The Isle of Mull

The other day we decided to make an impromptu visit to Mull, one the nearby islands and the third largest in Scotland.

We decided to get in form for our planned trip through Europe later this year by camping which meant we had to invest in a whole bunch of gear before heading away.

Once organised we spent a (very cold) night in Oban before getting the ferry to Mull for three nights. We managed to get some warmer sleeping bags in Oban thank goodness.

We stayed in a quiet little campsite and our new tent and stove held up very well. We never really realized how much money could be saved in self catering until now!

We drove all over Mull, mostly on single track roads, visiting the postcard perfect Tobermoray and then skirting the coast around some stunning lochs and mountains.

We drove to the ferry crossing for Iona, an important Christian pilgrimage site where we could see the old Abbey on the shore, the surroundings were quite bleak and isolated and even on a clear day the wind was bitter. It was beautiful though and we later went for a walk on the other side of the island where it was more sheltered enjoying the sun and the scenery. We only got rained on once.

The only real problem we had with camping was the midges. They were beyond anything we had experienced in Inveraray, we can see why camping in Scotland is not a common pastime. It is the only time you will ever see Eva encourage Adam to light up as smoke tends to drive them away temporarily.

All in all it was great to see another part of beautiful Scotland, and to prepare for our trip to Western Europe in about 21 days!!!!!

Photos: Just imagine if it was sunny, Adam holding up a very old standing stone, Beautiful Tobermoray, View of some coastline, One very isolated phonebox, Wild pheasants, Adam doing the cooking, A rainbow over Duart castle.

Go you Inveraray pipers!!!

Last Saturday night as Adam was enjoying a beer and Eva was finishing off a shift we heard the sound of many, many pipes and many, many people heading up the road to The George. Despite the rain and the hour half of Inveraray was out to celebrate the fact that our pipe band had just won the World Championship in the Grade Novice Band (whatever that means). Everyone was very proud especially as one of our dishwashers, 15 year old Alan is a member of the band.

It was a great atmosphere as they played on the church steps in the pouring rain with most of the town watching at 10:30 at night.

Well done!!!

Photo: Eva congratulating Alan