Discovery - Day 3

Day 3

The next day was Tobermory – or was it??  Due to the weather reports our captain, who was experienced in these waters (ex Hebridean Princess no less) decided to swap round Oban and Tobermory visiting Oban on Day 3, then sailing halfway to Tobermory and finding a sheltered anchorage overnight. It made little difference to anyone on board so all were happy (aside from the few who had made plans to meet people ashore of course).

The ship had handled last night’s seas very well, in fact she is proving an exceptionally steady ship – especially for her size. Up at 7.30 for an 8am breakfast and then to see what the weather was like on deck – wet – very wet! Oban was a tender port so, clutching our tender tickets we waited briefly before being called. It was the standard tender operation. However, being an old ship, we reverted back to walking down a stepped gangway to a suspended tendering platform. Not a good idea for those with mobility issues.

Once ashore, Oban looked a lovely little town. We explored ashore all morning, despite the drenching rain although after about an hour, it actually stopped and the sun came out. In a small café for lunch I had the most delicious thick cheese sandwiches!

 

Then it was time to board our coach for Inverary Castle. We drove through lovely scenery with highland cattle grazing, lochs, ruined castles and snow-sprinkled mountains. The castle was a typical Scottish gothic style mansion with beautiful gardens. This was the ancestral seat of the head of the Campbell clan and still home to the Duke of Argyle. After a tour of the castle, time to wander the grounds, shop and buy an ice-cream we boarded the coach to drive to Inverary village. After some more free time, we headed back. I was struck by how like Nova Scotia the scenery looked – but I guess that’s why they named it in the first place!

Back at Oban, we boarded the tender to Discovery. The wind had risen and the seas were noticeably choppier. The junior officer at the tender landing – a Prince Harry lookalike – warned us to hold on tight. In fact the ride back was not too bad – until we neared the ship. Remember that suspended platform we had to get onto to walk up the steps?  The boat was bobbing about on the wild water, slamming into the platform which in turn was swaying about on its cables and hitting the side of the ship. I can safely say this was the first time I can remember being really scared on a cruise. At one point I truly feared for the safety of the boatman, clinging to the outside of the tender to grab the ropes – I thought his legs might be crushed. One by one we stood at the exit and waited for the right moment to be pushed off! And we had elderly people on board, with sticks etc! Apparently the captain had stopped anyone going ashore from 4pm (last tender should have been 6pm)!

We finally had a full table at dinner but it was not one of our best. Went to the show afterwards mainly because there was nothing else to do – no one seemed to be very social.