Onto Fort Augustus

May 2017

Mull was only a brief trip, and soon we were back on the little ferry to Oban. We had one night to rest back in our lovely hostel, and then were leaving in the afternoon. We had planned to just relax in the dormitory, but two rather grumpy cycling girls smelled so strongly of deep-heat cream (Eucalyptus) that we retreated to the lounge for the evening. It turned out lucky we did as a friendly girl gave us a tip on getting a free whisky tour at the local distillery after hearing us discussing it! Oban whiskey is well known, so I was rather excited to see the place where it was made, and how it was made. After Dani cooked us up some delicious corn and bean burritos, we headed for sleep, ready for our tour in the morning.
Having signed up as a 'Friend's of Whisky' for free online, we were awarded our free ticket for the tour and headed to it! The guide was brilliant (and sounded exactly like Oliver Wood to my untrained ears). Every room he took us through smelled different, as each vat was going through a different process. The burned wood and honey aroma from one was quite nice, but the intense marmite one was less pleasant (though very nostalgic for my childhood!)

We then were able to try a couple of different whiskeys, which was fun even though neither of us actually like the stuff. The first one we tried had been aged for 8 years, and can't be sold in the shops as the minimum aging for whisky is 14 years, however this was to show us the taste before water is added - without the water diluting it, the whisky was 68% alcohol and blew both our heads off! The second one was 14 years old and was slightly more pleasant tasting, Dani and I nodded along to the fancy comparisons and comments being made, swirled the stuff knowingly, and then tried to drink it without holding our noses. We then walked back to the hostel clutching each other with laughter at our pretense, as the tipples had rather gone to our heads.
We had originally meant to head for Glencoe for the amazing scenery and walks, but to our chagrin had discovered the night before that all the accomodation was booked (the downside of spontaneous travelling) so instead we headed for Fort Augustus.

We picked the only Youth Hostel available, Morag's Lodge. It was clean and central, though the kitchen was problematically tiny. Fort Augustus turned out to be a gorgeous little town, perched on the edge of Loch Ness, which made for wonderful walks (not to mention one of my locations ticked off the bucket list!) I was very excited about this.

Apparently the village was once called Kiliwhimin (and gosh I'd love to know how to pronounce that without sounding like I want to murder someone) it was renamed after the Jacobite Rising when a fort was built and the settlement grew from there, eventually taking its name from the fort itself. (Sadly no cool Roman history behind the name)
We soon discovered the hostel was a stopping point for 'Haggis tours' (you already know its going to be classy with a name like that) which inexplicably seemed to cater to only Australians. As we were only there two nights, this proved an amusement rather than an annoyance. The cool thing about this was it meant that the hostel put on live music in their little bar area, and we were soon listening away to a mix of brilliant Scottish music and popular songs.

The next morning we headed to Urquhart castle by bus. We had hoped to sneak a peak from the outside and be on our way, but it wasn't visible from the road so we decided to splash out and pay to wander around. It cost about ten pounds each, but turned out to be well worth it. It was one of Scotland's largest castles, and was blown up in the Jacobite rebellion, leaving these ruins behind.

Our bus back unfortunately never turned up, but luckily after waiting an hour and just about to begin the 3 hour walk back to Fort Augustus, another one turned up, the driver rang the other bus company for us, and sorted out our bus! Thank goodness for friendly Scottish people.

Starving upon our return, we inhaled sandwiches and then lay in the sun by the Loch and read. It was our last night together, before Dani headed back down to England, and I continued upwards alone. To celebrate the last evening, we went for a drink and dinner at the local pub.
We were determined to try Haggis - we were both slightly terrified of the idea, but adamant that trying the national dish was an important thing to do. Funnily enough, it was surprisingly delicious, especially with a whisky and cream sauce!


















The next morning we said our goodbyes, and I headed for my bus, ready for the long drive to Portree on the Isle of Skye! Solo backpacking here I come!

The Isle of Mull

May 2017

Mull turned out to be a lovely island, extremely green and lush, and full of walks. We were staying in Tobermory, which was the main town. It was a lovely, brightly colored collection of houses that I unfortunately never got a close-up photo of, but it's well worth looking up. The YHA hostel we stayed in was somewhat less pleasant, but perfectly survivable for two nights (however if given the choice, I would recommend staying elsewhere).
















To celebrate our arrival, and what felt like the true beginning of our trip, we decided to have lunch out in Tobermory. As the weather was rather pleasant, we settled ourselves outside at a pub called 'Macgochan's' by the waterfront, and proceeded to share a pot of mussels - cooked in white wine, they were extremely nice.















Having wandered through the small town in a matter of minutes, we decided to try and find the nearby loch we had heard about, and go exploring. The walk turned out to be very pleasant indeed, and I would definitely recommend walking from Tobermory to Loch a Ghurrabain. It reminded me of something out of of wind and the willows, and it was all so green! I suppose all the rain has to be good for something.















The lake, although artificial, was very pretty, and quiet. We were lapped on our walk by a determined running lady, but aside from that had the area to ourselves.


























 I was hoping to see or hear frogs but no luck, I suppose you'd hear them better at night. We stopped for a chocolate snack about halfway around the lake (a chocolate shop in Tobermory had tempted us)















The area was interesting in that it had some industrial looking ruins littered around. Apparently this building was once a powerhouse that provided electricity to the nearby Aros house, long before the rest of the island was granted such luxuries. The house itself is sadly  long destroyed. Urban decay is always interesting I think, and seeing the slow reclamation of nature is somehow beautiful in its own way.















Upon our return to Tobermory, we sat on the wharf and enjoyed the sunshine and the fishing boats (fishy stench included!) and the sound of the gentle waves, before retiring for the evening.
 It was difficult to base our day on the rising and setting of the sun, as it didn't set until very late!

The next day we attempted to get to Calgery beach, which we had heard was wonderful, but this proved fuitile with buses. We then thought we could visit a nearby castle, but this too proved impossible by local transport. So frustrating! We ended up settling on going for a walk from Tobermory, the opposite direction of the day before, heading for a nearby lighthouse one of the hostel staff had recommended, picnic lunches in our backpacks.

























I became very excited about this thistle flower, having never seen one in real life before.

Of course as soon as we arrived at the lighthouse, it began to rain. We were rather used to it by then however, and simply donned our waterproof gear and munched on our sandwiches in the rain. So far the trip was proving more frustrating than planned (always rent a car in Scotland rather than suffering the limitations of public transport!) but just as beautiful and fun as we had hoped!