Away doesn’t feel like moving right now due to her heart being taken apart, so we decided that given we would be stuck on the dock for a couple of weeks, why not go and visit another Scottish island that we don’t believe we would have sailed to (due to lack of anchorages).

A nap was needed after all the engine stress.

Off we popped one day into town, packed up with food and a dog and our bikes, and jumped on the CalMac ferry for the 2.5 hour trip over to beautiful Colonsay.

Arriving just on dusk, we rode our bikes up to the little cottage we would call home for a few nights.

Dusky clouds over the island of Jura as we arrived at our little cottage hideaway.

And just like that, we woke up the next day to blinding sunshine! Its like Colonsay knew we needed a little vitamin D and some lovely weather as a tonic to the engine shenanigans.

View from the kitchen window of the CalMac Colonsay ferry coming in to port. We took this across the day before. Is this sunshine even real?

Colonsay is about 60kms south west of Kerrera, and is home to about 100-150 people. Its one of the most remote places in Scotland. They don’t allow camper vehicles here, and so they maintain the number of tourists to a manageable level.

Bernie as he gets older gets confused when we’re not in the wobbly house.

On the island there is a pub, a small shop, a little restaurant, 2 distilleries, a book shop and a couple of gift shops. Also a fish smokery, airstrip and loads of old things.

Our first day was getting our bearings. We rode our bikes into town and had a look around. Bernie ran along well beside us and wore himself out a little. That afternoon we had booked a distillery tour at the Wild Thyme distillery which was about a 30 minute bike ride away on the other side of the island to our cottage. Its probably the nicest gin I had ever tasted. We tried their London gin, their Old Tom, their Navy strength and a few other drinks, and came home with a couple of bottles. The distillery is run by a couple who started it simply because they like gin, and had moved to the island and were looking for something worthwhile to create. Its delicious.

We also took Bernie for a little walk up in the hills.
There are wild goats on the island which are just HUGE. Apparently they are from a Spanish war ship that sank here ages ago. They just run around wild, but seriously I would not want to run across those horns on a walk in the hills.
Bike riding around to the distillery was a wonderful way to get our bearings, and see this beautiful island.

Colonsay has a neighboring island just to the south, which at low tide, is no longer an island. Its connected by these huge sand flats a couple of hours around low tide, so its walkable over there. The connected island is called Oronsay, and so on our second day of exploring, we noted we had the perfect time of tide to go for another good bike ride and then a 5 mile walk around Oronsay. Bernie ran and ran and ran with us, then walked with us over to Oronsay across the flats.

Tide looks low. Here we go for a possibly wet walk.
It was actually fine, as long as you had good boots. A few people were taking off their shoes to get across. Way to cold for that!

Once across, it was nice to visit the Priory. Built in 563AD by St Oran. It also has a farm house attached. The people who live on Oronsay are really governed by the tides, as they can only get across to Colonsay and on to the mainland at low tide, then by taking the 2.5 hour ferry to Oban. This is such a remote place.

The irises are coming out. The view up to the Priory.
First time wearing a tshirt in what feels like years! Walking and bike riding really keeps us warm. Too warm.
The Priory has been added on to a lot since 563AD.
The main hall area.
We saw graves here as recent as the early 1900s.

We saw there was a pretty white beach nearby too, and we still had time before the tide would cut us off from Colonsay, so we headed down there for a beach walk. The sand is so white, and alas it wasn’t a swimming day (note the hiking boots and puffy jackets). We couldn’t believe our luck with both the weather, and the timing of the tides.

Ok, so I still have my puffy jacket on. Its still cold for me.
Glorious beach. If only it were 20 degrees warmer.
With Bernie going pretty deaf these days, he’s rarely allowed off lead, much to his dismay.
We timed everything perfectly so that we could still walk back across the sandflats before the tide came in too far.
As we walked back, we discovered how the residents on Oronsay get their post. The postman delivers but only at low tide. I guess we still had plenty of time, as he was going across to Oronsay now, and would have to deliver post and get back again before he gets bogged and then washed away.

Riding back, Bernie was getting pretty tired, but still found energy reserves to sprint after a rabbit while he was attached to me on my bike. That was fun, and made for a quick trip.

“I’ve got spaniel energy reserves Mum.”
All the little baby lambs are everywhere and they are so cute.

The following day was our day to leave, but the ferry doesn’t go until the evening, so we decided that Bernie wasn’t worn out enough, so back across the island, but this time instead of to the distillery, we went north to Kiloran beach. We explored for a while, Bernie running and running, before he decided he should go swimming in the Atlantic. With his new haircut, the water gets onto his skin pretty quickly without the benefit of water repelling fluff, and so once he was done swimming and running, he realised he was freezing. He desperately needed to sleep an after some convincing, he realised snuggling up to me, despite the salt water drenching his skin, was probably the warmest place he’d get. He promptly fell asleep shivering, so my jacket went on top to get him warmed up. He’s definitely getting older these days.

We walked over the hill and were presented with this view of the beach! Perfect spot for a picnic, and not too crowded.
He walked straight into this rockpool, then quickly out again when he noted the temperature.
He still got in the water looking for fish though. This water is coming from the Atlantic and the wind was reasonable this day. Bernie began to shake when he was too tired to run around any more.
Again, wish it was 30 degrees because I’d be swimming, but this was so absolutely beautiful.
But while he was running around he was the happiest dog in the world.

After Bernie’s nap, we rode back to the ferry, and were on our way back to Kerrera. Colonsay was definitely the tonic we needed after a bit of stress with Away being sick. It was great to see such a beautiful island and in such spectacular weather.

Spectacular sunset over Mull as we pull in to Oban on the CalMac ferry.

Hopefully next time we will have good news to report about us kicking off sailing again. As I write it is sunny here on Kerrera, 21 degrees today and I am in a tshirt. The wind is perfect for sailing, sun is shining, and we would love to leave Hotel Kerrera, despite the friendships we’ve made and how beautiful this place is. The show must go on and we must continue to be Away.

Next time we hope to have good news about the engine. Hope.