Mull - Day 9

We left the site in the morning, going to the Bakery in Tobermory for a cooked breakfast. We then drove back down to Craignure, catching the 12.40pm ferry. On it we parked next to a trailer full of sheep.

We arrived home just after 5pm.

Mull - Day 8

For our last full day on Mull we drove past Calgary Bay to the Treshnish Peninsula. We parked by the roadside and walked downhill to the coast.

Just as we reached the coast we saw a large bird that we are pretty sure was a sea eagle, though it was just a fleeting glimpse and we didn't get a photograph.

It was a lovely coastal walk, sometimes just at the level of the beach and rocks, at other time higher above the cliffs. We saw one seal.

Near the end of the coastal part is the Whisky Cave, where locals from the nearby village used to illicitly distil whisky for their own consumption. The stone base where the still used to be is still there. It was surprisingly long inside, at the back was a passage only about half a metre high but went back for at least 20 metres.

From there we went back over moorland, passing the ruined village.

We drove back to Calgary Bay for a walk, having a slight altercation with another car on the single track road on the way. At Calgary Bay there is an Art in Nature trail, but it was a bit dilapidated and had seen better days.

We drove back to Tobermory campsite, later having tuna pasta for dinner.

Mull - Day 7

We left Salen and drove up to Tobermory in the morning, parking in the car park at the quayside.

From there we walked to the northern tip of Mull where there's a lighthouse.

After returning to Tobermory we walked down the coast to the south to Aros Pier and park.

We then drove to the Forestry Commission car park for Ardmore, and walked to the bay where there is a hide to watch out for otters. We didn't see any.

We walked back to the van then drove and booked in to Tobermory campsite for two nights. It was very hot and sunny, we got the camp chairs out for the first time in a long while.

For dinner we had sweet potato curry and naan bread.

Mull - Day 6

We climbed Ben More today, 945m. First we drove and parked at the roadside to the north of the mountain. We then set off up the track south. It was pretty boggy in places.

As we got higher up the path turned steep and rocky, and it was extremely windy.

We got to the top in about three hours. The sky was completely clear and the views were stunning.

We set off back down again, this was of course much easier.

We returned to the Salen Bay campsite, later having smoked salmon and pesto pasta for dinner.

Mull - Day 5

We went to the island of Ulva today. First we drove to the ferry pier and parked in its car park. We then went down to the tiny ferry and made the 2 minute journey across the water.

From there we walked along a muddy track to a bothy in the southern part of the island. It was wet to start with, but later cleared up and was quite sunny. Once we got to the quieter part of the island we saw what we were sure was golden eagles, but they were too far away to photograph.

We also saw and heard some seals on a small offshore island, one of them looked like a baby.

At the bothy we stopped for lunch and watched for otters in the bay, but didn't see any.

There were many ruined villages around, relics of the highland clearances.

We walked round the coast on the way back, past Livingstone's cave, said to have been used by David Livingstone as a child. His family's ancestral home was here.

At the coast were some basalt columns, similar to those on Staffa

We walked up past the church, and on to Starvation Bay in the north.

We returned to the ferry and caught it back to the mainland of Mull.

We drove on to the village of Salen, where we bought some provisions in the Spar, then booked in to the Salen Bay campsite.

Later we had pork chilli and rice for dinner.