Jen and Dave: Adventuring

As the title suggests, we cheated a bit today. There were lots of things to see, and not enough time to do them all and the entire Coastal Way, so we had our drop off at Machrie Moor instead of Imachar.

Mahrie Moor is known for their 1800 BCE standing stones, but there are actually a number of stone circles here, and evidence shows wooden structures predate those (2500 BCE), with earliest use of the site in 3500 BCE.

In addition to the circles, the walk led us through farmers fields with hundreds of sheep, and by the ruins of an old – but not standing-stone-old – home.

We also saw a neat bird. It was creating quite a ruckus. We think it was a whimbrel.

After viewing the stones we retraced our steps through the moor and then down the road. King’s Cave was next on our list. Once we reached the park we spotted picnic benches, and decided it was lunch time.

Back on the official Coastal Way trail, the actual path to King’s Cave was marvellous- wide, smooth, with forest on one side and endless views on the other. After walking through gentle hills, it was time to descend to the beach.

King’s Cave was huge. Such a neat place to go, you could tell it had been used for eons by the packed dirt and petroglyphs pecked into the walls. Although it has only been called King’s Cave for the last two hundred years or so, it is said that Robert the Bruce sheltered there before the Battle of Bannockburn (1314).

After viewing the caves, we continued on the Arran Coastal Way, along the beach and on the verge. This path had been freshly weed-whacked, which was a lovely treat. We were hiking towards some imposing columnar basalt cliffs.

Halfway to the cliffs there was an Arran Geopark marker. Intrigued, we followed a short trail to the cliff, where there were fossilized footprints from the age of the dinosaurs. They do not have a firm ID, but they believe they were from a large alligator-like reptile.

Reaching the cliffs we could battle beach boulders and tide, or traipse up a new path that went over a pass and descended through farmers fields and a golf course. We did the latter, and quickly made our way back to town.

After warm showers we went to town for dinner… a burger and a lasagna. We hoped for a repeat of the show a Gannet had given the night before, plunging from the air into the water, but no such luck. We consoled ourselves with some sticky toffee pudding and walked back to the B&B.