Around the Islands

The views coming through the pass into Glen Coe (or Glencoe) were astounding.

We decided that it was too rainy the next day to hike in Glencoe (the hikers were trekking along the road looking miserable), so instead we decided to take a 3 Islands tour. We drove to Oban first thing in the morning and boarded a ferry for the island of Mull. We then took a tour bus (a big double decker one) across the island. It was over 30 miles of single track road with cars and other busses having to pass one another at small passing places. Made me glad we weren’t driving there! At two points there were old, narrow bridges on a corner that the bus had to maneuver very carefully through because they only had inches of leeway on each side.

After reaching the harbor at the far end of Mull we took another short ferry over to Iona. We saw the Iona Abbey started by St. Columba after he came over from Ireland in 563. It is where the Book of Kells was written. After the Reformation the abbey fell into ruin, but then the modern Iona community was started by Lorna and Reverend George MacLeod during the Great Depression. The members of the community and guests currently live and worship at the abbey. They have traditional worship experiences along with community-building and social-justice focused ones. It was a very interesting experience, although it was pretty rainy and cold when we were there.

The highlight of the trip was to the island of Staffa where we got to see Fingal’s cave. It is a basalt column cave reachable by holding on to a handrail anchored to the wall and stepping along the rocks on the edge of the basalt column cliffs. Then we climbed the cliffs and walked to the edge at the end of the island where there is a breeding colony of puffins. We got to see hundreds of puffins and get right up close to them! It was great!!!! And the weather there was perfect! I’ve loved puffins since I was a kid and it has totally made my trip to be able to see them up close and personal (as in they are curious about people and get within 6 ft of us standing there).

After taking the boat back to Mull we retraced our bus route across the island and saw a white-tailed eagle en route. Then we took the ferry back across to Oban and had a late dinner at a seafood restaurant on the pier.

The next day we drove to Skye after stopping at Ft. William for some groceries. Along the way we stopped in St. Augustus to see Loch Ness and the locks at the Caledonian Canal. We even got to see a small yacht moving through the locks.

Our cottage at Skye is an old crofter’s house complete with the super-thick walls and low doorways (which David is loving). But it’s cozy the the view across to the Island of Raasay is lovely. We are south of Portree down a single track road along the coast. It rained last night but looks to be clearing up now, so I think we will go explore the island some this afternoon.