Wednesday 18 June - Loch Lomond and Balloch Castle Park

I needed to do some washing, and the hotel doesn't offer a laundry service, so I drove down to Loch Lomond and found myself a Laundrette pod to do a load of washing. Not the most cost effective (had me be very appreciative of the load Julian at Croft Cottage did for me for a cheap 5 quid). But waiting for the laundry to wash and dry gave me time to catch up on my travel journal.

I had a nice lunch at the Loch Lomond Shores and had a chat with a lovely lady at the next table as I was leaving because I needed to step around her dog. She had a lovely cockapoo who turns 8 in August (like Harvey) and looked like a cross between Harvey and Paris, our friend from dog club. We talked about how lovely it is in Scotland that dogs are everywhere and accepted in so many places, out on trails, on public transport, in cafes/pubs, etc. Australia is really behind the times in this respect.

I drove a short distance, across the River Leven, to a small parking area and headed off on a nice walk through Balloch Castle Country Park and up to Whinny Hill. I explored the walled garden in Balloch park, went passed the Balloch Castle (fenced off and in ruins) then meandered my way through forest and woodland to Whinny Hill. Couldn't complete the full circuit around Whinny Hill as a diversion was in place due to tree felling. However, walking through the grassy area I spotted a pair of red deer who were a little too far away to photograph, and they ducked behind some trees fairly quickly. The last part of the walk was along Loch Lomond. The trail was very well maintained and signed, I saw only a couple of people, many birds chirped away and the breeze in the trees made for a truly peaceful walk.

I finished the day with a picnic dinner on my bed with food I picked up from the supermarket.