Tour d'Ecosse Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides Barra and Vatersay Tuesday 5th July 2016

Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides Vatersay 19km 200m ascent

Cumulative 241km 2978m ascent Ferries 6 Islands 5

Seafood Sharing Platter for 2 just £14.95

Today is officially our one and only total rest day. Put another way, we don't have to cycle if we don't want to. We could walk down to the ferry terminal, but it's quicker and easier to ride.

Breakfast at Greystones was excellent, and given this was our smartest (and most expensive night at £120) I was pleased with my planning that we didn't have to rush off this morning as the one and only ferry to the Outer Hebrides was not until 2pm. I managed not to plan the weather very well. We opted to wear civvies today so we didn't have to spend 6 hours on a ferry in lycra. Our one set of dry evening clothes. The heavens opened as we left at 10. We padlocked our bikes up on the pier, one of only two occasions where the heavy padlock I lugged about was used, but both times essential.

We walked up to Tescos for boat snacks and dinner for the hostel later.Pork pies, grapes and cous cous salad, that type of thing! I went in a yarn shop but it was as dull as could be but the fabric selection was quite good. you don't buy much on holiday when you're lugging it about! Then we retired to 'Spoons on the pier to steam with a coffee and dry out a bit.

The plan was an early lunch at the Oban Seafood Hut on the pier. The number one place to eat in Oban, bar none. Oban is the wettest place, this place is always heaving. There are two bench tables under two umbrellas..oops, I mean parasols. There is also a tap for washing hands. The Hut is famous for winning a court case "Court victory for Oban seafood stall owner who saw red over competitor's green shack" The Hut is famous all over the world for it's colour via Trip Advisor reviews, so the competitor had to repaint his hut red again! Colour is a part of your business signature.

A large Seafood Platter for two was £14.95. There were deluxe platters and also simpler dishes for one, like scallops. No chips, no booze, no salad,  just a slice of brown bread and a can of chilled coke and dipping sauce/mayo. So fresh you could not smell any fishy smells around the hut. Service is outstanding, our order arrived as we wiped a bench dry and sat down, the rain had abated. It was all delicious. The only improvement would be a tin bucket to sling the shells in. If you love shellfish eat here, not advised if you don't. That "pipe thing" bottom right is squid, one friend said he would pay £14.95 to not eat that when I posted the pic on Facebook.

Oban Seafood Hut

After our delicious and very healthy lunch we took our place in the ferry queue in plenty of time. The big ferries need you to be queuing, even as a foot passenger, an hour before as they stack up all the bikes and canoes and then load the cars and freight. A few more than a dozen cars on Ferry#6 Oban to Castlebay, which takes 5 hours. We purchased our second CalMac Hopscotch ticket, it was Hopscotch 8 Barra Uist Harris and Lewis and covered the four ferries we would be using to and from and between the Outer Hebrides in the next 4 days. £29.90 each including bikes. Bargain.

CalMac's MV Isle of Lewis tied up in Oban

Waiting for the ferry in Oban

Adieu (or more appropriately Tioraidh) Oban - We will be back!

Ferry Knitting

Southern Outer Hebrides

Coming in to Castlebay on Barra

Castlebay looked very Norwegian in style to us

Castlebay Harbour

Our ferry snugly tied up for the night, view from Dunard hostel

The sky cleared during the afternoon and the sun was unashamedly shining, we rocked into Castlebay, the harbour, scattering of houses and the church reminded us of Norwegian villages. Our bed for the night was at Dunard Hostel and Lodge, an energetic (not!) 400m  peddle from the ferry. We had a twin bedroom in the lodge, bedding and towels included. Hostels are quite smart these days, you don't have to bunk down with strangers, it's only £5 more a night to have your own room, if travelling as a couple, at most hostels. £42 not including breakfast. We were very glad we had a reservation as hoards were being turned away at the door. It must be quite nice to know exactly when the majority of your guests are going to arrive as there is only one ferry a day.

We docked around 6.30 and by 7.30 we had dumped our panniers, pulled on lycra to go and explore Vartersay, the start of the Hebridean Way , shamelessly adding another island tick to our journey. Unfortunately there isn't a road all the way round, just out and back on our roadies. A heck of a steep pull up and  descended to the causeway.
I admit I just cycled with my mouth open, jaw droppingly gorgeous and exactly why we have come here for our holiday.

Barra and Vatersay's modern war memorial to honour the fallen in WWI and II

The war memorial is a three-sided pillar at Nask/Nasg overlooking Castlebay/Bagh a Chaisteal commemorating those from Barra/Barraigh and Vatersay/Bhatarsaigh who did not return from WW1 [71 total] and WW2 [44 total]. The English and Gaelic names, their service, and their township are listed, Poignant reading the names of those you don't know but imagining yourself in their boots so far away from such a quiet and tranquil homeland. The monument was designed by Dugald Cameron and dedicated on 11 November 1993.

Pretty much tourist brochure weather on Vatersay

Long shadows at 8.30pm but a long way off dusk!

This is the life

We returned to the hostel, propped our bikes up round the back and had a shower. Dinner was pork pies, cheese, grapes and fruit cake! We spent a lovely couple of hours chatting with 3 others in the lovely kitchen/living area with stunning view, all of them doing different and interesting things, interestingly all about our age, no young things to be spotted! Tomorrow is due to be a long day.

Touring Tips in Scotland

1 Utilise every sunny minute you get, even if it is a rest day, they may not last until tomorrow!

2 Plan carefully for accommodation and food when arriving in remote places at the same time as everyone else.

3 Chat to fellow travellers.

Tour d'Ecosse quick links:

Planning
Day 1 Isle of Arran and a little Mull of Kintyre
Day 2 Inner Hebrides: Isles of Islay and Jura
Day 3 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Jura-Tayvallich to Oban
Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides: Barra and Vatersay
Day 5 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Barra Eriskay South Uist Benbecula Grimsay North Uist Beneray and Harris
Day 6 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Harris and Lewis to Callanish Stones
Day 7 Outer Hebrides: Butt of Ness to Stornoway and Ullapool
Day 8 Ullapool to Gairloch
Day 9 Gairloch to Shieldaig - Applecross Peninsula
Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton
Day 11 Plockton to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale
Day 12 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale to Ardnamurchan
Day 13 Ardnamurchan to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Mull to Oban to Loch Melfort
Day 14 Loch Melfort to Tarbert, Loch Fyne
Day 15 Tarbert Loch Fyne to Ardrossan THE END!

Tour d'Ecosse Day 3 Jura-Tayvallich to Oban Monday 4th July 2016

Day 3 Jura-Tayvallich to Oban 71km 878m ascent
Cumulative 222km 2778m ascent Ferries 5 Islands 3

Jura Passenger Ferry Jura to Tayvallich

Weather alert, very brave in shorts. Dreich* plus a bit. Midges...man eating! 500m from hotel to ferry terminal (aka pier) and the blighters chomped my legs!!  I still love Jura. 

*From the UrbanDictionary.com  "A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather." At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply.

Weeks before, after seeing a reference to the Jura Passenger Ferry in Richard Barrett's superb Cycling in the Hebrides book (that we based our holiday on), I had booked us and our bikes on the first ferry at 8.45 from Jura to Tayvallich on the mainland. Ferry #5

We said goodbye to the lovely Jura Hotel after a superb breakfast, packed up the panniers and sauntered down to the dock. We were getting better at this routine already. Here is the plan:

 Originally we had wanted to take the CalMac sailing to Oban (from Port Askaig) possibly via Colonsay, where on a Wednesday or a Saturday you can spend 4-7 hours on the island arriving from the twice weekly Islay-Colonsay-Oban service  and then get the daily Colonsay-Oban CalMac ferry in the evening. However we routed it we could not make it work for a Saturday or Wednesday without having to cut the plan elsewhere, as days go to waste. Even if we had parked in Oban and worked the route as a figure of 8 we were scuppered. But Richard's excellent book mentioned that the private Jura Ferry runs daily, and fortunately it still has funding and is running, but you need to book, as there is limited bike space and only 2 crossings a day (none on Wednesday and only 1 on Sunday). This "Plan B" then entailed cycling up to Oban from Tayvallich. The crossing (around an hour) was a bit more exciting than CalMac, but we didn't see any seals as it was so claggy.

Tayvallich

Tayvallich has a highly recommended Inn that serves delicious seafood, we were told, and a 7 day a week community shop and café, where we spent some pennies in the shop on lunch and bananas as the café stop isn't allowed before any effort has been expended! As we had already found,  there are often are no cafés when you want one, so emergency supplies to last the day are necessary "just in case." It's also very picturesque and remote. Route finding is not hard when there is only one road. It skimmed the wooded shore and was very picturesque. The weather dried up a bit and we waited ten minutes for a swing bridge to be swung so we could proceed on our way to Oban. I am sure we had a cereal bar or a banana as we appreciated the scenery and waved at the yachts chugging through.

Patiently waiting at the lock

Slow boat to ....

The terrain got lumpier and we did end up on a dirt cycle track at one point that would have been perfect on a mountain bike but was at the limit of the road bikes. Mightily relieved when we escaped back to the road. We joined the main A816 and the first of three big lumpy bumps today. We reckon anything over 100m ascent to 10km distance classes as lumpy...we exceeded that ratio today, and most days. I spotted a sign for a marina and cafe/pub/restaurant at the bottom of Loch Melfort and we diverted a couple of miles for lunch. Big mistake. Well, it added on a hell of a kick of a lump and after that diversions for nice looking cafés were rarely allowed. This turned out to be a very run of the mill pub and we had a perfectly OK soup and ploughmans but it was not worth the detour! Snotty Yotties all tied up in the marina, as ex-dinghy sailors call them ;) We are booked to stay at Loch Melfort next week, but the other end.

Loch Melfort marina

The rain returned and got steadily heavier as we hauled our way over the lumps to Oban. To be honest it was not very pleasant, not that much traffic for a trunk road but an artic or bus every now and then, no alternative route and it was the main road to Oban from the South. Coming into Oban we got a bit lost round the suburbs and had a couple of false starts tracking our B&B down which was up a ruddy hill of course! It did mean there was a great view.

We did feel a little out of place arriving like wet otters dripping at the lovely Sawdays recommended Greystones. I had been very lucky that they had had a one night gap as this place is usually full and only takes bookings for 2 nights plus unless a gap. All the rooms here have a stunning view of the harbour and the ferries coming and going, it was worth that last climb! We were also kindly allowed to leave our bikes in the shed, which entailed a cross country style yomp down slippy steps in the garden. We were very glad to get to our lovely room and start the nightly hot shower, washing shorts, drying off us and clothes, warming up and eating routine. Very nice home made Florentines were left out for us on the tea tray. I am very good at weighing up a B&B by their complimentary tea trays.Home made offerings are essential. Greystones was excellent. The architecture was very Scottish and very stylishly updated, and had originally been the Maternity hospital. No ghosts of labouring mothers though. I took this picture later on when it had stopped raining and we had cleaned up a bit! Again a 2-3 night stay here would be great. Walking distance to the centre but very peaceful.

Greystones B&B - not the laird

Oban

View from our bedroom at Greystones

Oban Harbour

Oban Prom

Oh look, a whisky distillery, Oban

We walked into town having managed to get an early booking at The Waterfront Fishouse on the CalMac pier. The early-bird £13.99 (and lunch) menu was good value and delicious but not quite enough for two hungry cyclists so we did partake of dessert too, which bumped the bill up a lot! Eat here, but watch what you order. We didn't stay out late, and as this was the fanciest B&B we were staying at we went back to appreciate our room, although not a stunning sunset it was still a breathtaking view. We may also have had a complimentary sherry that was left out for guests, a nice touch.

View from our bedroom; time 22.45 !

Touring Tips in Scotland

1 Try and avoid trunk roads, although not busy by any means rumbling lorries do make for a workhorse approach to "getting done". There were only 2-3 sections in the whole holiday like this, not bad really.

2 Do not spend the whole holiday dreading the one section of road we knew we were reversing part of later in the holiday. We made the lumps into Mount Everests in our head by the following week. We were fitter by then and laughed at ourselves for making mountains out of molehills, well lumpy molehills but nothing like we remembered!

3 Wash cycle shorts out whilst having a shower, as if treading grapes, squeeze excess water out at hourly intervals and even with heating you are lucky if they dry by morning. No hope of dry shorts if camping in this weather.


Tour d'Ecosse quick links:

Planning
Day 1 Isle of Arran and a little Mull of Kintyre
Day 2 Inner Hebrides: Isles of Islay and Jura
Day 3 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Jura-Tayvallich to Oban
Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides: Barra and Vatersay
Day 5 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Barra Eriskay South Uist Benbecula Grimsay North Uist Beneray and Harris
Day 6 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Harris and Lewis to Callanish Stones
Day 7 Outer Hebrides: Butt of Ness to Stornoway and Ullapool
Day 8 Ullapool to Gairloch
Day 9 Gairloch to Shieldaig - Applecross Peninsula
Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton
Day 11 Plockton to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale
Day 12 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale to Ardnamurchan
Day 13 Ardnamurchan to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Mull to Oban to Loch Melfort
Day 14 Loch Melfort to Tarbert, Loch Fyne
Day 15 Tarbert Loch Fyne to Ardrossan THE END!

Tour d'Ecosse Day 2 Islay and Jura Sunday 3rd July 2016

Day 2 Islay and Jura 56km 700m ascent
Cumulative 151km 1900m ascent Ferries 4 Islands 3

Come to Islay but especially Jura, and stay at The Jura Hotel for a night or two. Very reasonable price, contemporary Scottish, not twee and food to die for. The surroundings are not shabby either. We wished we were here another day to mountain bike to the end of the road.

First the riding, after an excellent 'light' breakfast at Bluebell Cottage on Kintyre we rolled 500m down the hill to Kennacraig, nothing is there but the ferry terminal to Port Askaig and Port Ellen on Islay. We would have preferred Port Ellen but the only ferry on a Sunday is in the evening, so we sailed at 9.30am to Port Askaig (Ferry#3) and planned a shorter circular route to catch the 5 minute hop on the Feolin ferry (Ferry #4) to Jura later, either 16.30 or 18.30.
Boy the pull out of Port Askaig is brutal, 14% hill bends from cold straight off the ferry and into the stiff westerly but although overcast we did stay dry. In a couple of kilometres we have passed two whisky distilleries, but we headed for Bowmore.

I always stop for gratuitous bike pics 

Bowmore Distillery Islay

After a wee dram in the bar we headed off on a short loop, after a failed attempt at finding a decent café. Touring on a Sunday needs very careful planning as so many cafés, restaurants, tourist attractions and nearly all shops are still shut on the Sabbath in the Western Isles. The only tea shop open in Bowmore on a Sunday is grim. Do not go there!

A stiff pull out of Bowmore. This was not to be our resting place!

taking us through sporting estates, very wild heath and moorland.

Sporting estates on Islay, not quite the Glorious 4th thank goodness!

But those horrible bends out of Port Askaig were rewarded with a lovely swoopy descent back down to catch the 16.30 ferry to Jura, and a spare 45 minutes for a cheeky gin and tonic. I heart Botanist Gin now.

Here I fell in love with Botanist Gin...distilled on Islay, waiting for a ferry.

Waiting patiently for Ferry #4

I just love harbours and boats...there will be many shots like this!

Feolin Ferry Islay to Jura £1.50 each and we were the only passengers

Jura's only road!

We swept down the one and only road to Craighouse. Just beautiful, today it was not actually raining. Running into Craighouse was like coming home. We found the Jura Hotel easily and were shown up to our lovely modernised room totally keeping the local character. Steve was convinced it would be awful old Scottish tatty hotel, but the young owners have worked a miracle on this place. It caters for everyone and we did not feel out of place here in our limited wardrobe! We had the cheapest double, so a view of the distillery, not the harbour and a bit smaller but a third less. If we had been staying a few days splashing out on a £120 sea view suite room would have been well worth it.Post hot blissful shower we spent our evening in the characterful public areas, restaurant, bar and village.

Dinner was stunning, seafood and more, and very very reasonable, as were the wine and bar prices. I would come back here for a short break in a shot. Apparently they are going to start doing mountain biking, sea kayaking and other activities and I suspect these will be very reasonable cost too.  It would have been nice to have had the time to go to the end of the road, explore Islay properly. Climb a Pap or two. Sea Kayaking, fishing.  We are already realising we need twice the time at least!

Craighouse Harbour

As it says on the photo!

After dinner we sauntered around town. we missed a gin tasting that had been on the previous evening and had drained the island of Botanist Gin!

Swanning Around 10pm

Jura is just idyllic.

Touring Tips in Scotland

1 Plan Sundays carefully when touring, shops, cafés and tourist attractions are often shut. The Sabbath is still very important in these areas. I wish it was elsewhere, makes for a nicer pace of life.

2 If you have the time allow 2-3 days per destination. 

3 Every ferry port is at sea level. Every ferry destination means the first few kilometres are littered with expletives as you battle up the first hill cold!

Tour d'Ecosse quick links:

Planning
Day 1 Isle of Arran and a little Mull of Kintyre
Day 2 Inner Hebrides: Isles of Islay and Jura
Day 3 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Jura-Tayvallich to Oban
Day 4 Oban to Outer Hebrides: Barra and Vatersay
Day 5 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Barra Eriskay South Uist Benbecula Grimsay North Uist Beneray and Harris
Day 6 Outer Hebrides: Isles of Harris and Lewis to Callanish Stones
Day 7 Outer Hebrides: Butt of Ness to Stornoway and Ullapool
Day 8 Ullapool to Gairloch
Day 9 Gairloch to Shieldaig - Applecross Peninsula
Day 10 Bealach na Bà from Applecross to Plockton
Day 11 Plockton to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale
Day 12 Inner Hebrides: Isle of Skye Armadale to Ardnamurchan
Day 13 Ardnamurchan to Inner Hebrides: Isle of Mull to Oban to Loch Melfort
Day 14 Loch Melfort to Tarbert, Loch Fyne
Day 15 Tarbert Loch Fyne to Ardrossan THE END!