do in Brodick, but the shops, tea rooms and even just sitting on a bench at the beach made those hours very pleasant.

Rarely do I have the benefit of staying overnight here though.  I think that needs to change, but a day trip is worth a thousand words on its own!

And a day trip is what my visitors usually get.  This day is not about visitors though so it is different.

I have two American friends who also live in Scotland and seem to be as enamoured with Arran as I am.  However, it took us 3 attempts before we were all on Arran together and with the use of a car!

The first time we arrived on Arran, I had waited too long and not booked a car and there was no room on the ferry for a car. We attempted to see Arran by bus, which I had done previously and had experienced no problems. What I had not taken into account was this was off season and the bus service was minimal.

S
o we only got to the Arran Distillery in Lochranza.  We even had to resort to calling a taxi to get us back to the ferry on time.  I could not taste it that time since I would be driving when I got back to the mainland.


The second time was planned better but one of the group was unwell and not able to come with us.  Our goal was mainly to see the Machrie Moor Standing Stones and we did this.  The other destination was the Arran Distillery!  Again, I could not taste this whisky as I was driving myself home once we got back to the mainland!

Third time lucky, all of us well, and the car was booked well in advance!   Again, we only had time for two destinations.  Let me stress there is so much to do on Arran, but this was our day and we wanted to focus on these.

First stop, Machrie Moor Standing Stones.  One of my favourite places.  I feel such privilege that we are able to have these amazing monuments to our ancestors virtually in our backyard and that we only have to walk about a mile to visit them.  That is after a 30 minute drive and 45 minute ferry ride!  I won't say anymore about them but will share my photos so the beauty of the location can be shown.

Prior to boarding the ferry in Ardrossan, we met at ASDA and bought sandwiches and other provisions for lunch.  The idea was to picnic at the circles but it was just  bit too chilly, so we went back to the car and had lunch before heading to the distillery.

This was my fourth visit to Arran Distillery and I had never tasted its signature whisky!  (I finally did about 5 days after this visit and loved this whisky, only one I can say I have ever truly enjoyed!)

I have done the tour only twice though and I can highly recommend it.  My husband and I usually avoid these sort of things because we are always in a hurry to go somewhere else!  But we often stop at distillery gift shops because they usually have interesting items not seen anywhere else!

This visit was my second tour and it was as enjoyable as the first one.  I learned alot about how whisky is made, and also the difference between peaty whisky and the way they make Arran whisky.  I wish I had written it down, but I think what they say was the process used on Arran is similar to the whiskies made on the other Scottish islands.  The peaty whisky is comparable to the process used in Speyside.  I would love to be corrected on this since I really don't remember.  The next time I go, I will pay more attention!  All I know is, this whisky is drinkable to me and others I have tried are not nearly as nice.

As happens in most, if not all, distillery tours, there is a free tasting session following the tour.  I have always given my tastes away since I always have to drive to Ardrossan the catch the ferry and then drive home!  The laws for alcohol levels in Scotland are just too stringent to even take these tiny tastes.  But this time I was offered a "Drivers Dram"!  A little bottle with a half a dram, just like everyone else got.  So I was able to take it home and try it when not driving.

I did this the other night, and shared half of my half dram with my husband who is also not a whisky drinker. Guess what?  He enjoyed this too!

This was the last weekend of the Arran ferry summer timetable and I had to book the last ferry home.  It was not our first choice but the earlier one, shown on the timetable, was not running anymore.  It did seem like leaving after 7pm was going to make this a very long day but it turned out to be the perfect timing.  We had time to go to the Douglas Hotel and enjoy a lovely and relaxed dinner.

Delicious cake with Arran Gold in the icing.  Must remember that!

Then it was time to get in the queue for the ferry and head on home. But we are already planning out trip back to Arran next year.  The three of us have seen very little of this island together and there is also a new Arran Distillery that should be open on the other side of the island by then.  We were told this distillery would use the Speyside process and I heard a very slight rumour there will also be gin!  So I am ready to return as soon as possible!

Time to go home.

"At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day."     

Simone Biles

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