Rob-n-Hild Take the High Road!

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Aultbea to Isle of Islay

It was a long day of driving. Kerry and Nick kindly made us early breakfast and we left Autlbea at 8 am. The goal was to reach the ferry to Islay. We drove 417.2 km in 6:43 hours (Hild did 6:11 in her stint!). Max elevation was 356 metres, but for the whole day over 3,500 m up and down... That is a lot of up and down and Percy's gearbox and Hild's arm/foot was put to the test. If it wasn't narrow, there were sheep, or there were campervans, or log trucks. Never a dull moment.

We made our ferry in Kennacraig with half an hour to spare. Time for a quick bathroom break before the ferry arrived: "Isle of Arran". Rob remembers visiting Isle of Arran when he was a child.

We had been warned by a fellow traveller not to use Caledonian MacBrayne, but we took a chance and it was not delayed or cancelled this time.

They loaded us onto the ferry, and Percy was the third one on. They squished us off to one side so that this giant tanker truck could put his nose right to the front of the boat. He clearly wanted to be first off, and we weren't going to argue with him.

We were surrounded by several On-Site work vans for the 2-hour journey across. Those vans, and possibly others, were upset during the entire crossing - wailing their alarms in unison. Percy was good and didn't say a thing.

As our ferry pulled away from Kennacraig terminal, we went to the top deck to look for seals. We had read in guide books that this was the place to spot them. It didn't take long before we spotted seals lying on rocks on the shore.

We also saw a beautiful gannet fly past us and then dive into the ocean for some yummy treat. Not visible in any photos even if we tried...

While the wind wasn't bad, the rain had now taken over. We walked up on deck locating our muster station - until we hit open water. Time to go inside for a cup of tea.

We landed in Port Askaig on the north side of the island. By now the rain was coming down heavy and there were no photos at all. When we arrived at our campsite at Port Mor, we just followed instructions to park up at the fence by the playground. Then the waiting started.... We listened to music and did some work in the front of Percy. Until suddenly.... Hild noticed there was no noise from rain on Percy's roof. We sprung into action and had Dominc the tent up in the matter of minutes. A well-oiled machine! Soon after the heavens opened up again and we were cosy and snug in our tent. Nice! Some sandwiches and work before bedtime. Ready for tomorrow's guided tour at Bowmore. Woohoo!

Coming up: Isle of Islay

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