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Picture of a partly submerged barge at a pier Wednesday, this was the day where we were supposed to take the ferry to Colonsay for a day of walking on Colonsay. But we didn't. Because of the ongoing work in Port Askaig it was decided to cancel the excursion to Colonsay.

Nevertheless we met in Port Askaig on Wednesday morning. We had a look at the reason for the cancelled journey to Colonsay, the reconstruction of the pier and the linkspan. It had been delayed several times and what we saw that morning probably further contributed to it: A barge had come stuck under a fender and was partly submerged. Luckily it didn't sink and was freed later when the tide fell.

Soon we boarded the small ferry over to the Isle of Jura, where we were going to walk instead. James How was going to take us on a walk north along the Sound of Islay.
Picture of the view from a ferry crossing the Sound of Islay to the Isle of Jura Picture of walkers on a wide track along a sound between two islands
Picture of a group of walkers on a track, mountains in the background After the short ferry crossing from Port Askaig to Feolin Ferry we walked south for about 100 yards, then turned left to join the track north to Inver. We were truly under way for the fifth walk of the Islay Walking Week 2007.

Soon we had excellent views all round:

On the right were the famous Paps of Jura, the highest mountains on Jura with their imposing scree covered steep slopes. The clouds never really lifted from the summits, only giving us very short glimpses.

On the left the Sound of Islay, Caol Ila distillery soon coming into view, bathed in sunshine. Further away lighthouses on Jura and Islay. And in the distance the silhouette of Colonsay.
Picture of a view over a sound to a distillery (Caol Ila on Islay) Picture of a view over a sound with two lighthouses in view
Picture of the ruins of a cottage, hills in the background There was more to see as we continued on our walk:

Near Cnocbreac we saw the ruins of a few old cottages, just some of the walls remaining. Unfortunately I can't remember the details, but I believe one of the ferries and trading routes from Islay (Bunnahabhain to be precise) passed here on the way north.

There were some impressive Highland Cattle to pass on the way north as well. We had to walk carefully at times, as some of them had their young in the area.

Just as the (later than under the normal timetable) ferry to Colonsay was passing we reached the beach at Aoineadh an Reithe, where we also had our lunch.
Picture of some impressive Highland cattle in a variety of colours Picture of a ferry passing a lighthouse
Picture of a panoramic view over the Sound of Islay
Picture of a helicopter above a fish farm From the track we had some excellent views over the sound from Caol Ila all the way to Rhuvaal Lighthouse. The preview above nowhere near does it justice, take a look at the Quicktime VR panorama of the view over the Sound of Islay from the Isle of Jura. Several miles of Sound of Islay, two distilleries and a lighthouse!

Passing Loch a'Chniuc Bhric we were given a little show, a helicopter was being used to transport fish from (or to) the fish farm to a ship on the Sound of Islay. At least at times it looked like the helicopter pilot was showing off a bit for our benefit.

In the woods near Inver we had another opportunity to see some of the several thousand of deer living on Jura. We then returned to the ferry terminal along the shore. A very nice improvised walk with interesting views was over when we arrived back on Islay.
Picture of deer hiding in woodlands Picture of a shoreline
If you are interested in more information about Islay, Colonsay and Jura you might also be interested in my Isle of Islay pages. There you will find many more pictures and further information about Islay, Jura and Colonsay.

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