Otters and Eagles

Back at the desk after the most refreshing break on that most lovely of Hebridean islands, Islay.   We had a wonderful time and were blessed with pretty good weather - after a bit of a nightmare journey, at least in the early stages.   

When we left it was starting to snow seriously and, having taken for ever to cover the first 10 miles, I was faced with the dilemma of whether to continue up Glen Ogle - a 4-mile climb - or turn back.   Probably unwisely, I decided to give it a go.   After the first mile I was regretting it, but it was too dangerous to try to turn so I continued, trying to remember everything I've learned about driving on snow and bad conditions, something I haven't done for ages.   The first jack-knifed lorry was on a bend but Dave, in the passenger seat, could see that there was nothing coming down and so we managed to get past.   The next few miles were a nightmare, but eventually we reached the summit and started (VERY slowly) the descent on the other side. 

All was going OK until we came round a bend to find a lorry stuck on the way up and a stupid Audi driver on our side of the road going nowhere.   It was one of those surreal experiences, knowing that we were going to hit head on because there simply wasn't anywhere else to go.   Using the gears, I managed to get it down to about 8 mph but stopping was simply impossible.  And so we hit.   Unbelievably, neither car was damaged (I drive a VW Golf).   The stupid person driving the Audi suddenly discovered he had a reverse gear and got back on to his own side of the road - shame he hadn't thought about that earlier!  I really DO hope he's reading this!!!!!

Continuing along the road, I announced there was no chance we would catch the ferry and my mind was turning to where we could find a b & b as returning home wasn't an option.   All of a sudden, as though a line had been drawn, the snow stopped.  Not only was the road black, but there was no sign that a flake had falled on the surrounding countryside.   Extraordinary.   

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we caught the ferry and arrived on Islay in sunshine and a temperature of 9 degrees!   The holiday had started and was wonderful.  Think I'll tell you about it tomorrow as I really must get to work and start on the inevitable backlog.