Day 6 It started so well

Good day to you B Road fans.

Oh how a day can change in the space of an island.

I awoke bright and early 4am to the sound of the gods trying to force water through my tent at high speed. The noise was deafening. The wind was wobbling the sides of the tent with the force of a Highland coo sitting on it. As Bobby later said " our hydro-static head was well and truly tested"

I eventually got back to sleep once the sound of the rain became white noise.

By 7am the rain had stopped and the birds ( those that also had good hydro-static head)  were chirping again.

Over night a large yacht, the same as the one the Queen hires, was moored between Iona and Mull. I had managed to get a picture of it the night before.

Beautiful looking yacht.

I packed up while the other two sleeping beauties zizzed on.
I woke them at about 9:30 just as another shower came through.

It turns out Alex had only just got to sleep as his hayfever was bad.

We breakfasted on porridge and toast as usual, under Bobbies fishing umbrella,  which has been a boon.

At 11 am we set off with good expectations of a quick run with the wind behind us.
This was cruelly crushed when my mildly sore knee from yesterday went in to overdrive, with the red hot 6 inch nail being driven slowly through my kneecap, at least that what it felt like each time I bent my knee.
I am still amazed how well I did using just my right leg for the first 18 miles.

We reached our rendezvous with Alex at the 18 mile mark, at the Pennyghel post office. We lunched with a very friendly heron who sat on the shed roof and watched us.

The second half of the ride started so well, flat and relatively dry. BUT after about a mile we got the hint and stopped in a bus shelter to put on full waterproofs. This was heavy persistent rain, which is why there are no photos of this part of the trip.

My knee was now starting to hurt even more. Piercing a black toe nail with a hot needed comes to mind.
But now we had bigger hills to climb. Bobby had some paracetamol which I took. After about 30 mins I could peddle again, still with pain but dulled.

Bobby was great and did not just peddle off and leave me, in old top gear style , but kept encouraging me to take it easy.

Bear in mind it is pi##ing down constantly now.

Well to cut an even longer story down the middle,  we made it. The end!

Ok so not quite.
Alex had been keeping check on us to make sure we were ok.

We arrived at Shieldings campsite in Craignure after 37 miles averaging 10.5mph which is a good speed.

Note about the campsite,  everything is made of thick pvc, the same stuff lorry sides are made from. All white and made on site. Tents, toilet blocks, shower blocks ( even the soap dish),  kitchen, etc.
Has to be seen to be believed. Will get some pictures tomorrow.

Well after sausage casserole made on our trangia stoves, that's it for today.

                           

With it being so wet and dull I have no pictures for today just those I hope I painted in words for you.

Till tomorrow. Thanks for reading B Road fans.

Day 5. The beauty of Scotland

Hello again B Road fans.

You know sometimes the slog of the day/week just get you down? Well for us the rain and the wind of the last few days was getting us down.
So imagine our surprise when the sun was shining bright and the sea was sparkling this morning.
The views from the tents across the beach is breathtaking.

All faith restored to the world.

To day is the boys day off and the sun is shining.
After a hearty breakfast and a gentle stole across the beautiful white sands, common to this part of the world we donned our shorts and walking boots and hit the road to Fionnphort and the ferry to Iona.

It is just a mile and a half to the ferry port and with the sun beating down it past in a trice.

While the ferry was loading, a full articulated truck carrying, what seemed all the parts needed for a full ikea house, arrived. Now this does not seem to bad until the ferry staff told the driver he would need to reverse on to the ferry. Darn these lorry drivers are good. In what seemed like way to little space the truck was turned.
Unfortunately we didn't see the loading as our ferry left to Iona. We did later hear that when the lorry was loaded it took up the whole weight limit for the ferry so they could not even take foot passengers on the next run.

On board Bobby held his own and made the 10 minute trip in good form. (Bobby is not fond of ferry's)

On arrival I would have said the sun was even stronger if it was not already burning small children to a crisp in under 5 mins, and as we all know they taste best medium to well done ;-)

We bought provisions from the local spar on the island and headed to the very top end of the island, to find the white sands and turquoise waters I had promised Bobby.

Well it delivered in spades. We sat on the Sands making lunch and watching the big waves breaking in the shore, each one seemed to draw in the white sands and wash it back up the beach.
I must have taken 50 pictures of the beach. Just wish I could post them tonight :-(

After slowly wandering along the sands we turned south and headed up the hill at the north of the island, called Dun I,  it was a good steep climb but no great hight. The views from the to through the amazing clear air were fantastic,  yet another 50 pictures taken :-D

It was just so nice up there we had a wee snooze in the sun.

After a while the draw of the south of the island drew upon us and we descended the hill.
What would be the odds but as we came to the road,  Barry from the other day was cycling by. We had a good long chat and caught up on his news.

We carried on to the beach and golf course (yes a golf course established in 1905) on the south West side of the island. Not as impressive as the beaches to the north, although the rain shower did not help.

The Spouting Cave

Alex was watching the clock to make sure we did not miss our ferry at 17:15.

We made it with 10mins to spare.

We picked up provisions fir tomorrows cycle.

Back at the campsite we made pizzas on the trangias,  yes it can be done, so we stuffed our faces with pizzas. four each as I had over estimated the flour.

We now find ourselves back in the local pub for a good connection.

Well that's it for a wonderful sunny day on Iona.

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom :-)