Fingal’s Cave, Staffa

Instead of going back on the ferry to Mull, I had been able to arrange for us to go by local boat to the island of Staffa. Staffa is a beautiful, uninhabited island, home to hundreds of sea birds and set within waters teeming with marine life. But the island is best known for its magnificent basalt columns – not unlike the ‘Giants Causeway’ in Ireland. The captain of the boat had to ram it against the stone pier so that we could land to visit Fingal’s Cave (Musical Cave).

We had to walk along a cliff face, with only a handrail to stop us falling into the wild sea. Needless to say, the boat we came on had notices warning that we did so at our own risk! However, the tricky journey was well worthwhile because we were able to climb into the cave itself, which was an amazing experience.

Iona

Most people have heard of the Island of Iona. It attracts tourists and pilgrims from all over the world. Columba, an Irish prince accompanied by twelve companions, arrived in 563. During the next thirty-four years, he founded a monastery and turned Iona into a place of pilgrimage and Christian learning, which was renowned throughout Europe.

Getting there was a challenge. There are no marinas or public moorings near Iona and the only anchorage has a fast tidal stream running through it. With the excellent help of the local Tourist Information office, we decided to hire a car (£25 + petrol) for the day. The drive was challenging with most of the 40-mile journey being on single-track roads with passing places. After a short ferry crossing we arrived on the island and visited the recently restored monastery. After an interesting look around, we progressed to the local hotel for an excellent, mostly home grown, lunch.

Tobermory Distillery

In the afternoon, we had a tour of the Tobermory distillery. We have now visited several distilleries so it is interesting to compare both the quality of the whisky and also the tour and distillery itself. The Tobermory whisky is mainly used in blends on the mainland and very little of the output is stored on Mull. We had a tasting but it had very little character and is not one that caused us sufficient interest to want to buy the end result.

Torosay Gardens

Buses are a very useful means of transport around island like Mull. We chose to visit Torosay Gardens at the southeast corner of Mull. The journey took us along the coast overlooking the sound that we had travelled along yesterday. The view was breath taking and we could see the yachts sailing up towards Tobermory.

The gardens were slightly disappointing because they were neglected. They probably get insufficient visitors to justify the high cost of upkeep. We stopped for tea in their coffee shop and were waited on by an excellent Polish waitress. She was obviously a long way from home and I find it strange that local people are not more willing to do these jobs in an area that can’t have a surplus of jobs.

We were able to sit outside and before we had finished our tea and carrot cake, we noticed that we were getting attention from the local finch population. These birds were so tame that they would sit at your feet for crumbs and even raided your plate if you sat still for a while.

Leaving Oban Marina

We have had a lot of rain since we arrived back in Scotland. However, we had been told that Kerrera Islands has had insufficient rain and now have a water shortage! As a result, we were unable to fill our water tanks and therefore chose to leave today and move on to Tobermory, Mull.

The journey took us along the Sound of Mull and, unusually, the weather was fine. To enter the sound we had to go past Duart Point and the famous castle. The castle, high up on the cliff, is creepy enough. However, the tide was coming out of the sound and swirling over underwater mountains that caused the surface to eddy in small whirlpools. The journey along the sound itself was magnificent and we passed one of the Caledonian MacBrayne ferries, which travel between the many islands off the west coast of Scotland. The harbour, which is featured in many children’s TV programs, is very attractive with its multicoloured houses. We were able to find a pontoon berth and they seemed to have plenty of water on Mull so we gratefully filled our water tank.

Oban Marina

To get from the marina into Oban town requires a trip on their water taxi. This worked quite well but only ran every hour; sometimes it was full so it was necessary to wait for the boat to make another round trip of 20 minutes. Fortunately, the sun has made a rare appearance and blessed us with its presence. While in Oban, we managed to find time to complete a tour of the Oban distillery. Not the best we have tried but Ann managed to find another of that group’s brands (Dalwhinnie) so we did not return empty handed.

That evening we dined in the marina’s restaurant and enjoyed some excellent seafood. My fish platter contained a wonderful array with virtually no space left on the plate for veg.

Oban Bound

Finally, the wind subsided a little but the black clouds remained. We therefore decided that it was time to leave and, after much boat shuffling, we squeezed into the sea lock and left the safe calm waters of the canal. There was a sailing race going on as we left the lock and this meant that, as powerboats, we had to give way to sail. However, it would have been a brave person that tried to cross the path of the heavy wooden sailing boats that were making maximum use of the remaining wind.

The journey to Oban Marina, which is actually on the Island of Kerrera opposite Oban, took us though some magnificent scenery. We firstly headed towards Jura and then turned to starboard (right) up Shuna Sound. When we reached Seil Island, we travelled through the narrow Cuan Sound channel and into the Firth of Lorn. We were then able to see the impressive coast of Mull as we again turned to starboard and headed up Kerrera Sound to the marina.