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Another gorgeous sunny day meant another opportunity to execute my roofless style of driving.
I started with a trip across The Rhines to Portpatrick, a tiny old fishing port on the west coast. From the car park I climbed the 122 steps to the top of the cliff and after a few minutes walk spied the ruins of Dunskey Castle perched on the edge of the cliff. While there is virtually nothing left of the castle, the dramatic cliff top setting together with blue sky was simply stunning.
Driving around The Rhines, with the air flowing around my head, felt very much like driving around a small island, which I guess isn't that surprising as it virtually is an island!
Then we left The Rhines behind to drive up the west coast and across the border into Ayrshire. We stopped at Bennane Head to admire the views across to the Ailsa Craig (a big rock) and the Isle of Arran beyond.
Further up the coast, we reached Culzean Castle and Country Park. This started life in a similar way to the castle we visited earlier, as a fortified tower house perched on a cliff. However, there the similarities end. Whereas Dunskey has become a property estate agents would describe as having potential, successive generations of the Kennedy family continued to tinker with Culzean, creating the current Des Res, which was handed over to the National Trust for Scotland in 1945.
Having explored the castle itself, I then wandered around the extensive grounds, enjoying a toffee fudge ice cream by Woody's, based in Ayrshire.
Continuing up the coast, I couldn't resist the lure of Dunure, another little fishing village. Here resides another old castle, but it suffered a similar fate to Dunskey. Alongside it is a massive stone beehive, or maybe it's a dovecot!
Then we headed into Ayr and the Blackburn Villa B&B. I started to put Dawnie's roof back into place when disaster struck, and the roof stopped halfway through the process. It would neither go up nor down. The B&B proprietor, Karen, was extremely helpful, finding the number of the local VW dealer, Ingrams, and even letting me use her phone as mine had no signal. Despite it being after 5pm, the dealers said they'll have a look. Arriving around 5.40, their technicians had already left but the others tried their best but no luck. Therefore Dawnie will spend the night at the dealers and their expert will attended upon her in the morning. Meanwhile, one of the staff gave me a lift back to the B&B.
Unfortunately, Dawnie's roof mechanism is so sophisticated that we were unable to open the boot and access my luggage!.
Although the problem is something of a nuisance, the staff at Ingrams and Karen at the B&B couldn't have been more helpful. Thanks to everyone.
I headed onto the centre of Ayr for some fodder and enjoyed steak and fries at the Tree House. Then I popped into the Co-op to get a toothbrush for the night!
Today, we covered 137 miles.
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