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.
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment