Islay 2015 - Part 4 Expedition to Jura

Craighouse Harbour, Jura

Surprisingly most of the Harriers did make breakfast on the Sunday morning. Plans had been hatched a year in advance to make a trip to Jura as few of us had actually been there despite many trips to Islay. Unfortunately the weather was not looking too promising for the Sunday but the rain does not deter a Harrier; well at least 8 Harriers were not deterred, the rest deciding to visit distilleries, go to the beach (even more hardcore than going to Jura) or rest in our luxury cottages.

We were up too late for the planned 1030 ferry from Port Askaig but arrived in plenty of time for the 1200 ferry. Davy Watt was returning home today from Port Askaig, so he accompanied us to the port whilst 2 cars of Harriers drove onto the small landing craft that is the Jura Ferry. Fortunately Geo had been to Jura before and recommended at the last minute that we take the cars over otherwise we would just have had to stand on the slipway on the other side for 2 hours waiting on the ferry back! There is nothing except a slipway on the Jura side! Our intention was to walk in the initial stage of the route to the Paps of Jura. In typical Harriers style, none of the Ordnance Survey maps we (Kenny) had brought extended quite as far as the start of the path in to the Paps, so we reverted to an AA Road Atlas for navigation (no signal for Google Maps either!).

A 10 mile drive along a single track road brought us to the head of the path where our first obstacle was a ramshackle style. We then walked a few km through a bog in very difficult, clumpy under foot conditions and climbed up 100 feet or so to a vantage point for the lunch break. The Paps were completely enclosed in cloud so no spectacular views but still a wonderful wilderness.

We had various episodes along the way, mainly relating to a lack of balance from a certain member of the party (check the photos). The going was not easy! After a brief stop for our packed lunches overlooking the sea, we retraced our steps. It was during the descent, just after Sandra had fallen, that there was a synchronised scream of "SNAKE" from Sandra and Jean. They had indeed seen a black and yellow snake (club colours by the way) which was most likely a venomous adder and which was variously between 6 inches and 2 feet long depending on which version of the story you listen to.

Harriers gather around the spot where the snake had since departed

The Harriers rushed around for a look as you do when confronted with a poisonous snake. Fortunately Kenny Leinster had borrowed David Herbertson's video camera for the trip and gave a live running commentary to every moment of action, including the snake episode, like a true pro. David Attenborough move over. Or maybe not, as we subsequently found out that, unlike a true pro, although Kenny had switched the camera on and could see a picture on the screen, at no point did he press the record button, so the video was completely blank!

With the excitement over, we returned to the very picturesque Craighouse for a coffee and cake before driving the 10 miles back for the return ferry. A worthwhile trip indeed. Further photos of the trip to Jura are in this album.

Meanwhile, the Holmes and Phimister families were separately checking out the beaches of Islay. There is no denying that the beaches on Islay are amongst the most picture perfect anywhere in the World, but the photo below of the Holmes family confirms that the weather challenges the perfection!

Waterproofs, wind swept, umbrellas; all words associated with an Islay beach

The final installment comes tomorrow where the BBQ, Beach Tennis, Cricket and Party are exposed.
Alan