Jings, it's been so LONG since I posted anything on here! Just goes to show how little I've got going on just now eh? Ah well.... I resolve to resolve that issue. Eh?
So, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the bike has been tucked away but this is not the case. I’ve been a-travellin’ mateys, around this fantastic country of ours. There are some truly wonderful roads in Scotland and the old FJ has been making short work of hundreds of miles of them.
Let me take you back to the May weekend, when my better half and I packed our panniers and headed for the west coast. A beautiful Friday run across by Grantown, Newtonmore, Spean Bridge and Corpach finally saw us cruising up the road to Mallaig where we stopped for some of the best fish and chips I’ve eaten! I don’t know what I expected of Mallaig having never been there before. I assumed that because it’s the ferry terminal and still a fairly busy fishing port that it would be a bit of a dump but I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather nice wee town. Functional certainly, but not unattractive and arguably in one of the nicest locations anywhere in Scotland! Have I already mentioned the fish and chips?.....
We camped on the Friday night at a little campsite on the beach just outside Arisaig. What a find that place was! Our tent was about 10 yards from the beach with views out over the islands of Rhum and Eigg. It was a beautiful evening and at this time of the year the midgies are minimal so we had a lovely time walking on the beach and enjoying the sunset.
Saturday morning we packed up and headed for Lochailort where we met up with a few more bikes – friends of ours from the MCMC – for a quick lunch before launching into the main focus of the weekend! A trip to Mull, via the Ardnamurchan peninsula!
Six bikes of assorted types & one trike set off down some of the narrowest, most winding and most uneven roads on the British Isles! Oh what fun we had - loose gravel, sheep, potholes that you could… well… pothole in! I discovered that a fully laden FJ with two bodies on-board is apt to touch down every time you go round a particularly tight bend at the bottom of a hill! Of which there were many of course….
Anyway, fun was had and we all arrived via the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory. We then spent the weekend alternating between glorious sunshine and torrential rain, most notably on the Sunday when we dedided to ride from Tobermory to Iona and back. Now, Mull is a big island with many single track roads. Consequently, the ride to Iona from Tobermory involves “single tracking” for some 60 miles in each direction! Iona is one of my favourite places – peaceful, beautiful etc. but when it rains it’s as miserable as everywhere else. We had to buy every pair of Marigolds on the island to stop our hands dissolving on the way home! On the plus side, we did see a Sea Eagle that afternoon! The first one I’ve ever seen in the wild!
On the Monday the sun was glorious and we made our way home via the hilariously named Fishnish and across on the Corran ferry to Fort William, stopping at regular intervals for ice-cream, coffee, pies, ice-cream etc.
All in all the old FJ performed fantastically! Comfortable, fast, good handling on winding roads and just enough ground clearance to get on and off all those ferries! Can’t wait to go back!
So, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the bike has been tucked away but this is not the case. I’ve been a-travellin’ mateys, around this fantastic country of ours. There are some truly wonderful roads in Scotland and the old FJ has been making short work of hundreds of miles of them.
Let me take you back to the May weekend, when my better half and I packed our panniers and headed for the west coast. A beautiful Friday run across by Grantown, Newtonmore, Spean Bridge and Corpach finally saw us cruising up the road to Mallaig where we stopped for some of the best fish and chips I’ve eaten! I don’t know what I expected of Mallaig having never been there before. I assumed that because it’s the ferry terminal and still a fairly busy fishing port that it would be a bit of a dump but I was pleasantly surprised to find a rather nice wee town. Functional certainly, but not unattractive and arguably in one of the nicest locations anywhere in Scotland! Have I already mentioned the fish and chips?.....
We camped on the Friday night at a little campsite on the beach just outside Arisaig. What a find that place was! Our tent was about 10 yards from the beach with views out over the islands of Rhum and Eigg. It was a beautiful evening and at this time of the year the midgies are minimal so we had a lovely time walking on the beach and enjoying the sunset.
Saturday morning we packed up and headed for Lochailort where we met up with a few more bikes – friends of ours from the MCMC – for a quick lunch before launching into the main focus of the weekend! A trip to Mull, via the Ardnamurchan peninsula!
Six bikes of assorted types & one trike set off down some of the narrowest, most winding and most uneven roads on the British Isles! Oh what fun we had - loose gravel, sheep, potholes that you could… well… pothole in! I discovered that a fully laden FJ with two bodies on-board is apt to touch down every time you go round a particularly tight bend at the bottom of a hill! Of which there were many of course….
Anyway, fun was had and we all arrived via the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory. We then spent the weekend alternating between glorious sunshine and torrential rain, most notably on the Sunday when we dedided to ride from Tobermory to Iona and back. Now, Mull is a big island with many single track roads. Consequently, the ride to Iona from Tobermory involves “single tracking” for some 60 miles in each direction! Iona is one of my favourite places – peaceful, beautiful etc. but when it rains it’s as miserable as everywhere else. We had to buy every pair of Marigolds on the island to stop our hands dissolving on the way home! On the plus side, we did see a Sea Eagle that afternoon! The first one I’ve ever seen in the wild!
On the Monday the sun was glorious and we made our way home via the hilariously named Fishnish and across on the Corran ferry to Fort William, stopping at regular intervals for ice-cream, coffee, pies, ice-cream etc.
All in all the old FJ performed fantastically! Comfortable, fast, good handling on winding roads and just enough ground clearance to get on and off all those ferries! Can’t wait to go back!
For more photos CLICK HERE!
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