Today was to be leisurely and relaxing while enjoying the best of the western isles.
I don’t think I have commented much on the excellent food we have experienced. Breakfast most often has everything you could imagine including the Scottish specialties of black pudding and haggis, porridge with a whiskey bottle along with the honey and maple syrup. I’ve indulged in the excellent porridge most days, minus the whiskey.
Our day started driving from Craignure to Fionnphort where we would catch the ferry to Iona. This is basically a drive from one end of southern Mull to the other all along the coast. A light rain was falling, nothing to be concerned about. Our guide Matthew, has a history major and a passion for geography (and twitching). We get his running commentary “all right troops, okay doky” and we learn more about the isle of Mull. Our driver a fine Scottish man named Mark, affectionally called “pinky” is a first class guy and an excellent driver manoeuvring his bus on narrow roads. We feel very fortunate to be in their care.
Tourism is the number one industry, also forestry, farming of sheep and cows (coos!) . We pass a large mussel farm in a loch where they harvest 10,000 lbs a week. These mussels are prized by chefs all over the world as the water in which they grow gives them a delectable flavour, sea water from the Atlantic diluted by melting snow. Birding or “twitching” which I have mentioned previously is big, 3 varieties of eagles nest here, including the massive white tailed eagle, introduced to Mull, they now have 75 pairs.
On Mull there are many lochs, 3 beside each other are the Bull, the Cow, and the Calf. The tallest mountain on Mull is Ben Mor at 3,000 ft. When it blew 59 million years ago leaving a chain of volcanic sites throughout the Hebrides including Skye, St Kilda.
In comparison Iona is 3,000 million years old! Iona is a little island only 3 miles square. It used to be attached to North America, when the tectonic plates moved millions of years ago separating the land into modern day N. America and Europe and creating the Atlantic Ocean. The split occurred near Inverness in the west of Scotland.
Some well known celebrities have homes on Mull, Paul McCartney (he composed Mull of Kintyre here), Elton John, Phil Collins, AC/DC, John Lennon also stayed here many times and was well loved by the islanders, who created a memorial garden honouring him when he passed away.
The Isle of Mull has only primary school, for secondary education students travel to Oban.
We arrived in Fionnport for the 12 minute ferry ride to Iona where we will visit a nunnery and the Abbey.. the sea is wild, rain is blowing horizontal. I am minus one umbrella as the wind blew it to bits snapping even the metal frame! We were told the ferry would likely not be running later on if it didn’t clear.
So we were on the island but would we get off? Most of the group pushed their way through the wind and rain to the Abbey. It truly was worth the weather , solid brick inside and out . It is still in use by the island residents today. The nunnery is in complete ruin. We did see one highland cow. What we learned about these beasts that people love and visit Scotland to see. They are very intelligent contrary to some beliefs. They eat a diet of Heather which gives their meat a prized flavour low in cholesterol, they never need to see the vet. Farmers are starting to breed them with black angus cows. They live outdoors 12 months a year. Cows and sheep are out in fields together as farmers found the coos defend the sheep against the fox. The bulls weigh up to 1500 lbs and have horns that can gore a fox. Coos are not called a herd but a fold.
The isle of Iona has been the preferred burial place for kings and clan leaders; being that it was built on volcanic rock it was deemed very stable. During the highland clearances the English destroyed the headstones and tossed them in the sea. On a grassy mound buried are McBeth and McLeod, powerful clans. Iona is credited as being the birthplace of Christianity .
We made our way off the isle of Iona, the ferry bobbing like a child’s toy on a very rough sea. The docking on what was a sloped concrete boat launch was tricky taking quite a few tries to get in straight. Back in the tour bus we continued to our hotel. An optional visit to Duart Castle, the 13century home of the MacLean clan, one of the last surviving privately owned castles, the home of Clan Chief Sir lachlan Maclean.
Dinner was at 7:30 and it was first class.
Tomorrow is our last day with a visit to Inverary on the way to Glasgow.
My blogging of my Scottish adventure will be coming to an end in a few days time, i have tried to make sure it is correct in English grammar and spelling.....where it is not, I blame the computer for taking licence!
Cherrio. Xo
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