Day 2
Today 63km 951m Ferries: 0
Tour to date: 90km 1126m Ferries: 2 Islands: 2
 |
| Wild wild Jura |
My strava entry for the day:
Today was incredible. We went to the end of the road and as far as we could along the land rover track. 1% chance of drizzle but it was biblical rain. We saw venison, beef, sheep, Pygmy goats, whisky distillery and the worlds most remote gin distillery. Lussa gin is lovely. Enterprising families stock Tea on the Beach in a horse box for donations. It saved us from hypothermia. Brutal climbing but we managed all but one gravel river bit. It cleared as we returned. Picnic lunch on perfect beach nr Craighouse.
 |
| 8am "Good morning Campers" Jura Hotel Campsite - Craighouse |
 |
| Shoddy first night pitching! |
 |
| Craighouse |
Hurrah, our tour starts properly today, with an easy day planned without any panniers on the bikes. The last few days have been exhausting with work, packing and the drive from Bristol to Oban on Friday night and Saturday. We stayed at the Jura Hotel at the start of our Tour d'Ecosse in 2016 and vowed to come back and cycle as far as we could on the single island road. So here we are. 8am tea drunk outside today. A bit of a breeze and the weather forecast is dry! Well apparently it was correct for Craighouse. No tent packing today. A nice leisurely start after catching up on sleep.
This is the plan:
To cycle as far as we could until the tarmac turned into gravel and as far as we could after that. We know there is Tea on the Beach at Inverlussa. That is it.
It's a fine day with a stiff north easterly.
Slightly more weather than expected, although a short ride today of just over 50km it's pretty lumpy at 850m. We're getting our climbing legs back into gear.
 |
| Heading north east |
 |
| That orange jacket will be deployed soon |
 |
| 0% chance of rain said the forecast...mmmmm |
 |
| Decisions?! |
Given the black clouds we decided refreshment before gravel exploration. That was the right decision. Cake before rain.
 |
| Tea on the Beach was the decision, sheltering from deluge |
We arrived just in time at Tea on the Beach. The heavens opened and it was torrential.
 |
| Superb cake, DIY drinks and honesty box. |
Three sorts of cake and hot water and milk to make our own refreshments. One camp chair and one tiny kids camp chair that I squeezed into. Given we were there an hour we had 2 cakes and two drinks each and left more than the suggested amount for 4. A lifesaver. Well I exaggerate a little, it would have been a miserable day otherwise.
 |
| Braving the elements... |
 |
| Inverlussa |
 |
| What it says on the sign |
 |
| Inverlussa beach |
 |
| Inverlussa panorama |
 |
| Yep, the storm has passed |
"We" decided the storm had passed and said farewell to Tea on the Beach and headed back up the hill.
 |
| We pass some stags on the sharp pull back up to the "main" road. |
 |
| The dry spell was brief |
 |
| Sheltering from rain |
We carried on through Ardlussa, and met a welcoming party of cattle who owned the road near Lussagiven. It took some patience to eventually safely work our way through them. They grazed the beach and I presume the seaweed makes a wonderful addition to their diet.
 |
| Welcoming party |
 |
| Free roaming beach highland coos grazing on the beach |
 |
| It's a good job we had all day |
 |
| Highland Cow Jura |
 |
| Tarmac has expired |
 |
| Self sufficient remote farm |
We didn't get much further past the farm as the only way forward was to walk, it was far to wet to contemplate so we turned back towards the cows.
 |
| Gnarly and wet! |
 |
| Suspect the photography assistant is getting a bit impatient now |
We arrived back at Lussa Gin where I stopped to take soome photos, the most remote gin distillery in the world. The whole journey beyond Ardlussa had felt primeval, except for the tarmac we could have been back in the middle ages today. Rugged weather, atmosphere and wild exploring distilled.
 |
| Lussa Gin |
 |
| Lussa Gin HQ |
The tiny Lussa Gin distillery is open by appointment. We had no appointment.
 |
| From the wilderness of the Isle of Jura |
The rain was hammering down rhythmically on the old oil drum
 |
| Yes I loved this barrel outside Lussa Gin |
 |
| Another angle |
We work our way back towards Craighouse and the skies brighten. Well actually they had not darkened just we had had our own private storm so far. No rain anywhere else on the Inner or Outer Hebrides today. It was like we were in a parallel universe.
 |
| Mainland |
 |
| Corran Sands for lunch |
Although the wind was cold we were confident we could finally have our picnic lunch at 3.30pm on Corran Sands on our way back into Craighouse.
 |
| Corran Sands Isle of Jura |
 |
| Where in the World? |
 |
| Not as warm as it looks |
 |
| Craighouse |
 |
| Jura Distillery and Hotel behind the campsite |
 |
| Craighouse Panorama |
 |
| A few more happy campers including a couple who came ashore with their tents and kayaks |
 |
| Craighouse |
A lovely seafood dinner in the Jura Hotel bar and we retired for the night. Proper full day's cycle touring starts tomorrow over to Islay.
 |
| Late evening, what weather? |
 |
| Good night Isle of Jura |
Instagram: From the wilderness of the Isle of Jura...
Today was incredible. We went as far as we could without mtbs. The scenery, the wilderness, the weather, the wildlife. The enterprising tiny population.
Links:
It's a fine day with a stiff north easterly.
No comments:
Post a Comment