Just Got Back Home - What a Trip!
I'll post a fuller report later and my companion for the trip (Cyclic Chick) has some great pictures we will try to upload, but it was quite an incredible weekend. Flew up from the very gusty Lake District on Saturday afternoon, out over Arran and Kintyre then routed up past Islay and the intriguingly named Paps of Jura. At the north end of Jura we saw the amazing Corryvreckan whirlpools before tracking the coastline to Mull and swinging west up the sound into Glenforsa. Caused the hotel's residents no end of amusement as we struggled to erect our tent (no rooms available but we were welcome to land and camp on their lawn) and then enjoyed a couple of beers and a good meal before retiring for the night even though it was still quite light at 11.30 pm. Up early this morning and after breakfast in Mull, we flew to Oban for fuel then over Skye and by lunchtime today we were in Stornoway. Heading back down the Outer Hebrides we landed on a deserted island north of Benbecula with a beautiful white sand beach for a short break and a cooling paddle - the whole weekend has been blazingly hot - before following the west coast of Skye down to the islands of Rum and Eigg, then back into Oban for more fuel. The last long leg back to Lancs was made a little easier by Glasgow clearing us direct through their zone (thanks very much!) and slowly the wind picked up and the sky became more overcast as we approached home. I would recommend this trip to anyone and the beauty of doing it by helicopter as opposed to plank is the ability to set down in some of these beautiful but otherwise inaccessible spots. Thanks to all of you who posted advice. The PLB was always attached to us and the lifejackets were diligently worn.
Last edited by Baldegret; 26th May 2008 at 20:00.