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The weather was awful - some of us were soaked in the first
few minutes and I was impressed that everybody carried on
to the bitter end. We got a good turn-out of adults but not
so many young explorers - Eilish, Kerry and Robin, with Sandra,
Craig and Ann and Mairi to help.
The first stop was Ardery picnic site where it was hoped that
we would find some interesting ancient platforms in the woods.
Unfortunately the bracken was too high to get a good view
and all most of us saw was one small piece of charcoal and
lots of trees and rain. However, on the way back down the
hill we found a sundew plant and a rather brightly-coloured
frog. We quickly returned to the cars and drove to Ariundle.
On the way, John told the story of the Woodend cow: there
were two brothers living in the old house at Woodend, near
Ranachan. One day they took a cow and a stirk to the cattle
sale at Salen. They sold the stirk and spent the rest of the
day chatting to their friends. The cow wasn't sold but when
they went to look for it, it was nowhere to be seen. It had
been put on the boat by accident and taken to Oban. A few
days later they got a postcard from Oban signed by the cow
and saying she was enjoying her holiday and would see them
soon - the card had been sent by the late Johnny Smith.
There was only one objective at Ariundle, apart from lunch,
that is: we all went into the first field to find the talking
stone. It took a time but we finally got to it. It doesn't
really talk but it has a tale to tell and John translated
the tale so that the explorers could understand. By this time
we were well and truly soaked and went back to Ariundle Centre
for lunch and a chance to dry out. The weather improved as
soon as we got back.
John
Dye
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