I didn’t get a great deal of sleep for the second consecutive night, due to the strong winds battering my tent. Fortunately I’d pitched it well and there was no danger of it (and me) being blown away. I got up fairly early, I needed to be at the ferry terminal to catch the first ferry anyway and it was no fun lying inside the tent. I took the tent down carefully then went to the kitchen to fill my water bottles, where I came across a young girl from Colorado who’d pitched her tent after I arrived. We had a chat and I wished her safe travels. I set off for the ferry and waited its arrival from Fionnphort. Suddenly, like a crowd of zombies coming out of the woods, loads of tourists appeared from the street above the harbour and descended on the terminal, clearly they all had to catch the first ferry too! The other cyclist that was camping also turned up too, dragging his camping gear in a trailer behind him.
I watched the ferry as it arrived, feeling thankful that I wasn’t going to be stranded on the island for another day, lovely as the island was. I spent the journey below decks this time, and disembarked at the other end. According to my schedule the ferry I’d booked to Oban departed at 14:25, and it was just after 9:00 now. With 36 miles to cover I should have plenty of time, even allowing for the hills I knew I had to climb. The other cyclist had already set off, while I got my bike ready, took a photo of a couple of Highland cows that were in the car park and then set off. I had to stop in passing places every so often to allow the tourists in their cars and buses to go past me. I soon caught up with and passed the other cyclist.
The road rolled up and down into a strong wind as I passed Pottie again and continued through Bunessan, passing a primary school and war memorial. The wind was due to pick up at midday so I was hoping to get a crack on. I stopped at Port Nan Gael stores again for an early lunch then set off, passing the small herd of Highland cattle again. After passing the B road where I’d came in yesterday the main road carried on and started climbing. I knew there were a couple of steep climbs ahead, even more so than on previous days, so settled into a rhythm I hoped would get me over without tiring myself out. It was a fairly steady climb through stunning scenery, stopping every so often in passing places to allow traffic to pass. I used these stops to take a quick drink and to take the occasional photo.
The climbing went on and on for over 5 miles with many false summits, but eventually I spotted a gap in the mountains that heralded the summit of the climb, where I came to the Three Lochs viewpoint. Pausing for a photo, I set off again and encountered another cyclist going in the opposite direction, letting them know they were nearly at the top. There followed a long downhill which I enjoyed, aside from having to brake for cattle grids to avoid blowing out a tyre. The road eventually flattened out a little and turned south east somewhat surprisingly. I had to get my phone out and check where I was, fortunately I was still on the right route and still on track to get to Craignure ferry terminal well ahead of departure time.
I rode on, passing Loch Spelve and Inverlussa Mussel Farm, through Lochdon and past signs for Duart Castle. The miles were ticking down and I was fairly relaxed, knowing I had plenty of time in hand. A couple more climbs and I was in Craignure just before 1:30, riding through the village to the ferry terminal where I saw that a ferry was docked. I assumed this was an earlier ferry and rode up to the check in point to see if I had missed the check in time. Luckily I hadn’t and boarded the ferry, securing my bike and going up on decks to enjoy the journey. It was only then that I checked to see when the ferry would arrive in Oban and realised that this was the ferry that I’d actually booked, and it ARRIVED in Oban at 14:25! Departure was actually 13:35, and check in closed (in theory) at 13:05, while I was still riding. It was a good job I wasn’t aware of this earlier otherwise it would have been a very stressful ride!
Day 4 : 36 miles, 5¼ hours elapsed, 2,277 feet climbed
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