The second part of the cycle trip took me west along the Tay estury, and with the weather turning sunny and milder, gave me a positive outlook for the week ahead.

After turning alittle northwards I arrived at Perth and was supprised that the campsite had a sign: “closed for the winter!” I asked if I could stay in a corner for the night and was told the site had been allocated to some travelers until July. I then went to a nearby Christian retreat centre and they said they only take room bookings. In the end another campsite was found next to a racecourse, and although very clean and modern, I felt alittle out of place with the many families and older couples in thier motor homes and caravans.

I then traveled northwards along the river Tay arriving at the valley town of Dunkeld. The old bridge welcomed me to a street of people talking happily in the warm sunshine. On the left was the cathedral, partly in ruins, with some grand trees and well mown lawns surrounding it. In fact St Columba’s relics were brought here to keep them safe and since then has attracted pilgrims to the place.

The next day I continued up the wooded valley (Tay forest park area) which opened out to area of fields for crop farming mainly. There was an old viaduct which had a large sign that read “Community owned” at the front. It was a single track construction, built in 1865 and was saved from possible decay in recent years. (Logierait Viaduct) Then the following day continued along the river heading more westwards to the town of Kenmore and Loch Tay. I was quite taken aback by the grandness of the place and cycling along the quieter road marked for cyclists reminded me of Swiss alpine lake setting. The hills had now turned to mountains of the central highlands and there was a more colder chill in the air. Then next morning I looked out of my tent to a frosty field with the sun line slowly move towards me. There was something there that made God seem bigger and closer than I had expected.

From there I rode to Crianlarich, and on the next morning rode to nearest church for the psalm Sunday service. There was a friendly welcome and I was given a psalm cross and a cup of tea at the end. There were lots of questions about where I had come from and going to, and it seemed funny listening to the story of Jesus on the donkey? Then from there I headed along the river Orchy, as suggested by a member to the village of Dalmally. This was the berth place of former labour leader John Smith and apart from the busy A85 road running through, seemed very quite and non touristy.

To conclude this section, I continued westwards along Loch Awe, stopping by an unusual building on the roadside: “St Conan’s Kirk”. It is infact a church that was built in grand Victorian style, after the first train line and near by station had been setup. They wanted something less conventional and included cloisters with timbers from a war ship, that looked quite rustic and vines molded into the lead roof. Then continuing a few miles past the loch, I took a quiet road from Taynuilt through farms dotted with sheep and highland cattle ending at the hustle and bustle of Oban by 3pm.