The Wee Boat to the Big Isle

We bid adieu to Oban under another blue blue sky and boarded the bus to Lochgilphead.

In Loch Gilphead there was a lot less to do than we thought there would be ... like nothing to do, so we froze on a park bench, wandered in and out of shops, and waited for our cab to Tayvallich for our ferry to Jura.

See the tiny 12-passenger boat at the end of the dock ... ?

Leaving land. Hope to see you again soon~

 

Our funny, competent captain of the good ship. He passed around a bag of mints for all of us to share.

Craighouse, Jura. Happy Easter tomorrow, everyone!

Oban Distillery and Dunstaffnage Castle

Good morning from Oban. See the Isle of Mull in the sun across the water. A lovely start to the day.

You can see our B&B just to the right of the distillery smoke tower in the middle of the photo. Also note the coliseum looking thing on the top of the hill - McCaig's Tower. It is said he had it built to keep the stone masons employed, but I wonder if this is another Nessie, and it was done to memorialize himself ...?

A view from McCaig's Tower.

The Oban Distillery. Great tour. We were barred from taking photos inside. This is the 4th smallest distillery in Scotland with two stills. Small due to the landlocked nature of the company. Built against a stone wall, town grown up around it, ocean on another side of it.

A quirky display of art - knitted covers over the poles. This is a cool house we pass going down to the town.

After missing our bus because I didn't listen to Blue when he said, "This is our bus," we finally made it to Dunstaffnage Castle, purported home to the Stone of Destiny (Google it) and the ancestral home of the Lords of the Lorne. See how it was built on a stack of stone? The photo below is of the well inside the castle. How did they dig down through that rock to get their water?

The well inside the keep.

Interesting imagery on the chapel at the castle. A pair of these skulls protected the last resting place of the Campbells.

Another unique image to find on a memorial stone in a church.

Blue broke down and had a hamburger with his pint tonight versus fresh seafood. It was good!

Tobermory to Oban

We left Tomermory today via bus, then ferry back to Oban. The day is beautiful, blue blue.

The ferry turned around in the middle of the crossing - look at the color of the water!

We walked along the waterfront out of town to Dunolie Castle. It is not open, but the views were amazing. And, naturally, the walk featured some sheep.

We visited a plethora of shops, the musuem of Mull, made a reservation for a distillery tour tomorrow and jaw-wagged with the folks at the bus station. Then we lifted a pint and had dinner at a local pub called The Lorne.

Our accommodation for the next two nights - we are in the top left bay room. See the good night view below. What a sunset.

Glengorm Castle on Mull

The day started with threatening showers and weather, but it resulted in an amazing photo from our hotel room.

The morning breakfast attempt at black sausage / pudding. Something like spiced liverwurst, but I knew where it came from ...

Glengorm Castle (Victorian, built 1860) beneath threatening clouds. We spent most of the day on the castle grounds, and we managed a good five miles or so before crossing their boundary.

Hail, really? Trying to shelter under some leaf bare trees.

We made it to Dun Ara, an Iron Age Fort on the ocean. This Dun was occupied for many, many years. Amazing views.

The Dun Ara from sea level.

Dun Ban, a lava sea stack, thought for many years to be an occupied fort, but like Loch Ness, this was a myth.

We hiked cross country and reached An Sean Dun, another ancient fort built to protect  the area and the occupants. This was a double walled fort with commanding views of the countryside.

In the late 18th century the Lord of the Estate determined to rid the Glengorm Estate of its inhabitants and replace them with sheep. They were people who had lived and worked his land for centuries, but who owned nothing - only paid him rents. We found one such town which was emptied by "The Clearances". A memorial, historial place. And yes, it was crawling with sheep.

A huge pile of scallop shells - no Blue did not eat them all. They crush these and spread them on the pastures for plant and soil health.

After the Clearances village things went quite smoothly, until they didn't. We realized we were on a road parallel to the one we wanted to be on ... but there was no way to get to the correct road (12' high fence, river to cross, etc.) This led to a long trek on the single track "highway" to Dervaig to catch the last bust to Tobermory. 

A beautiful day all told. Again, another day of astounding colors and clarity and beauty.

Iona to Tobermory

 We boarded the ferry from Iona at 9:00 in the midst of driving rain and wind. The beautiful green sea tossed and turned us in our 15 minute ride across the sound.

The next three hours were spent on a series of buses to finally arrive at Tobermory. This lovely town situated on the water is full of charm and tourists. We are staying in the Tobermory Hotel, the bright pink building on the left.

While the rain poured and wind shook the ocean to white caps we hunkered down by visiting various shops on the Main Street  - crafts, chocolate, soaps, and the Isle of Mull Museum. Oh,  and a distillery. 

We determined it was useless to wait out the rain so headed on a hike to the north to see the lighthouse named Rubha nan Gall. Wouldn't you know it the sun and rainbow showed up just as we arrived! 

Back to the hotel with some tired feet from yesterday and today. 

Here are some views from the window of our hotel.

Oban to Iona

A beautiful day from start to finish. The grey clouds and fog which greeted us this morning changed to glorious sun and blue skies, touching everything we saw and everywhere we walked and everyone we spoke to with brilliance and magic.

Some Photos: Oban as we left this morning. The harbor was so still.

Duart Castle on Mull as the ferry pulled into the pier.

Baile Mor on Iona, the only "town". B&B owner Lindsay met us at the ferry and took our backpacks to Skerryvore and we were free to explore the island.

Brooding, cloud-lifting light over the Abbey.

We climbed Dun I (doon ee) at 100 meters. Astounding views and unmatched colors - the water is  truly that amazing green.

You can see the "paps" of Jura on the skyline. We will be celebrating Easter of the Blue Moon there.

Cairn on top of Dun I. It was very windy, thus, Blue looks a bit bloated :)

Abbey photos - again the blue and green and more blue - couldn't take enough photos of that. St. Columba in the stained glass.

The Hermit Circle - took some doing and a bit of cross country trekking, boggy and soggy, but we found it. "One more hill," Blue said, and there it was!

Since Iona is the site of lots of religous history, there was also the ruins of the "Nunnery". Made from the pink granite of the area.

View of the "other" side of the island from our B&B window.