Scotland: Haste Ye Back !

So.. We had to go back to Calgary Bay as we'd had such as nice time there the previous day. Ok..Ok... so I wanted to see more of the Buzzards and hopefully a Sea Eagle or two and maybe even a Seal... We were so glad we did as the weather was even more fine than the previous day and the sand and sea looked wonderful. We had a walk up the road from the beach which you can just make out in the picture of Linda. The road winds up along the cliff and very soon becomes dramatic with sheer drops away to the sea and down from the cliffs. I was lucky enough to see a Grey Seal popping his head out of the water at one point but Linda was a little slower than me with the binoculars and by the time she'd found it and pointed him out to me again, I spent the next 15 minutes taking pictures of a small grey buoy in the bay!


We found a cracking spot on the top off a cliff with only a sheep for company. How special it was to be so alone for so long with nothing but each other, breathtakingly beautiful scenery, the noise of the breeze and the sea below us, and copious lung-fulls of fresh air. What a magical place!

Back down on the beach for a last look at the Buzzards and a pair came out to put on a show for us. The rabbits dissappeared quicker than a load of British Resort Association administration staff at 17:00 and the birds circled and manouvered like a well rehearsed display team, calling out to each other and not in the least bit intimidated by our awe-struck presence.

They were magnificent to watch and at times no more than maybe 30 feet above us. The Oystercatchers decided that this was a good time to go out to sea and the pair left the beach hungry after around 10 minutes.

For the rest of the day we explored the island (Mull) or at least a small corner of it. We headed out to another castle that Linda had found on the map called Glengorm. Check this out! It's a bed and breakfast house! www.glengormcastle.co.uk. The setting is quite stunning with the main house sitting atop a grassy hill which falls away to cliffs and sea over a half mile or so. There is a lovely walk in front of the castle to see an ancient set of standing stones where we sat and watched a family of Highland Cattle quietly grazing. The view was as good as anything we'd seen all week and yet somehow it was fresh and gave us a sense of wow just as if we'd only just arrived north of Preston. Best of all was that we were accompanied for the majority of the walk by Basil (see below).

This guy (we decided that he looked like a 'Basil') was only very young and very small. He joined us at the car park next to the pottery and tea rooms and walked with us for over 30 mins, constantly running between the two of us and throwing himself at our feet for a little more affection. He was very sweet, and we did VERY well not to kidnap him to bring home. He did let us film him though before he went off, well, before he stopped at a gate and refused to follow us through it... What did he know that we didn't?

After our big adventure we called into Tobermory's other pub for a pint or two (was it three?) for me and a large G&T for Linda. The pub played 'New Country' music and served spectacular food such as a 'pint' of fresh langoustines! Alas, we'd already booked into the hotel restaurant again and thankfully, despite our sadness at having to leave behind the music, the beer and the pints of fish, we had another fabulous meal in The Waterside. As most of you will know, I'm a butchers boy and so I'm particularly 'particular' about my cuts of meat. Well, I ordered a fillet... and I can honestly say that it was BY FAR (sorry Mum, Dad...) the best piece of steak that I have EVER eaten! Absolutely melted in my mouth...

Next morning we awoke with some sadness in our hearts as we had to shoot off to catch the ferry from the south of Mull at Craignure. The view from our bedroom was once again spectacular.

After another good breakfast, no.. increadible breakfast; Tobermory Smoked Kippers!! we drove off to Craignure for our scheduled ferry crossing, one of only three sailings that day and the other two being already sold out when I booked so we dare not be late!

The car journey down through the island was lovely and despite some cloud the colours around us were inspiring and we vowed to return to Mull within the next couple of years. At one point, just before the ferry port, Linda said out loud that it would be great to "see just one more Buzzard". As if by magic, within 4 seconds, there was a Buzzard sitting on a telegraph pole to our right. Perfect!

Our ride home over to the mainland was very enjoyable, the scenery along the way was in itself a joyride! With everything from Castles to Seals and Lighthouses.


This is the Eilean Musdile Lighthouse which one sees from every possible angle along the way, it takes around 15 mins to pass by in total and every several feet of movement changes the look of the lighthouse and it's island as the scenery behind changes like a moving picture. I took hundreds of shots but this one is my favourite and I think it describes for itself just how beautiful Mull is even as one says goodbye.

Directly opposite at this point is Lady's Rock, which isn't always easy to see and depends on the tide as to how much it shows itself. Local folklore says that in 1523 a Lady was unable to produce a male heir to the Duarts and that her husband blamed his wife for his lack of successions. So he had arranged for her to be stranded on Lady's Rock to await her fate in the incoming tide. Fair enough really! Further along we passed Duart's Castle perched high upon a cliff which we understand to be worthy of a future visit, alas we didn't have the time on this trip but we did enjoy the sight of it in the cold sunny cloudy morning. Look!! A seal!!!

Or is it Linda doing an impression of Peter Kay? "Where d'ya go for your holdiays?" "Tenerife" :-)

So... our last night on this holiday... :-( We had a very quick root around Oban but it wasn't that spectacular after our week of being stunned. Nice little village, and wondeful outlook over the sea and the islands, but really just another seaside village with nothing special to offer us.

We had a lovely drive back towards Glasgow and called into Inverary along the way for lunch. We'd been there with the Girls in 2006 for a day so we were keen to call in again. We stayed overnight in a place called Drymen where our Winnock Hotel sits around the village green. It's just south of Loch Lomond and just north of Glasgow... Kind of... Anyway, very nice hotel in a very pretty Trossachs village.

The room was fabulous with really good facilities including this treat in the bathroom, in fact, in the bath! We had a good drink that night watching the football, I can't remember who was playing but it was full of Ulstermen and Ulsterwomen having something of a party!


On our journey home we travelled through places that niether of us had been to before including Paisley, Linda did a fine job navigating and kept us well away from the motorways which was good being the day before Good Friday. We called into Gretna Green for lunch and spent a couple of hours at the new tourist attraction meseum, and very commercialised wedding venue and foodhalls. Needless to say we spent a few quid in the foodhalls!


Have you EVER seen Linda look so scared? I didn't zoom in to show you the beads of sweat on her tortured brow or use a slow exposure to show how much she was shaking! It's ok Dear... I hav'nay booked any'ing!

So... that was our trip to Scotland and we can't wait to go back! Thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope you've enjoyed the pictures.

Lots of love

Andrew & Linda
xxx