Final day of sightseeing

We woke up to horizontal rain again on our final day, so things did not look good.  We stayed in the B & B until 11 a.m. but then decided to go out and look for some sunshine!!  We drove to a local jewellery maker just a ten minute drive away and I bought a couple of items from birthday money that I had taken with me just in case I saw something that I liked, so that turned out well.  We had to drive past some Mull traffic hazards however on the way there - no speed bumps here though - Heilan' Coos!!

Baby coo

Mummy coo

Ma, Pa and the Bairn

After leaving the jewellery workshop we headed back to Bunessan where there was a coffee morning and sale taking place in the community hall, so we supported that too by going in for coffee and cake and we bought a few things too!!  When we came out of the hall, the sun was shining and the sky was blue!!  The sun had found us!!  Here is a wee panorama of Bunessan and a photo of one of the many residents!!

While the weather was still deciding to be kind to us, we headed off towards Uisken. On the way there we passed by the ruins of an old clearance cottage.  The chimney stacks are now gone, but it was a pretty good photo opportunity.

We then headed off to Uisken beach where we sat and had some juice and crisps for lunch.  The weather was holding out fairly well, but the clouds were starting to roll back in again and we left to try and find the Carsaig Arches which were marked on our tourist map, so we thought it might be quite nice to see them.  Before we left, I took a photo of the beach while there was still a wee patch of blue sky!!

We then headed off to find the road to Carsaig - we did find it and it must have been the narrowest road we had ever been on, with not too many passing places!!  This is a view from inside the car

It was a lovely area full of trees, bracken and moss, so very lush and green, but I only realised on the way back that on one side of the road (to the right as you look at the photo) there was a sheer drop!  Once we got to the end of the track right down on the shoreline, there was an old ruined pier and a boathouse.  No sign of any arches on the coastline at all.  There were other people here too and on asking about the Carsaig Arches, we found out that they were quite a distance away which involved quite an arduous walk, so we gave up on that idea.  I have since found out that the walk is around a six mile round trip on treacherous rocks.  Many people have had to be rescued from this walk and many bones have been broken due to falls and trips, so I'm glad we decided not to bother.  Apparently, the best way to see the Carsaig Arches is by boat!!  I took some photos while we were here so that our visit wasn't for nothing!!

Here's another view of the road after we turned (with difficulty) to get back up the narrow track to the main road.

We just headed back to the B & B and had a coffee before getting ready to go out that night to a rather special restaurant called the Ninth Wave.

Our hosts at the B & B had offered to drive us there so that we could also have wine with our meal and neither of us would need to drive.  It was just lovely.  The decor is great and the food was really top notch.  It's mostly all fish, but that can't be fresher.  The scallops and lobster on the menu had been caught that very day by the owner of the restaurant!  I started with a Chocolate Martini and that was just to die for!!

Chocolate Martini

This was all fine dining at its very best.  If you were to pick up this restaurant and plonk it down in the centre of London or Edinburgh, it wouldn't look out of place - it is expensive and not the sort of place you would go to regularly, but for a special occasion it would be just perfect. Here is a wee taster of what I had to eat that night.

Pea and Sea Lettuce soup

Fresh Mull scallops

Freshly caught Mull lobster and grapefruit salad

Trio of chocolate deserts with freshly picked berries

After all of that there was coffee and hand-made chocolates.  Mine had salt and seaweed in, but it was delicious - just a very slight after-taste of salt.  They were certainly different to the normal after-dinner sweets!  Our host came back to pick us up and then all that was left to do was pack the last-minute bits and bobs to be ready to leave in the morning.

Reflecting on the holiday, we had a marvellous time on the Island of Mull and, if you think that we covered everything in this visit, then you're wrong!!  We only scratched the surface!!  There are so many wonderful things to see and do on Mull - it is well worth a visit, but not just a day trip from the mainland.  Get over there and spend a few days exploring - you won't be disappointed.

Duart Castle

What a horrible morning it was!  Wet and grey, and the rain was horizontal!!  We stayed in the B & B for a while but then decided just to go.  After all, most of what we wanted to see would  be inside the castle, so it would  be nice and dry, and surely there would be a tea room as well!!

However, as the morning progressed and as we drove nearer to Duart Castle, the sky turned blue and the sun came out!  We couldn't help feel though that we'd better make the best of it before the weather closed back in again!

Duart Castle

Can you spot the lighthouse?

The weather started to close in!

The castle was very interesting (no photos allowed in the interior of the building) and the views were spectacular.  You can see Lismore Lighthouse from the rooftops and, as you can see from the photo, the mist and clouds started to roll in again from the sea.  The above photo of the Lismore Lighthouse is very different from the one I posted on the first post of the blog!!

We drove to the area where we thought the standing stones were and did find the entrance eventually.  However, the field that you were directed into was very marshy and it was soaking wet.  I think had I tried to follow the white stones through the field to where the stones were, I would have been up to my ankles in mud and puddles, so I had to give up on that idea, which is a tad annoying as apparently this is the best site of standing stones in Mull!!

We then headed further down the coast to try and find the Castle of Moy.  Well, we ended up down very small narrow-laned roads with hardly any passing places, but very pretty nonetheless

We eventually got to the end of the track at a small loch where we found an honesty shop.  It was stocked with all sorts of foodstuffs, all priced, for you just to take and leave the money in a dish within the shop.  I bought some postcards and left the cash - and there was money already in the dish and it was surprising just how busy this little place was!   But, there was now the matter of trying to find the castle.  I knew it was derelict but, although I knew we were in the right place, I couldn't see a castle!  Despite the awful weather, I got out of the car and walked a short distance to a piece of headland that we could see in the distance and I walked onto it as we had seen other people do.  I still couldn't see anything - then I turned around and there it was in the distance!!

I still couldn't see it properly, but it was covered in scaffolding and it was cold and wet, so that was another disappointment!!  Two disappointments in one day in quick succession!!  It was time to drive back to the B & B!!

On the way back, the weather started to clear a little and clouds began to lift.  We also came across a small crofter's cottage, probably an old clearance cottage, which looked quite interesting, so I took the chance of taking a few photos, especially now that the rain had stopped!!

Can you spot a little piece of blue sky in the top left corner?

More blue sky appearing

Driving into the mist!!

Then, a little further on, we spotted two birds in the sky and we think it was a buzzard annoying an eagle.  It was difficult to try and take photos, so this is about the best I could do!

Once back at the B & B our host there told us he would take us into the forest that night to try and spot some deer, so that was something special to look forward to!  We had a very quick dinner out that night so that we could get back in time while there was still enough light to hopefully take some photos.  We climbed into his very substantial 4 x 4 and set off, but sadly there were no signs of any deer at all, and I thought that was going to be the third disappointment of the day!  We headed off up high into the forest and walked up to a very special viewpoint - it was still misty and mysterious and the colours were like something out of a watercolour painting.  Again, photos just don't do it justice!!

The  light was beginning to fade fast and we headed back down through the forest when, all of a sudden I saw it - a stag standing on the track right in front of our vehicle!!  What a fantastic sight.  He saw us and moved into the undergrowth, but then he stopped and turned and virtually posed for the camera!!  So, not a third disappointment after all!!

And that was that for the day.  Some disappointments along the way certainly, but what a way to end the day - a very special highlight indeed!!

West Coast Road Trip

The weather didn't look too promising for our planned road trip but we set off after breakfast anyway, prepared for anything!  The blue skies and sunshine were soon with us, and the scenery was spectacular.  We stopped where we could on the way for photo opportunities, which is a bit difficult on single track roads with only passing places available!

The scenery was simply spectacular!  You can hardly do it justice in just a few snapshots.  If you could guarantee sunny weather in Scotland, you would never need to go anywhere else!  I'm not going to put captions on most of these photos though as I really have no idea where we were apart from the fact that we were travelling on the west coast up towards Calgary Beach and Tobermory!!

Looking towards Calgary Beach

The next three photos are taken on Calgary Beach.  It was a lovely spot, but I honestly thought that it would have been much cleaner.  There was a large amount of seaweed and some litter lying about which spoiled the look of it quite a lot.

We sat on some rocks and had lunch here then we set off again towards Glengorm Castle where there are some standing stones - and a cafe!! 

Saw this 'coo' on the way to Glengorm

Walking towards the standing stones

Leafy walk up to Glengorm Castle

Well, as you can see, the clouds had started to roll in and, once we got back to the car and started driving towards Tobermory, those clouds started dropping rain on us so it was a very damp visit in Tobermory and not much opportunity to take photos.  This was the only one that I managed to take

At one of the shops though we saw this sign which confirms the sighting of six bottlenose dolphins at Iona the day before, which are the ones that we saw from Iona Abbey.

It was damp and misty all the way back from Tobermory, so not much more chance for photos, which was a shame.  This is the only half-decent one that I managed to get

It was then fingers crossed that the rain didn't continue for the planned trip to Duart Castle in the morning.