Cumbrae 29 August

Alan, Allan, Davie C, Davie Mc, Dougie, Ian, Jim, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenny T, Malcolm, Paul, Peter, Rex, Robert

Ten Ooters were at the booking office at Largs when the wee ferry pulled in at 9.30. Assuming it was the 9.45 ferry, they decided it was safe to board and wait for the rest there. No sooner had they sat down than the ferry departed. What is the Ooters motto again? Anyway, whilst crossing, contact had been made with the five boys* who followed soon after and all were united at the Cumbrae slip by 9.55.

Like last week, overnight rain had given way to bright dry conditions, and with a breeze blowing, no time was wasted in setting off in an anti-clockwise direction. Progress was good, but at a more sensible pace than we normally cover this section, as normally we are racing up the road to catch a ferry. As we approached Fintry Bay, a splinter group took to the beach and took a coffee break, whilst the rest stopped at the picnic benches next to the toilets for their sustenance.
Fifteen minutes later and we were on our way again and entering Millport just after midday. It had been previously decided that we would head for the Garrison café and take a light lunch there, and so we continued through a very quiet Millport to our lunch stop. Most of us partook of the food on offer, and good value it was too, whilst those who had brought a packed lunch ate theirs in the gardens at the front. Robert was keen to add our steps to the Moon Walk total and found the paperwork hanging on the wall. At a conservative guess, if there was fifteen of us each doing about twenty thousand steps on the day, that would equate to three hundred thousand in total. Good effort!
By this time the sun was pleasantly warm, and it was a thought to leave the café and get the legs going again. Johnny tried, in vain, to entice us to take the bus, but he reluctantly joined us as we left the Garrison. A further change to our routine followed in that we did not take the road up to the Glaid Stone but continued along the front and veered off up Ferry Road. This shortened the walk back and reduced the climbing by a fair bit, and so we made it back to the slip at five past two. The sage said four hours and ten minutes, the technology averaged out at just over nine miles.
FRT in Wetherspoon’s finished off an enjoyable day out.

*Fry’s Five Boys chocolate was sold from 1902 until 1976. There was only one boy, Lyndsay Poulson, but there were five images of him showing different expressions in anticipation and experience of eating the chocolate bar: Desperation, Pacification, Expectation, Acclamation, Realization.