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The wind, the wind, ah the wind. Here we go again heading north from Port Helen up to the ferry at Port Askaig. The situation was only made better by the sighting of a buzzard and the pair of Goldfinches bobbing about in front of us for quarter of a mile. We took a short cut heading East and Bill saw a Chough, which is reputed to habit these parts. However, i was just chuffed that my legs did not give up on the long slow climb which must have been almost at the highest point on Islay. Some shortcut. Exhausted with our heads still down we landed in Askaig to get the ferry to Jura with 7 minutes to spare. The lady in the office said it will be going at quarter past so Bill went to the toilet, coming at ten past just to see the ferry disappearing into the distance. We had to wait until one o clock for the next one. The journey across was a bit dodgy due to the high winds making the landing precarious blowing the craft sideways onto the ramp. Then operator was telling me that if it lands badly it can lodge on the ramp and cannot get off and has to be rescued by the Lifeboat. The ride around the Southern tip of the island of Jura to Craighouse was very pleasant at first but after two miles became a battle across barren moorland and not inspiring in the slightest. Once there in the hamlet of Craighouse, with its own small jetty, and a distillery we had a coffee and a treacle scone in the cafe before our return to catch the 3.45pm ferry to Port Askaig and our connection with the ferry to the mainland. The tide was now running South instead of North as this morning. Itmis a wonder the ferry was not going round in circles in confusion. The lady in the cafe at Craighouse remembered the aircraft tragedy of 1993, when four friends from Clitheroe lost their lives when their aircraft hit the 'Paps of Jura' one stormy evening in August. I was due to have been on that flight but had to cry off at the last minute due to a clash of dates. Am I the lucky one? It was bright and sunny all day but we had a plenty of kit on to keep out the cold, despite having to work hard to make forward progress. On our way back to Sue and John's we saw another buzzard being hounded by two gulls who were making a big fuss. Sue's daughter Emily and son in law Richard arrived soon after us and discussions ensued on Lands End - John O Groats riding, which Richard is doing in September, and which both Bill and myself have done at different times. Tomorrow is an early start since we have about 90 miles to do into a head wind again, so should be tough with panniers giving us an all up weight of bike and luggage of 32kilos.
Hoping to do a blog tomorrow if I have the energy.
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