There's something very exciting and very calming about driving North. All too often I have to turn right when I reach the M6 motorway and drive down to London or Coventry, St. Albans or across to Leeds and Sheffield and for years I've noticed that when I head North, I feel like a five year old on the back seat of my parent's Morris Oxford heading for a day out in the country. The sight of the green hills as we cross from Lancashire into Cumbria brings out the explorer in me and I couldn't wait to get to our destination for the first night, The famous old Drovers Inn just north of Loch Lomond. We stopped in Biggar for lunch having made a great early start and carried on through Glasgow and Paisley, over the Erskine Bridge and along the stunningly beautiful banks of Loch Lomond to our destination where we had a really great evening. A couple of drinks, some nice food including Haggis for me, and we all slept in Rob Roy's room where everything creaked and cracked even when we were asleep. Next morning we woke up to sunshine over the hills and the waterfalls, then we drove across to Oban where we eagerly awaited the arrival of our ferry to Mull.
Maybe it's a boy thing, but we got there very early and while the girls went off rooting around the shops in Oban I 'played' with my camera around the harbour and watched the Jellyfish in the water. The weather was fantastic and we had lunch on the harbour wall just before we sailed.
Right across from where Linda is sitting there was a fresh seafood market and I had to do all I could to resist her temptation to stock up the already crushing car with fish, fish and more fish.
As the boat left Oban we pottered around on the decks watching the scenery change and the gulls float along with us. Perhaps they too were off on a holiday adventure?
After 10 mins or so Sarah and Katie went inside to read and left Linda and I to look out for seals, whales, dolphins, yachts, castles, ships and lighthouses.
Well we did see some yachts.. and another ship...
and a lighthouse. This is Lismore lighthouse which protects shipping in the Sound of Mull. Built in 1833 by Robert Stevenson it can be seen for up to 19 miles as it flashes every 10 seconds. Right nearby is Lady's Rock which was the place where Maclean of Duart decided to tie up and maroon his wife in 1527 in an attempt to murder her, and as he announced her death to the Earl of Argyll (her father), he had no idea that she had already been rescued by some local fishermen until she appeared alive and well in front of him. Shortly afterwards, Maclean suffered a violent death himself!
As we arrived on Mull at Craignure it was only a short 30 min drive up to Tobermory where we checked into our cottage for the week. Then followed the customary wander around the village and the harbour to see what we could see. All I could hear in my mind for days was 'wow!' We had a couple of pints of the local brew, well I did, and fish and chips outside of the pub on the harbour. Watching the people go by and happy to be there on our holiday at last! :-)
We decided that our first full day on the island was to be a very relaxing one with no driving (Hoorrayyy!). Sarah and Katie decided that they really wanted to bake cakes, so they did! Very nice they were too. Linda and I did a bit of fishing on the harbour in Tobermory and ate our lunch at the end of this lovely little pier watching the boats come and go and looking back at the beautifully coloured houses along Main Street. We did catch one fish. Not sure what it was but it was about 10 inches long and it felt like a shark when I tried to land it. Honest! Linda has it on video!
After our day of fishing and baking (don't ask me...), we'd booked ahead for a special dinner in the 'best restaurant on Mull', The Highland Cottage. What a treat, and only a short walk away from the cottage past all of the wonderful scenery like this lot behind Linda...
The experience was first class. From the very moment we stepped into the door until the very slow walk home. We were taken to the lounge for drinks and canapes whilst we took our time to read and discuss the menu, 5 course dinner is standard. It sits amongst the town's conservation area and it feels very personal to dine here in such a homely setting. The food was out of this world and we all left feeling a little bit plumper than when we'd arrived.
Tuesday was our trip out to the Treshnish Islands. We drove out early to Ulva Ferry and as we pulled up we were treated to our first sighting of a White Tailed Sea Eagle. At a distance though so we didn't photograph it, but it put on quite a display for us as we waited for our boat.
Ulva Ferry is a gorgeous, remote little place when one actually has to physically change a slider on a simple painted sign from white to red in order to attract the ferry man from the opposite side of the loch. Fascinating to watch this slick operation in progress as walkers and day trippers arrived and called for his services over to Ulva. As we stood waiting for our trip we watched a seal playing in the harbour and many more of the Lion's Mane jellyfish dancing around in the water like we'd seen in Tobermory.
As we sailed out of the loch into open sea the skipper paused to allow us to photograph this colony of Grey Seals. There were dozens of them with recent pups too and they bobbed up and down in the water as we watched them play. I'm sure they were laughing at us all on top of the cabin desperate to take pictures and yet holding on for dear life as the boat rocked about on the swell. Further out to sea we paused again as the skipper has spotted an eight metre Basking Shark. It was truly special to see this creature in the wild and so up close. Alas the sea was a bit too choppy by now to take any photographs, we actually couldn't stand up but still it was such a treat to watch the fins go by us as we stayed in the same place, being well and truly thrown around, for around 10 mins until the beast was gone.
After around 90 mins of sailing we arrived at Lunga. Hamish Haswell-Smith describes Lunga in The Scottish Islands (2004) as 'a green jewel in a peacock sea'. We could instantly see why. What a beautiful, stunningly remote piece of land. There were Atlantic Seals all around the shores and an amazing aerobatic and aquatic display of Razorbills, Manx Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Great Northern Divers, Gannets, Terns and more as we alighted onto the somewhat 'rickety' jetty that was our only passageway from the rocking boat, to the rocky shore.
We had a couple of hours ashore on Lunga and it was such a privilege to sit atop the grassy cliffs watching and listening to the sea and the wind as we sat and ate out picnic in the sunshine. Yes... sunshine. We were so lucky with the weather all week on (and off) Mull. Coats and jumpers were needed of course due to the breeze but still, it was shining upon us. What we'd come to see were these little chaps.
The island is a breeding ground for Puffins and they make their burrows in tops of the sandy cliffs. We sat no more than two or three feet away from them at times as they constantly peeked in and out of their nests in the ground and flew off and came back with beak-fulls of fresh fish. They are majestic, beautiful birds and yet also somewhat comical as they twist their heads right and left before waddling two and fro. Lunga is a designated 'site of specific scientific interest' because of its abundant plant life and bird life. This really was the most peaceful, idyllic place that I'd ever sat for a couple of hours and I could have stayed there for weeks. Such a treat and such a special moment for us all to share watching the Puffins and trying to get that, or rather, THIS special shot.
We left Lunga after a stressful (for the ladies of the party) walk back across the rocky, slippery shore to the rocky, slippery pontoon to which our boat, 'Hoy Lass', was tied.
Our next destination was Staffa which is a stunning island made from columns of basalt and which time and tide has worn away to form fabulous acoustic caves, Fingals Cave being the most spectacular and famous for its influence on the composer Mendelssohn. Alas, by this time the sea was just too rough to land and somehow, I managed to get just this one decent shot out of the window with one hand as I held poor Katie's hair out of the way with the other as she was very, very sea sick. Aside from that small trauma it was a truly magical day that I will always treasure and we all really enjoyed the spectacle and the uniqueness of it all.
Tuesday we headed down to the south of the island to see Grasspoint and Duart Castle. No boats! Along the way we spotted and took advantage of this superb honesty box. The contents of which were just a bit special.
Grasspoint was breathtaking. It was once the main ferry port for Mull being the closest accessible piece of land to the mainland and now it just boasts a couple of isolated holiday cottages and an abundance of wildlife. Rabbits, Deer, Seals, Eagles and many species of bird make it a popular location for walkers and wildlife watchers. We had to park the car about half a mile away and walk down a very basic lane to get there and the views and the tranquility and freshness of the air were a lovely reward. It was a very windy day and there were lots of big sailing boats going past us as we took in the scene. Our evening meal that day was something to behold! Linda and I ordered the house speciality which was a platter of local seafood. When we saw the chef fussing over this HUGE preparation of food we assumed, wrongly, that this was the display for the refrigerator window, then she carried it to our table! When I took this picture it was already half eaten and we were just 'resting'. Brown crab claws, whole velvet crabs, oysters, and hidden beneath the langoustines are squat lobsters, dozens of them and they are one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten.
The next day we'd secretly arranged for Katie to go trekking at Killiechronan and she had a lovely time riding Becky, the oldest (25!) and fastest horse in the pack. We'd stashed her boots and jodpurs in the car before we left and needless to say, she didn't mind a bit! They all rode off into the forest towards the hills and we went off just a short distance away to sit and relax by the water for a couple of hours.
This view is what we had to put up with whilst Katie was out riding. We sat alone on the shores of Loch na Keal with rare disturbances by the sound of an occasional car or a buzzard. Blissful!
We returned to the same spot a couple of hours later to eat lunch when Katie had finished her trek and she excitedly recounted every detail of the adventure to us. After lunch we set off around the coast towards Calgary to show the girls the beautiful sands. We stopped for several distractions along the way including this sleepy old chap who was doing a bit of sunbathing.
The next distratcion was Eas Fors. This spectacular waterfall was visible from the boat when we left Ulva Ferry earlier in the week and it was well worth making the stop for.
The picture of the girls above is near the first part of the falls and the pools which are naturally cut into the rocks.
From here the water moves out towards the coast under a lovely old stone bridge...
and then after swirling around in some more pools it dissapears over the cliffs into the loch below. The small gap in the rocks next to Linda and Katie is the head of a really spectacular drop which sees the water fall for hundreds of feet into the loch below.
It was a really sensational place with amazing views and sounds.
So it's the last week of July and we're on the beach. Ok we need our fleeces on, but it's beautifully sunny and it's not exactly crowded. The sun is in the sky oh why oh why would we wanna be anywhere else?
It was warm enough for a paddle which we all did walking the length of the bay in both directions as Buzzards circled overhead and screeched to each other.
We even had time to sit in the sand and let our feet dry. What you can't see in the picture is that behind me, there was an almighty rain storm out at sea by this time and we timed it to absolute perfection as we got back into the car and managed to get out of the car park before the heavens opened. We drove over the hills through even more striking countryside to Dervaig and had a very good meal in the oldest inn on Mull, The Bellachroy, which has stood and served for over 400 years.
After we left Dervaig the rain had gone away again so we took a detour to see what 'Croig' was all about. Everywhere on the island there was mention of Croig crabs and Croig lobster. It was very much worth the visit. Nothing there except a house, a few boats, a slipway for the fishing boats and a couple of wrecks but it is a wonderfully peaceful and alluring place. So silent, so pretty and the sun was blistering as we sat in this little cove. The water is perfectly clear.
Just away from the slipway, which had some large orange sacks of fresh shellfish stacked up on it, was this wreck of a fishing boat which I found irresistable to photograph. I took far too many shots (as I always do) but this below is exactly what I had in mind when I saw the setting.
Thursday we headed to the south of the island again, as far south as we could go down to Fionnphort. This is the port opposite the sacred isle of Iona and it's very busy with tourists, coachloads of them. As well as the tourism it's a busy (poulation 70!) little fishing port too with a speciality for crab and lobster. The views out to Iona are very special.
The water here is an amazing blue sapphire colour, the sun shone on us again and there was a lovely warm breeze. There are sheep grazing all around, between the cars, in people's gardens and on the beach.
Looking out over the pink granite rocks to the sea it was hard to believe that we were not somewhere much further away from home. What a fabulous part of the world we live in!
Whilst we were down on the Ross of Mull we also called into Bunnessan to have lunch and see the cottage where Linda and I are going back to in October. In the only pub around we had a delightful lunch looking out at the Oystercatchers among the seaweed covered rocks and Sarah fell in love with Winston, a rather big Chow Chow. We found our cottage for October just about 5 mins from the pub and looking out over the loch and then just at the back of it, Katie spotted this young Golden Eagle perched up on a telegraph post. He was good enough to pose for us before diving off after something he'd seen that looked tasty. Stunning bird! We can't wait to go back.
Linda did some very useful research and planning for this trip and still on the same day out to the south we took a detour to see Laggan Sands and Moy Castle. One has to be very determined to see this place. VERY determined. It took a good hour down a very narrow though beautiful dirt track 'road' until we eventually arrived at Lochbuie and parked up the car amid breathtaking surroundings and one of the most amazing vistas you could imagine. The determination needs to carry on now but on foot. After 10 mins of walking we came across Moy Castle. Sadly it was surrounded by scaffold but that's good news as the Lottery funding has been granted to make it safe and to preserve it for future genrations to enjoy. Built in the 15th century by Hector MacLean, brother of the aforementioned Maclean of Duart, it was abandoned in 1752 when the new house was built just behind it. This is the view that the house enjoys!
A further walk of around 20-30 mins through the castle grounds and around the bay took us to Laggan Sands. Officially the 9th best beach in the UK for spotting wildlife. There were eagles above us screeching to each other as they searched for supper, there were deer on the hillsides around us and although we didn't see any, there are seals and dolphins to be seen in this natural harbour. As you can see, we had to fight for space on the beach again! The only company we had at all on this gorgeous beach were some washed up jellyfish!!
On the journey back to Tobermory we were treated to a fantastic display above the trees by six Buzzards.
They played and rehearsed their arial manoeuvres right above our heads for about 15 mins and they were so vocal the whole time as they circled and dived, climbed and soared before they dispersed. Incredible to watch all of this so up close and so very personal as we were the only people around for many many miles. They didn't seem to mind at all that we were stood watching them.
On Friday the girls wanted to have a restful day and once again, bake some cakes. Linda and I went out for a stroll along the cliffs to see the Tobermory Lighthouse. A stroll that turned into a major trek through mud, shrubs, mud, fearns, mud, rocks, bracken, mud, at times we were literally walking along ridges with 100+ feet drop offs to one side and the sea crashing below us onto the rocks. Did I mention the mud?
The walk was worth it and the views and the freshness of the air was fantastic but the walk back was even more challenging as we had to climb up a hillside towards the golf course, via a stream. This picture of Linda shows real strength in the face of adversity. The smile is faked for the camera. She was actually SO grumpy all the way up. Just because it was wet and muddy and steep and she couldn't see over the foliage. SO grumpy! Just because a slug had found it's way into the conservatory and slimed all over Linda's jeans which she'd washed the previous day. I mean SLIMED! You've never seen so much slime in your life! Just because her legs were hurting.... and just because I was loving it! :-)
This view above is what I had to put up with when I played golf at Tobermory. Shocking isn't it!This is the 3rd green looking out towards Calve Island which our cottage is named after. We had one last fabulous meal booked for the Friday night in the Waters Edge / Tobermory Hotel and for the first time all week, we got well and truly soaked on the climb back up to the cottage. This is what wet looks like. We all had waterproofs on and still we got soaked on our 10 min walk.
As we left Mull we all reflected on a wonderful week and looked forward to the next adventure waiting for us back on the main land. I love these little ferries... they only hold about 8 cars and they're just such a part of the unique romance of the Inner Hebrides.
Our first stop on the mainland was Ardnamurchan Point which is the most westerly point on the British mainland. It was quite a trek to get here but it was worth every bit of the effort. It's a wild and comfortless bumpy and rock-strewn place and the sky was dark grey just to add to the feeling of obscurity. At the same time it feels so fresh and so powerful to stand there as the waves crash around you from all sides. The traffic control was the last several hundred metres around the cliff to the car park. It was fascinating to see as we hadn't seen any traffic lights for over a week and we wouldn't see any again for about sixty miles.
So if you stepped off here and went in a straight line, the next land you would hit would be somewhere in Nova Scotia.
The lighthouse was built by the Stevenson family in 1849 with stone quarried on Mull. Apparently it has an 'Egyptian' influence... There was thankfully a very warm and welcoming tea room made from one of the keepers cottages and whilst we were there, there were some people who were mad enough to be abseiling down the side of the tower to raise money for the MacMillan Cancer charity and a brave young band of Scottish pipers. It all added to the excitement of the visit which we thought would be 10 mins and a few pictures and actually lasted for about two hours. Great place!
So at this point in time, this was the most westerly couple on the British mainland :-)
Our apartment in Glencoe was very nice and situated on the shores of Loch Leven. Just a few minutes walk from the village of Glencoe and just 20 mins drive to Fort William which is where we saw our next set of traffic lights.
On Sunday we headed out west to see the Morar and Mallaig Highland Games. It was a small but faultless event lasting all afternoon. From start to finish there were traditional dancing competitions going on and the constant wailing of hundreds of bag pipes being practiced in every corner, under every tree as they warmed up and down for their turn in front of the judges. Add to that the complete pipe bands marching around the arena and the constant announcements for the next field event within the arena and on the tracks. It was a brilliant day, so much to see and so much to laugh about as the many 'public' contestants failed time after time to throw things, carry things and run fast enough without falling over. Then there were the 'special' shoes that had to be worn by the most serious contestants for certain events... in throwing the hammer, they had daggers fastened to the front of each shoe!
Some of you may recognise the Clan Chieftain who was on duty meeting and greeting his people.
We eagerly awaited ALL afternoon for the finale of the 'heavy' events, the caber tossing.
These poles were huge and you could see the strain on the competitors faces and legs as they tried to steady themselves, then tried to move forwards with some momentum before the final lift and hurl of the big stick. There were four main competitors for all of the heavy events, shot putt, throwing weights, hammers, etc and of course the caber. Not one of them managed to actually toss the thing over and when you consider that this chap below is a former world champion (he's American by the way) it shows how hard it must actually be.
After the excitement of the games we drove a short distance up the coast to Mallaig which is a lovely little port town. The 'Harry Potter' steam train, The Jacobite, terminated here from it's regular journey from Fort William. The ferries sail from here to the Isle of Skye.
We didn't stay long but it was a pretty little place and seemed to have quite a lot going on. It's a working port but it still has that attractive remoteness and cleanliness of the highlands about it.
We decided to take the (even more) scenic route home along the winding coast and I'm SO glad that we did. We couldn't believe the number of little coves along the way which made us stop and go "Wow!!". Look at the colours of this water and the sand, it's hard to believe that we're still in the UK at times.
We hadn't planned for the games being so interesting so we ended up just grabbing fish and chips on the way home as it was too late to find a restaurant. We sat eating them on the pier car park at Fort William and watched loads of lads and dads fishing for their supper, they were catching plenty. Just by where we sat on the way out that morning Linda spotted three Dolphins in the water but by the time we'd stopped and turned around, parked up and got the cameras out they were nowhere to be seen.When we got back to Glencoe we had to put up with this scene outside of the house. I just couldn't stop looking at it but eventually a nice well earned glass of something was thrust into my hand. I think we all fell asleep within seconds of 'having a little sit down'.
We spent Monday having a good root about. The Girls had a lie in and Linda and I went into Glencoe village to see the Folk Museum. It was a miserable rainy day so most of our trekking that day was done in the car. We went to see Port Appin which is another very remote and very 'Wow, look at that' place just north of Loch Creran as it meets the sea. It's really 'just' the other side of the Sound of Mull from Duart Castle and on the end of the strip of land called Lismore, is the lighthouse that we saw earlier from the ferry and from Grasspoint. We could see Lady's Rock again but from the other side now. This romantic scene is Castle Stalker which is shrouded by the mountains of Morvern and sits on its own island in the waters of Loch Laich. Built in 1495 by Duncan Stewart it was taken by the Campbells in 1620, recaptured in 1685, abandoned in the 1700's and eventually ruined and roofless by 1830. It is now privately owned having been restored since the 1960's. Looks like quite a nice place to live doesn't it..
The end of our holiday was a couple of nights in Glasgow and the shock of being in the city was quite something. So many buildings and people and cars and... well.. there was stuff everywhere. Thankfully our apartment was first class and rose well above the melee below of prostitues, drunks, drug users and lap dancing bars and gave us a great view over the river. Here we all are, knackered and looking forward to dinner at TGI Fridays... Mmmmm.. Burgers!
We quickly got over the shock of being amongst crowds again and the weather continued to bless us. We had a day of shopping, Sarah and Katie in Next, Accesorize, Claires and all that, Linda and I in Guitar Guitar ;-)
We loved it in the city and it provided a very fitting end to our wonderful holiday. We'd secretly booked to see Annie at the Theatre Royal on our last night away and it was a truly fantastic show and we all enjoyed it immensly.
We had one final stop on the way home, Gretna Green. Just for lunch!
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