God, I hate tourists - especially loud ones.

 Yesterday we were in Oban, a very pretty town but not one I'd want to spend much time in.

We landed by Zodiacs - and were shepherded onto a coach, with the most garrulous  tour guide we had the misfortune to have with us. We were going to Glen Coe via some stunning scenery except the bloody woman wouldn't stop rabbiting on about anything. It was really annoying as I had positioned myself at the back of the coach so I could nod off without disturbing anyone.

As with much of the cruise, the day was cloudy and Glen Coe, when we arrived, was shrouded in mist. Our guide unnecessarily pointed out that we couldn't see the tops of the mountains - we could see that! And the place was swarming. Millions of people arriving in all forms of transportation, taking selfies against any sort of background - the Highland Cattle were the preferred backdrop - and they were bored out of their tiny minds. The noise was unbearable. Do Americans not have a mute button? So many loud teenagers and pre teenagers who were stuffing their faces while being incredibly annoying and shouty all at the same time. It was a Sunday - day of rest - forget it.

It took an age to park the coach, an age to get to the "Visitor's Centre", an overpriced, AI enabled echo chamber...and for me 10 seconds to walk in and out and commune with the Highland Cattle. With audio visuals coming out of my ears I was glad to get back to the coach and catch up on my sleep.

I did not take one photograph, not even of the cattle, because wherever you pointed your lens anything of interest was blotted out by people and the worst type of people ...tourists. 

And the journey back - if anything was even worse. We learnt that our guide went swimming in the sea the day before, her friend made cheeses, and she was a stalwart of the community - "It was a way of giving back". 

We were very late getting back to SH Vega. Those who (wisely) stayed on board were surprised that when it was 1 pm - the usual time for lunch - nothing was ready. Only after we came back, an hour or so later, was lunch served. That pissed off quite a few I can tell you.

In the afternoon there was a movie quiz at 4 pm. The late lunch and the coach trip meant that most of the "guests" were flat on their beds asleep. There were 4 teams in the quiz. And my team won again!!!

Today, is our last full day. Last minute washing, writing out labels, on line checking in with BA, and up at 6:30 because we were off to The Giant's Causeway. We were meant to land by  Zodiacs at Portrush, but the harbour was closed. The swell was such it would have been too dangerous to launch the inflatables so the skipper hunted around for a port where we could land. Two hours later we were on a coach leaving Ballycastle for the basalt Lego set. The weather which was grey skies earlier on cleared and we had a tour guide who was very entertaining. How much of what he told us was the truth is unclear, but he was great. 

We had ordered two coaches to take us, but since we didn't have a whole shipload we only needed one coach - except there were four who couldn't get on the one coach. So instead of the second coach going with just four passengers they ordered two taxis to take the four. They could have split us evenly between the two coaches, but this is Ireland!

The coast line is stunning, and we could see Rathin Island - we were going there later in the day. Legoland was horrendous. Billions of "tourists" scrambling over the whole edifice. There's the inevitable "Visitor's Centre". We had a block booking but the National Trust who run the place hadn't enough entry tickets for us so we had to wait in a queue. We were stupidly behind time. 

The Visitor's Centre is about 15 minutes walk from the Causeway. There was an unending train of people going to and from the UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you were unable to walk or unwilling there was a bus service - we were told operating every 15 minutes.  What people weren't told was that the bus service quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer number of people. We had an hour plus there, and some of our party waited 3/4 of an hour to get a bus as they couldn't walk back.

 I didn't take one photograph of the Lego set. People were clamouring all over this wonder of nature and the hidden power of mother earth. Every square inch had a foot, a bum or  a body stuck on it.  

Coins wedged in the basalt

Orange peel

After leaving that eyesore we headed for Dunluce Castle - a ruin of the edge of the cliffs and quite spectacular it was. But once again cars, trailer trucks, coaches and people infested the place. It was a public holiday across the border in Eire, but despite Brexit there is no border so the Celts swarmed over to visit. 

Now back on board the Goodship Vega we are circumnavigating Rathin Island - we don't have time to land! 

Tomorrow I disembark at 9 am to catch a plane at 3 pm from Dublin Airport. I can't wait to see the missus and our house full of cats.