As you might expect, large parts of the month were lost to the World Cup and despite losing England early on, there was plenty to keep me interested. Kevin got very excited at times but this didn’t spread to The Kangaroo who sat on his shelf and generally ignored proceedings.
In between matches, the early part of the month was spent in the garden just getting on top of things and for once the weather was more than acceptable. I’ve seen gunnera described as the biggest thug in the garden and certainly ours are pretty boisterous.
The main event involved supporting Dave McBride as he paddled around the Kintyre peninsula. The weather for the first two days was not good but picked up a bit for Day 3 although there was always a strong northerly breeze. I paddled with him from Tarbert to Skipness and from Point Sands to Ronnachan where Suse took over to Kennacraig. It was amazing to see how he just kept going and hat’s off to him for the effort. I enjoyed getting into parts of the coast that I hadn’t seen before and was particularly impressed with Saddell Bay with its fine stately home. Our little paddle around the West Loch seemed pretty tame but it was good preparation for paddling with Dave.
Dave’s trip coincided with a visit from Emily and Caitlin and the recently introduced Tarbert Viking Festival where the Fynesiders also performed. It’s really nice to see so much going on. Maybe it wasn’t such a quiet month – just seemed to be.