Sunday 4 November 2012

We've been on Mulliday

Well, on holiday to the Isle of Mull anyway. My Dad lives there (see Peter on Mull) with  his wife Pat in a lovely new house they've built together in a very handy spot near where the Oban ferry arrives.

Turus Mara.


We trekked up the motorway, overnighted at Carlisle and spent Sunday night to Thursday morning on the island. It was my second visit to Mull but the first for Brian and the first ever visit to Scotland for H10 and R8.

Mull is like the rest of Scotland - soaring peaks, seaweedy beaches and crystal clear lochs, all packed with wildlife. When we weren't tripping over fat bunny rabbits we were spotting deer, arguing over whether it was buzzard or golden eagle and giggling at the antics of otters. We searched for Highland Coos, admired the curlicue horns on Blackface sheep and bemoaned the absence of white-tailed eagles.

An otter before breakfast.

We bounced around on bumpy roads in the back of Dad and Pat's Land Rover, toasted marshmallows over embers in the fireplace of an abandoned bothy, photographed peak after peak after peak and fell over on slippy seaweedy paths and nearly broke our wrists (well, only Dad and I).

There were the usual funnies - one when I jumped out of the car to photograph an eagle and dropped one of my leather gloves on the road. I didn't realise until my hands were cold in Tobermory. Yes we drove all the way back to pick it out of a puddle. (Sighs and rolls eyes.)

Another happened as we queued to leave the island when the CalMac man took tickets and asked Brian to confirm the number of occupants in the car.

"Five," Brian boomed back confidently, handing over five tickets, forgetting that one was for the car.

CalMacMan smiled thinly, handed over FOUR boarding cards and announced dryly, "The one in the boot gets in for free."

I laughed at that all the way back to Pembrokeshire. (Last time, when we were in Scotland on honeymoon, Brian drove into a lay-by for no apparent reason and I was laughing so hard I couldn't tell him what he had done. It was the lay-by on the left just before you get to the turning for Duck Bay and we gave it a wave on this trip. He maintains to this day that it looks just like road, not lay-by. He's wrong.)

Snow, as requested by H10 and R8.

We left Scotland with snow on its highest peaks and followed the rainbows back down the motorways and over sleet-laden hills and finally back to home. The journey takes 12 hours but the views are so wonderful from the northern stretch of the M6 it's not that onerous (especially if you can't drive because your wrist is too bruised from falling over watching otters!)

7 comments:

  1. A lovely account of your holiday and makes me want to go back, far too long since we've been to Mull and Torridon.

    On our last visit we took a trip to Staffa and had the privilege of the boat being circled by a 25' long basking shark.

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  2. Oooh, Mull - lovely! I had a wonderful few days there, and like you, saw so many different birds and animals (including several Highland Coos....). I want to go back now, after reading this.

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  3. I dream of showing my daughter the beauty of Scotland (and wales) one day. I miss the bluey-green scenery. Here in Israel it is the green-brown of Mediterranean scrub - a different kind of beauty maybe.

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  4. What a lovely holiday. We used to go camping in Scotland when the children were the age of yours. Happy memories. Never been to Mull, but have been to Skye. Memories of the incredible views and coast at the campsite at the Back of Keppock (go check) . . .

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  5. I went to Mull and Iona a long, long time ago. Beautiful islands. Thanks for bringing back some memories.

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  6. So sorry I confused your journeys, Mags - but I'm very glad to get up to speed now with the story of your holiday. I'm rather envious that you've seen otters (although not of the wrist injury - hope you're better now). I hoped to see one when we visited Skye some years ago, but they were too shy to appear. Lovely to see your photos too.

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  7. Delightful that you had a fun excursion, and that "the one in the boot" got on free.

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