Riding around the Point

When we first arrived in Tighnabruaich we went for a little ride, to see how far the road went down the Cowal Peninsula. We found it went in a loop, and we did that. Very nice. We saw lots of lambs who were freshly hatched from easter eggs, and many, many daffodils.

Two months later the lambs are running around, some fields now host cows instead of sheep, and a farmer moves a flock of sheep.

As we approached a curve in the road, we saw that three sheep had been left behind. A mama and her twins. Well, one twin had a bad leg. When we got close, they all got up and started down the road again. Gimpy was clearly struggling. It hopped along for a little bit, and then went to the grass at the edge of the road to rest. I stayed there, while Joshua went ahead to see if he could see the farmer. The road is small and there aren't exactly any junctions. Clearly, a flock of sheep had recently been moving in the same direction as us (sheep poop everywhere). So Joshua came back, grabbed the lamb, and rode it down the road.

This is the pasture they were headed for

Good day for a ride! At least on our peninsula. Above you can see the Isle of Arran getting pummeled by rain. It may look like a smoking volcano, but it's just catching clouds with it's high peaks. Whoops.

This kinda sums up our time here. Sheep, sailboats, lots of water, crazy clouds and unpredictable weather. Rock, gannets circling and diving, green green pastures. We like it here.

We had seen this beach from above before, so we decided to check it out. It is a local destination of some fame. I am learning to better use the camera.

No cars are allowed on the road out to the beach, and it's a bit of a walk. So we did a little 'froadin. I left the camera dangling from my handlebars and on, so I could take photos at a moments notice. Of the road.

And it took a bunch of photos all by itself. Below is one of the better ones.

The road went paved again, which was nice, and then we turned onto a muddy path that petered out into a field.

A bog? A fen? Anyway, we took it very slowly and didn't crash into any mud.

Zee beach! Made it. Someone had a huge kite. A group was doing team building exercises. Otherwise this vast expanse was fairly empty. Clams. Shells. Lots of sand squirts from razor clams.

Joshua got a new handlebar bag

As we were leaving, I noticed a bit of trash and stopped to pick it up. Apparently tobacco companies here don't completely own governmental representatives.

no sh*t!?

This kind of warning doesn't actually affect smokers, I'm told. Too abstract.

What a lovely day out. While we were gone, it had hailed in Tighnabruaich. Four seasons in a day - sometimes in a couple of hours. That's the west coast of Scotland.

Jura, 2 nights

View Jura for 2 nights in a larger map

So we thought we'd try to go to Islay again. Off we go - first big climb to get over to Portavadie, looks like this from the top:

 Ferry ride, more bike, another ferry, and we were back on Islay. We decided we'd take it easier this time, not try to beat the wind, but instead just go to the distillery closest to the ferry, eat some food, and wild camp somewhere near. Turns out there was no food. But Caol Ila (Cull Eela) is a very nice whiskey. They have this great view, too...

See how we are at water level? Well, that took some effort. The ferry is at water level, too. But the road goes up up up, around, and then down down down down to Caol Ila. Disappointed about the lack of a cafe, and knowing the wind would be with us, we decided to go to Jura instead. The Paps beckoned.

Joshua contemplates rowing across

And it was immediately stunning. Off the small ferry, the road turns right. There is just the one road on Jura. It follows the coast south and the turns inland a bit. We climbed a soft grade for a while. Meanwhile on either side, somewhat barren. Although it turns out there's water just everywhere. Hidden streams pour into the culverts on either side of the road.

Not sure what the camera was focused on here...

The weather was working out well. Wind in our favor and kinda sunny. The road rolls up and down all the way to Craighouse, about 8 miles. Most of way there are no trees, it is totally quiet except for the wind. One of my favorite rides ever. 

And in Craighouse, there is the one Jura Distillery, and the hotel. There's a cafe, meeting hall/community space, tiny Spar (maybe even smaller than the one in Tighnabruaich), and homes. The campsite is run by the hotel, and they ask a donation to help maintain the field. Bathrooms and showers in the back. Cue the choir.

(l-r) hotel, distillery (foreground) campsite

Our neighbors we'd met on the ferry, a small family carrying a 2.5 yr old on the front child seat and one parent carrying all the gear in a trailer. Camping for about a week. They were there for the Jura Fell Race, which sounds like something out of World of Warcraft. It's a 12 mile run that goes up and down five very steep mountains, including the three Paps. Apparently the winners do it in a little over 3 hours. Anyone participating is a winner in my book.

Our tent. Bikes to keep people (us) from tripping over the fly lines.

Again, choirs. Lots of good light, not that the camera can handle it.

The next morning we decided to go to the distillery. Taste, we did. Buy, we did. Oh, and we bought a couple bottles at Caol Ila, too. Brought them all back to Tighnabruaich. Clearly, we are seasoned bicycle tourists. 

My favorite flavor is called Superstition. Also amazing is the Diurach's Own 16yr. Whoa. 

We spent the rest of the day walking through town, having lunch at the cafe, and then the afternoon in the hotel bar dining area. Good view, nice scotch, reading books. Wow - two nights in one place!? It rained and the wind blew and we hoped for better weather in the morning.

We got it. It rained all night. But towards morning it started to lighten, and just as we were ready to leave the tent, waterproofs on, everything put away, it stopped raining altogether. We rode back along the beautiful road, saw many, many Jura deer and even heard, then saw, an Eagle. Rare. Also, the copse of trees we'd been stunned by on the way in was as stunning on the way out.

We got a pretty good wind from the north, hitting us on our right sides as we climbed the last of the uphills. Then we turned north and battled through the last two miles towards the ferry. But we made it. And made it back to Tighnabruaich; this has been home for two months. We leave very, very soon.

Rothesay Castle

Some photos of a day trip (by bus) to Rothesay, where there's a very, very old castle. First erected in 1204, it's gone through some owners since then. Vikings captured it in 1228, then the Scots got it back around 1263. Additions and renovations since then, but it's now a museum. Closed at lunchtime, which is why all the photos are from the outside. The moat is fantastic, complete with swans (which aren't in any pictures, oops).

Islay of Scotch

View Islay for one night in a larger map

Bike camping! We finally made it out of town, after being here for a month, and braved the wind and rain to do some whiskey tasting on the Isle of Islay (pronounced eye-luh).

Joshua and the bikes - loaded. We didn't take everything. In fact I forgot some important stuff, like my sarong aka the towel and the scarf I use as a pillow case. Bummer. Oh well, not a big trip really.

Just two ferries. The first was a tiny thing. Not sure what the new camera was focused on in this photo...

But they had a bar and ropes just so we could tie up the bikes.

And the second was a bit bigger. We were early and spent some time in the ferry terminal where we met a group of Rabbis who were going on their 10th annual Whiskey tour. They were from all over (London, Scotland, Los Angeles, etc) and were quite curious about our cycling adventure. We also met a fellow cyclist waiting in the Kennacraig terminal, on a solo trip through the Hebrides of Scotland. Hugh, age 70, got a rare photo of the two of us as we came into the Sound of Jura.

And here's Jura itself, the mountains are called the Paps of Jura.

But we didn't go to that island, we went to Islay, right next door. Islay is most famous for the Scotch Whiskies Laphroaig and Bowmore, but there are a total of eight distilleries on the island, and one on Jura.

What they say about the islands is that you never know what the weather will be like, except that it's going to be windy. And windy it was. We managed to avoid getting rained on, just barely, but there was nothing to do but fight through the wind all the way to the campsite. We managed to convince Hugh to join us at Port Mor, just past Port Charlotte, especially after he found out there was no food at the campsite he had planned to stay at. We had some insider information from some locals who said Port Charlotte is the nice place to go - so we went west and got pounded by the wind.

Just as the rain started to fall, we approached the town of Bruichladdich, where I knew there was a distillery to visit. Joshua stopped, thinking we'd put on some rain gear. I convinced him and Hugh to go on another few hundred feet, until we reached the distillery, where we were met by walls of Scotch. After the beating we'd taken from the wind, a wee dram was just what we needed. We tasted something old and something older. It was all delicious. Hugh mailed home a bottle and we decided we'd come back again the next day.

Once the rain stopped, we went outside to a beautifully sunny and quiet day. The change in weather was unbelievable, especially the lack of wind that we were met with. We made it the extra 3 miles or so to the campsite and got set up just as the wind started to blow again. Apparently some folks had broken a tent pole the night before, so everyone was camped behind the fence. We followed suit, although it meant sleeping on a slant.

Here's Hugh and his amazing solo set up:

We set up shortly afterward, and we decided to walk back down the road to the town of Port Charlotte for dinner at the Port Charlotte Hotel - which was fabulous. Of course, while we had dinner it rained and the wind was crazy. And when we were walking back to the camp the weather was threatening but not wet.

Joshua and I had thought to stay a second night, after spending Tuesday riding around without gear, tasting whiskies. But due to the intense wind, we decided to ride east and not bother coming west at the end of the day again. We visited Bruichladdich again, to taste the rum cask whiskey and the organic whiskey, and we bought a small bottle of the organic to take with us. We also ran into the gaggle of Rabbis who we'd met on the ferry. They had just completed the tour and were thrilled to see us again. Rabbi Ari from London asked that we take some photos with him. He even got on my bike and rode around the parking lot. Impressive, considering it wasn't quite his size.

We then decided that instead of another wild night of wind and rain, we'd catch the afternoon ferry back and head home that night. So I took some pictures.

And we pedaled for all we were worth. Again avoiding rain, we made the ferry just before it started to come down again, but got some stunning views with the tail wind that took us there.

And again, when we arrived back in Tighnabruiach, we were in the house only a few minutes before it started raining. Then we got this amazing view of a sun dog out above the point.

new camera! office! view!

more soon...