The Man was surprised at how cheap the ferry was, costing only £4 for an adult return. I travelled for free, but only because I had humans accompanying me. They don't want packs of dogs crossing to the island on their own, fouling the place and not contributing to the economy.
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I preferred the upper lounge,
not knowing dogs are not meant to go there. |
When we arrived on the island, the humans wanted some exercise, so they decided to walk to Millport instead of getting the bus. It was a long walk with some lovely views.By the time we arrived, I was tired and thirsty, and they were sore and weary. Most of the cafes were closed, but fortunately, the one at Garrison House wasn't, and it was dog-friendly. We all stopped there for lunch and a drink. The Humans had brought my usual lunch treat: a Dentatix.
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| Can I have my treat now, please? |
Afterwards, we explored the rest of the town. It didn't take long.
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| This postbox wears a funny hat. |
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| The narrowest house in the world. |
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| I'm not in this one. |
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| The Crocodile Rock didn't bite. |
They couldn't face the walk back, so we took the bus to the ferry, which transported us over to Largs. There, we decided to eat at the Blue Lagoon Cafe, as Nardinis' restaurant wasn't dog-friendly. I wasn't allowed a supper but was given a bowl of water instead (on the house).
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| Largs |
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| What a lovely sunset! |
Our next excursion was a four-day stay at Seahouses on the northeast coast of England, where we rented a pet-friendly cottage. The hosts left a fantastic hamper with some excellent treats for both the humans and me.
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| Are you being serious? I'm not allowed on the furniture? |
On the first night, we wandered down to the harbour.
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| Whale bone arch |
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| Local wildlife |
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| Seahouses harbour |
The place was hoaching with big flies, so we cut the walk short and headed back to the cottage.
The next day, it rained so hard that we had to abort our walk on the beach. The Man was soaked down to his underwear. He needed to pack his shoes with the newspaper from the hamper to dry them out. At least I got a run around on the beach.
On the second day, the rain persisted but was not quite as heavy. The wind, however, had raised to a gale. The plan was to go to Alnwick to visit the Barter Bookshop, one of the biggest second-hand bookshops in the UK. We stopped off at Beadnell Bay Beach so I could burn off my excess energy. Despite the inclement weather, lots of other dog owners had the same idea.
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| Beadnell Bay Beach |
I thoroughly enjoyed running about with a male spaniel, who doggedly chased me for ages. He also showed me the most pungent place to roll, so I did...and did...and did, until I looked like my coat and face had sand-coloured highlights. I smelled like a mix of dead fish and seaweed.
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| I was so proud of my new aroma. |
When we arrived in Alnwick, the rain was lashing down. The Man drove to a Long-Stay carpark only to discover it was totally full. With no way around it, he had to reverse back the way he came, turning into the small space between two parked cars where the pedestrian exit was. Then, the Woman noticed a car owner returning to their vehicle and instructed the Man to reverse further to leave space for the car to get past. Crunch! He whacked the corner of a vehicle parked at the side of the pathway. Lots of swearing ensued. He went outside into the rain to examine the damage (failing entirely to check if I was okay) and continued to swear as he pushed his brake light back into its casing and fiddled with the car panels, which had become askew. In truth, I think he was in shock because he was unable to steady his hand to write down his details and had to get the Woman to do it for him, leaving them on the windscreen of the affected car, inside one of my treat bags (to keep the paper dry). They never explained to me where the dog treats went.
This incident was the final straw. Heading back to Seahouses, they packed up their possessions from the cottage and aborted the remainder of the holiday, heading home.
On reflection, I'm glad they did. I think they were so wowed by the property's aesthetics that they failed to notice exactly how pet-friendly it was. My evidence:
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| House rules |
I wasn't allowed upstairs, on the furniture, or on the lawn, and Seahouses itself wasn't overly friendly either.
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This sign was at the only park we discovered.
There wasn't one outside the graveyard
but The Man refused to let me soil that soil. |
On the drive home, The Man announced he wanted to go up to the cabin that night so they could continue the break. Fortuitously, The Woman had the cabin keys in her handbag, so they reprogrammed the sat nav and headed to the holiday park instead.
It was the best decision ever!
Suddenly, as we returned to Scotland, the grey clouds vanished, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. It was as if the spirit of our home nation was on our side.
I got a bath as soon as we arrived, as the bouquet of rotten fish still reeked from my coat.
The following day was brilliant. We drove beyond Balmaha to the Cashel Forest and hiked up the longest trail. The views were fantastic! I had a blast running about on the grass and off-trail.
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| Look what I found. |
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| I name it 'The Millie Pond'. |
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| Hurry up! |
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| I smell deer. |
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| Loch Lomond (in the distance). |
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You never tire of this view.
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| Hurry up! |
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| We've another viewpoint to locate. |
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| Here it is. |
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| Isn't it lovely! |
When we got home, everyone was tired. That night, we had another fantastic surprise: the Northern Lights!
I couldn't see anything, but the humans were mightily impressed. This was the first time they had ever experienced them, confirming that they had made the right decision to return (it was still raining at Seahouses).
After our stay at the cabin, we visited Loch Lomond up close. I ran ahead and found a cafe. I checked it out first and discovered it was closing. I think the staff would have preferred I had been accompanied, but it was pet-friendly, so no harm was done.
I've been entertaining this month. No Molly this time, just Honey the Labrador. Here's one of us sharing my bones. To be honest, I had no choice in the matter. She's bigger than me (but friendly with it).
I also shared a walk with an older male dog whose vision and hearing are failing. Pepe can occasionally be grumpy, but not with me. We got on wonderfully. He even let me share some of his sausages at Hugs & Mugs in Renfew.
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| Look into my eyes. You will share those sausages. |
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| Till next month, Milliefans. |
