Day Five: Oban to Barra

An early rise is required this morning to pack our freshly laundered gear followed by a leisurely cycle along Oban seafront to catch the 8:30 am ferry to the Isle of Barra, stopping at Tiree and Coll en-route.

This seven hour journey is one of the most scenic on CalMac's network. After clearing Oban Bay around the north end of Kerrera we pass by the southern end of the island of Lismore and sail the length of the Sound of Mull, with Mull on your left and Morvern, and later the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, on our right.

Highlights include Duart Castle, perched atop a rock overlooking the sea; Tobermory, glimpsed sheltering in its bay; and the lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point. Beyond the point we venture into open waters and veer North West towards Coll and Tiree.

Tiree is an island known for its sandy beaches, which when combined with its excellent record for sunshine makes it an attractive spot for those wanting to get away from it all. Its generally low-lying landscape is interrupted only where it rises to a height of nearly five hundred feet at its very western end. Tiree's land area of 30 square miles supported a population of 4450 at the time of the 1831 census: today the population is nearer 800. Tiree is variously referred to as The Land below the Waves, The Land of Corn or The Hawaii of the North depending on who you speak to. Each of these descriptions holds true depending on the season - and sometimes the time of day! Tiree is probably the flattest of all the Hebrides, most of the island lying no more than 15m above sea level. However there are three hills which give superb views over the 30 square-mile island and much further afield of course. The highest of these hills, Beinn Hynish (141m) is dominated by The Golf Ball, a huge radar dome used by the Civil Aviation Authority for tracking transatlantic air traffic.

Coll, north east of Tiree has only about a quarter of Tiree's population on an island twelve miles by three. It, too, is known for its extensive beaches, and it also has a range of prehistoric relics including standing stones and a souterrain. The island has a small village, Arinagour, where a seal watches the latest visitors to the island depart the boat at the pier.

Further out, we pass the north end of the island of Coll, the Isle of Barra and the Uist Isles come into view in the horizon. On the approach to Barra we have to negotiate some tiny rock outcrops and various small isles as we enter Castle Bay and reverse on to the pier. It is in such confined terrain that one really recognises the bulk of these ships and appreciates the skills of the crew who operate them, as the ferry is carefully manoeuvred around some canoeists close to Kisimul Castle sitting strategically in the centre of the bay.

Kisimul Castle dates from the mid 16th century. The castle is completely surrounded by water and has never fallen to an enemy. The name of the castle comes from the Gaelic words cios (tax) and mul (mound).
Kisimul was abandoned in 1838 when the island was sold, and the castle's condition deteriorated. Some of its stone was used as ballast for fishing vessels, and some even ended up as paving in Glasgow. The remains of the castle, along with most of the island of Barra, were purchased by the chief of Clan MacNeil in 1937, who made efforts at restoration. In 2001 the castle was leased by the chief of Clan MacNeil to Historic Scotland for 1000 years for the annual sum of £1 and a bottle of whisky.

In such a small port it is not long before we locate our stopover for the evening (Dunard Hostel), which occupies a prize position overlooking the bay. As we travel towards our evening residence we become aware that a host of fellow passengers are following our lead which results in great confusion when reaching the hostel. On entering the hostel we find that there is no landlady/warden/owner in attendance. The question on the gathering hordes lips is: ‘Where are we all going to sleep this evening?’ By our calculations there are now 10 people looking for a bed for the evening and only 8 beds in the establishment on offer. Having pre-paid we decide to act quickly and decisively by going upstairs and throwing our panniers on the best bunk available. An act which is quickly replicated by two fellow female cyclists who are also of the mind: ‘If you are not fast you are last’.

Further investigation reveals that the owner/landlady/warden visits each day at 10am and any questions and payments can be made at that time. Avoiding a possible bun fight downstairs we quickly change in to our cycling gear and make our exit as an unfortunate couple vacate the premises in search of another place to sleep for the evening. We suspect that they have been voted out by the other house mates ;-)

The area of Barra is roughly 23 square miles, circumnavigated by a 13 mile single track road, the main village being Castlebay. The west of the island has white sandy beaches backed by shell-sand machair and the east has numerous rocky inlets. Sadly for us as we make our escape from squabbling house mates to board our bikes the rain comes down thus inhibiting the stunning scenery around the island.

Undeterred we press on and wonder at the haphazard placement of the many bungalows around the island. There seems to be no adherence to national planning regulations around the isle, an attitude of nonchalance to government guidelines is prevalent.

Minutes from an island planning committee would appear to proceed along these lines:

Archie: Angus, would it be all right to build a hoose over on that wee hill behind yer barn?

Angus: Aye nae bother Archie, sure its nae good for anything else. When dae ye want to start building?

Archie: Next week?

Angus: Not a problem. That will be a dram you owe me!

Archie: That concludes this months planning agenda; we will now adjourn to the bar.

Despite the apathy shown to council planners the beauty spots around the island remain unaffected, of which there are many…the beaches on this island would not look out of place in The Bahamas. Sadly the weather is %100 Scottish and we are relieved to return to the bunkhouse after 2 hours to dry off and prepare ourselves for an evening meal at the nearby Castlebay Hotel.

The hotel is believed to have been built in the 1860s and the Bar was constructed around 1911, primarily to cater for the people involved in the herring industry. Photos on the walls of the hotel show the bay completely filled with fishing boats and residents of the now uninhabited island of St Kilda. The setting of the restaurant is sublime with stunning views over Kisimul Castle to the golden white sands of Vatersay and beyond. The menu and service of food match the quality of the surroundings and we promise to make the long return journey sometime in the future to book a bay window table while watching the arrival of the evening ferry blessed by a summer sunset.

Bliss!!

Day Four: Islay to Oban

Port Askaig Islay; Wednesday 9:50am (summertime only). This is the only CalMac sailing of the week between the Southern Western Isles and the Northern Western Isles, arriving in Oban at 14:10. It is imperative that we catch this ferry or the rest of the holiday is doomed.

We are wakened before the alarm chimes at 6:30am by crashing waves across the shore at the front of the Hostel accompanied by a howling wind and heavy rain battering against our small window. Have we slept for three months and awoke in November? This isn’t summer, this is autumn giving way to winter. The blackness of the clouds makes it impossible to view the severity of the conditions but we need no metrological qualification to comprehend the task that awaits us.

We have to retrace our route from Monday back to Port Askaig; an allowance of two hours has been allocated to this task, again, on paper this looked ample. However today’s unseasonal weather conditions now make this a major challenge! Setting off at 7:30am we make excellent progress over the first 3 miles as the gale force wind behind us drives us north at great speed. The problems begin when the road veers on a easterly direction and the wind also changes direction; face on. This is where a person begins to doubt his/her own sanity. Cycling into a gale force wind we can confirm is only for the super fit, to cycle in such conditions laden down with panniers is impossible. The great Lance Armstrong would forsake his morning training run rather than brave these conditions. With no hope of cycling we dismount and decide to walk our way through the storm knowing that the road heads in a northerly direction three miles down the road. It is with subdued relief that we reach the turning point and remount our bikes for the final nine miles to the ferry terminal all the while being past at great speed by numerous cars as they make their comfortable way to the same destination.

We are firmly of the belief that there is no waterproof material thus far invented that could keep us dry this morning. Too further add to our woes the toilets and waiting area at the pier are under refurbishment as we seek out local shelter at a bus stop. Unable to change into dry clothes our body temperatures drop dramatically and it is a great relief when the ferry arrives on time to take us to Oban.

Once aboard and free of our soaked cycle wear we are constantly recognised by those fortunate to pass us en-route in their air conditioned cars. Settling in to the comfort and heat of the boat we sit back content in the knowledge that our cycling is finished for the day. Today’s adverse weather conditions make The Paps of Jura invisible as is almost anything below 100 feet. A tragic twist of fate for us as this is a renowned route for its breathtaking scenery along the western coast of Scotland. Stopping briefly at the Isle of Colonsay we push on through the Firth of Lorn passing Scarba, Luing and Easdale to the east and Mull on the west and onwards through the narrow Sound of Kerrera followed by a careful maneuver into Oban harbour.

The youth hostel in Oban is situated in a 19th century town house on the seafront with stunning views across Oban bay to the islands of Kerrera and Mull. Booking in to our grandiose location we quickly locate the launderette to wash and dry all the clothes that took such a soaking earlier in the day. As the clothes progress through the wash cycle we find a quiet hotel next door where we watch the mist begin to lift over the harbour as we indulge ourselves with an early evening aperitif.

Oban is a town in which we are familiar with, having visited there on two previous occasions this year. Our choice of eating establishment is also familiar to us as we return to an Indian restaurant we visited on our last excursion here.
A walk along the quayside afterwards helps to digest our mediocre fare before we settle into The Columba Hotel to watch Arsenal v Celtic on a large screen. Alas, a day that started in a miserable fashion for us both finishes in abject misery for Eric as Celtic are beaten 3 – 1.

Undeterred we trudge home to our separate dormitories to dream of adventures in the horizon and reflect upon challenges already conquered.

The Hollow Mountain

We undertake a unique meander this week as we attempt to go under and over a mountain in an effort to explore the highest point in Argyle and Bute, Ben Cruachan.
Ben Cruachan is one of the best-known mountains in Scotland and certainly one of the finest, with soaring ridges, dramatic cliffs and breathtaking views. Situated on the pass of Brander near Oban it is also referred to as The Hollow Mountain, Cruachan is unique in that it has a power station concealed within its hollowed out rock.
Our planned itinerary of exploration is to go under the mountain today and then up and around the ridge above its dammed reservoir tomorrow.
To go under the mountain we call in at the visitor centre on the shores of Loch Awe and sign up for a Guided Tour that take’s us on a short journey deep inside the mountain to the power station one kilometre inside.
Once inside the mountain we are taken up the visitor's walkway, past sub-tropical plants that grow well in the warm humid conditions within the mountain, and then on to the visitor's viewing gallery. Once there, we see the generating hall that houses the four generators that are used to produce electricity from water stored in the Dam 1300ft above.
The station is capable of generating 440 MW of electricity. It can go from standby to full production in two minutes, thus it is used to deal with periods of peak demand on the grid. If the turbines are on "spinning reserve" (turning in air, awaiting the rush of water) full output can be achieved within 30 seconds. It can operate for 22 hours before the supply of water in the top reservoir is exhausted. Although Cruachan can operate like a conventional hydro-electric station, using run-off water collected by a network of tunnels driven through the hills above Ben Cruachan and draining into the reservoir, the normal operating mode is pumped storage. In this mode, the generators are used as motors to drive the reversible turbines to pump water uphill from Loch Awe to the reservoir, using the relatively cheap electricity available during periods of low energy demand, usually overnight. This ensures the station is always ready to meet peak demand during the following day.
The subterranean tour lasts for about 40 minutes, as we depart the electric powered touring bus we are treated to the sight of a couple of Ospreys nesting across Loch Awe.

On arriving at Oban we find our overnight accommodation is unavailable for a few hours, undeterred we walk down to harbour to seek out some early evening cruises. Oban occupies a beautiful setting in the Firth of Lorn. Oban Bay is a near perfect horseshoe bay, protected by the island of Kerrera. To the north lie the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour. It is the main ferry terminus for Mull, Colonsay, Coll, Tiree and Lismore; and there are also sailings from here to Barra and South Uist in the Western Isles. It is too the long low island of Lismore that we choose to briefly visit. As our mode of transport pulls in to the pier we look on in amusement as we realise that we are about to aboard the smallest ship in Caledonian MacBrayne’s fleet. The MV Eigg has a car capacity of 5 and seating for 75 many of which look as though they have been purchased in a fire sale from a local primary school.

The ferry takes a sedate 50 minutes to cross Loch Linnhe and offers stunning views over Oban, Mull and beyond. Lismore has a growing population, of 168 at present, and enjoys one of the most unique locations, and some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK. Farming and crofting remain the Island's chief industries, but tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of the economy, with approximately 12,000 visitors per year. The peaceful island, in the Firth of Lorne, is also the home to around 300 species of plant and 130 species of birdlife (including buzzards, tawny owls and guillemots). Sadly, our short excursion affords us only a minimal time to take in the visual splendor of the island before we are summoned to re-board our chariot of the seas back to Oban.

The relaxed excitement of travelling under the mountain yesterday is replaced with the apprehensive feeling of exhilaration as we prepare to tackle the 3694 ft summit of Ben Cruachan and its surrounding peaks. The Cruachan is not a single peak, but a sequence of 4/5 peaks forming an arc around the north of the reservoir. The lower part of the walk is on grass/heather/peat which becomes increasingly sparse with increasing height.
The weather conditions are typically Scottish as we arrive at the car park close to the power station, wind; mist and poor visibility engulf us as we walk up the rough road which leads under the railway crossing and onwards to the Dam at 1300ft. As we head north to the end of the reservoir the low clouds covering the ridge, pass at an alarming speed which alerts us to the reality that today’s climb will be fraught with danger. This perception proves to be well founded as we attempt to traverse the south ridge towards the summit, the full force of the head on speeding winds make the task of standing upright impossible. So with a heavy heart we decide to admit defeat to the forces of nature and turn around and clamber back down to safety and draw the line between bravery and stupidity. On returning to the car our hearts grow heavier as the weather breaks and the clouds disperse to welcome brilliant sunshine over the peaks we had tried desperately to keep upright on shortly before.

Our forced abandonment of the climb affords us some spare time which we make use of by calling in at Kilchurn Castle at the head of Loch Awe.
Kilchurn Castle is a ruined 15th century structure on the northeastern end of Loch Awe. It was the ancestral home of the Campbells of Glenorchy, who later became the Earls of Breadalbane also known as the Breadalbane family branch, of the Clan Campbell. The earliest construction on the castle was the towerhouse and Laich Hall. Today, its picturesque setting and romantic state of decay make it one of the most photographed structures in Scotland. We spend a pleasant hour here basking in the sunshine before capturing one final shot of the dam dominated by the now welcoming peaks we failed to traverse a few hours previously.