17km and 175m 2 ferries 2 islands CalMac Oban-Port Askaig Isle of Islay then Feolin Port Askaig-Isle of Jura
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| Oban: Ready for the grand depart |
Sat 8th - Weds 12th June 2019 Inner Hebrides Jura and Islay
Weds 12th - Sun 16th June Inner Hebrides Mull
Sun 16th - Sat 22nd June Outer Hebrides Barra to Harris and return
This gave us options to amend or abort if anything went wrong with us our bikes or weather fairly easily. We also had known resupply in Oban each time we passed through. We managed to avoid having to spend an overnight in Oban by judicious Cal Mac planning and syncing same day transfers to next island.
We tried to make the train work, but we would have lost 2 days of holiday and spent a fortune. Just too much strain from Bristol to Oban, starting from London is fine as you can use the sleeper with no changes and your bike is securely booked on. From Bristol, with all the changes and the risk of not getting bikes on trains with luggage, even if booked, it was too much to risk. So we drove to Oban.
Fortunately my parents live in the Lakes for a quick Friday night stop over. This time we are camping mainly, it's far less risky to always have your accommodation with you. Self inflating camp mats are the way to go for Puffing Puffins.
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| Now just to put it all in the 4 panniers between us. |
We arrived in Oban around 2pm. We have to find somewhere to leave the car and do some food shopping, no shops will be open until Monday morning on Jura. In fact there is only 1 shop in Craighouse. We drove round in circles a lot, bought supplies in Tesco and eventually settled on an industrial estate on the outskirts to park after quadruple checking that there were no parking restrictions nor were we causing any obstructions. Panniers on and my bar bag fixed, the new set up handling took a little getting used to. Only the tent was bungeed onto Steve's rack separately, for the first two days anyway, more of that later! 2.8km down to the ferry terminal and into the ticket office for a return to Islay, with very little time to spare, £19.70 each, bikes are free. The ferry takes 4 hours via Colonsay. we had jsut enough time to munch a late lunch of roll mop herrings and a dressed crab from the seafood shack on the pier.
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| My bike set up |
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| Sophisticated lashing |
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| Bye bye Oban for now..see you Wednesday |
A 4 hour crossing via Colonsay. We had dinner on board, very unmemorable, chilli I think. We sailed the length of Jura up the Corryvreckan strait where George Orwell nearly died before penning 1984, on Jura, in 1949. No whirlpool was sighted.
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| Ferry life, I loves a ferry me |
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| Feolin Ferry Port Askaig, Islay |
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| The Feolin ferry takes 5 minutes Port Askaig to Jura |
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| Coming into port Isle of Jura |
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| The east coast of Jura 21.30pm in June |
We head into the Jura Hotel to pay for 2 nights camping, £5 a night for both of us and a deposit for the shower block key, £1 per shower. Utterly brilliant. The tent was up in ten minutes, a little slow but we got better as we got into the pitching and striking camp routine. A quick drink in the bar and bed.
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| Craighouse panorama Jura Distillery is next door to the Jura Hotel |
Strava failed for me today
