On the final morning of this trip, I discuss my Oa hike with the cheerful lady serving coffee and croissants at the B&B. She took her children to the beautiful beach at Port an Eas, although the weather was rarely this nice.
“Skin is waterproof.”
I’ve not heard that one before.
It’s a short walk to the Laphroaig Distillery, joining a group of 12 for a tour.
After germinating on the malting floors, the barley is smoked with local peat.
The smoked barley is mashed into sugary water and fermented with yeast, producing the alcohol to be distilled in huge copper stills.
Finally, it matures in oak casks. This is the point at which we choose three drams from different whiskies. It’s a little early for me so one for the road, and two are placed in small bottles to be enjoyed in the wilds of Jura on my next trip.
Returning to the mainland, a few miles of Kintyre remain. I follow the main road until Corranbuie, where an interesting path heads down to the loch.
A fence unwelcomingly bars the route past a lonely house. The owner is working on the roof, although not visible now, so I move silently up the road, hoping not to be noticed.
It’s always a relief not to be challenged. There’s a Private – No Entry sign at the end of the road. Oh well.
The road leads to a tiny jetty. A fisherman works on his boat but does not seem happy to see me.
Several ruined boats rise in vain from the water — a boat graveyard.
Invasive Japanese Knotweed lines the road. Difficult to eradicate, it is an offence to cause it to grow in the wild.
Rejoining the main road, there’s a fine view of the road north into Knapdale, my likely destination in June.
Back at The Gather campsite, it’s a beautiful evening. I end up in a discussion with someone about how well I sleep when camping and they mention that our bodies were always meant to be in synch with the setting and rising of the sun. There may be something in that.
It’s been another great trip, helped by the gorgeous weather. The plan is to return next month for a week’s hiking on Jura — mountains, remote beaches, bothies, a whirlpool and George Orwell. Who can resist?
Walk distance: 9 miles.
Total distance: 4,225 miles.
Hi tony – I’ve been really enjoying the Scottish scenery. Looks like some great weather and scenery will get even better as your work your way up the west coast. Looking forward to the next installment.
Hi Andrew – It’s great to hear from you again. Perhaps we can catch up over a beer at London Bridge sometime? I’m enjoying Scotland although I may have a different view if the midges catch me camping.
Have a bottle of !0 year old Laphroaig waiting to be opened.
My mother used that expression “skin is waterproof” – I’ve stood by it for all these years and never had pneumonia once.
“Waiting to be opened.” I had to look that up in the dictionary. 🙂
Skin is waterproof in the short term, but not indefinitely – trench foot is a thing, after all.
Laphraoig is my second-favourite whisky, after Lagavulin. Nice to see where it is made!
The Lagavulin distillery is next door to the Laphroaig distillery. I ran out of time! 🙂