Isle of Mull

Well having pitched on the Wednesday in pouring rain we awoke on Thursday morning to more downpours, the remainder of the holiday was certainly an adventure.

Securing the tent we set off for our first destination of Tobermory stopping en route to walk a local nature trail where we saw Otter and nesting Terns. Tobermory is the islands largest town and where the children's television series Balamory is filmed. It's true to life too! All the houses and shops in the town are painted in different colours of the rainbow. In the late evening we took a stroll along the coastline where the campsite is situated and looks across to the mainland and Oban. During our walk we encountered a huge Stag Deer which we estimated was at least a 10 pointer. We also spotted Shag, Red Breasted Merganser and had a great opportunity to see a Sea Otter at close range.
The one thing that was becoming noticeable was the increase of the wind speed. Having checked the web before bed it was apparent that we were in for some stormy weather and when we were woken at 7.30am by our tent wanting to become a kite and torrential rain, our fears were recognised! We immediately broke camp, fortunately during a break in the rain and set off for breakfast and in search of a decent B&B, our camping was over for the remaining 2 days.
We took the scenic route which took us through the centre of the Island and up towards the North-Western tip at Calgary where we had tea. We then arrived at Dervaig a small village next to Loch Cuin and were fortunate enough to find a an excellent B&B called Tigh-Na-Mara, our room had spectacular views over the Loch. After settling in we decided to drive the 8 miles to Tobermory where we planned to search for Golden & Sea Eagle at Glengorm Castle and then on into the town to enjoy some local fish & chips. Our search was to have an unexpected outcome! When we were a few miles from the castle we came across our Golden Eagle. Unfortunately while being stalked by a couple of Ravens she was blown by the extremely strong winds into a nearby power cable and hit the ground with a powerful crash. Stunned she sat on the roadside and although she flew around 20 yards it was quite clear she was injured. We managed to obtain the phone number for the Islands RSPB officer Dave Sexton who amazingly arrived within 30 minutes of our call. Fifteen minutes later we had managed to capture her and she was en route to the Islands Eagle hospital at Wings Over Mull. A fantastic yet sad experience. The following day Dave telephoned and we discovered that she had been taken over to Oban by ferry and operated on. As I post she is now back at the hospital and fortunately having no broken bones is making steady progress in her recovery although it is very early days. Having had our fish & chips later than expected we spent out penultimate night on the Island in our B&B haven listening to what turned out to be storm force winds.
On our last day on the Island we visited Wings Over Mull, had an afternoon walk around Loch Cuin and ended with a fantastic dinner in the The Bellachroy Inn, the oldest inn on Mull.
Almost 2000 miles later we arrived back at the marina having had a wonderful fortnight in Scotland and having seen some spectacular scenery, weather and most of all wildlife, this was certainly a holiday to remember.
I have posted a small selection of pictures taken during our visit into the side-bar....To see more go to our main Photo-Album..