25th July - 5th August 2018
Wednesday 25th July
A driving day heading north. A lunch time stop at Decathlon in Birmingham and a tea time stop at Whittle-Le-Woods. A before tea walk at Cuerden Valley followed by an evening with family at the Sea View - Sea View!?!
We then drove on up to Moffat, staying overnight adjacent to the nature reserve.
Thursday 26th July
An early start up through Glasgow, Loch Lomand, and a leg stretch at Invarary. Next stop was Lochgilphead and a yummy jacket potato for lunch. Then we explored the forest walk and the cup and ring rock carvings at Kilmartin.
We then drove down to Kennacraig ferry terminal for our sailing to Islay - luckily there was space for us on the earlier sailing!
On arrival at Port Askaig we had a drive through Bridgend and Bow more to the south. A wiggly road across the Oa took us the the RSPB car park and a stunning circular walk to the American Monument.
A drive along the coast took us Kilnaughton Bay, with the Carraig Fhada lighthouse and singing sands.
A drive along the coast to Ardtalla past a number of distilleries, Kildaton Cross/Chapel took us to our final destination of the day - a fab spot to spend the night and walk from tomorrow morning.
Friday 27th July
An early morning murky walk up Beinn Bheiger - no views today :( Then it was northwards, with a stop at Port Ellen for some cakes. A drive along the peninsula to Portnahaven - a lovely spot watching seals.
We then drove around Loch Gorm to Saligo Bay for a bit of stone balancing - golden sand and turquoise sea :)
A drive back towards Bridgend gave us a great camping spot in along the bay.
Saturday 28th July
Well it rained ....... and rained .........and rained .........not great weather for running the Isla Half Marathon .......
A medal, t-shirt and mars bar later, we dried off, had chips and then went off to Port Askaig to cath the Feolin Ferry to Jura. It was wet and windy, but we had a drive up to Lagg and then an early night ready for our Pap walk in the morning.
Sunday 29th July
Up early with some good weather ....... boggy start .......big stepping stones ........ and a Big Pap to climb .......
The mist cleared on the way up ....... for great views of Islay and Colonsay ......... Then it was the boggy descent back to the van .......Beinn an Oir conquered.
We caught the ferry back to Port Askaig on Islay, and were lucky enough to catch the Ferry back onto mainland at Kennacrag. Chips for tea at Tarbet harbour and a walk to the castle. We then drove back to Lochgilphead and onto Kilmartin for a stay in the Cup and Ring forest.
Monday 30th July
An early start to catch the ferry from Gallanach to Kerrera by foot. A lovely loop of the Island, tea and cake in the Byre and a visit to Gylen Castle - a fab morning!
On the way to Oban we paid for a Pit Stop at a local caravan site - shower and water top up ... just what we needed. Then into Oban to catch the ferry to Colonsay, but bad weather, wind and a broken linkspan meant ferry delays. The trip to Colonsay was aborted and it was up to the woods at Sutherland's Grove to hunt for the troll.
Tuesday 31st July
Another wet start ..... a walk around the pine tree trail and then onto Eriska Island and a visit to the heronry :)
Then it was a shop in Oban, lunch and another aborted mission to get to Tiree and Coll - the weather was not great, so we headed up towards Fort William instead. We found a great stop off at Glen Righ by Corran - a really impressive waterfall walk. A quick phone call meant tomorrow evening we will take the camper over to Mull tomorrow rather than going by foot passengers on Saturday.
Wednesday 1st August
Another waterfall walk followed by a morning spent in Fort William restocking and a visit to the museum. We drove back to Benderloch and walked the Eagle's eyrie trail and onto Ben Lora with lovely views at the top.
It was then chips from Tralee Bay and a trip to Oban for the ferry. Stress levels very high as Oban was full, traffic not moving ..... and we had a ferry to catch .......but we made it!
On Mull we drove from Craignure towards Fionnphort, finding a sheltered spot for the night by an old church yard.
Thursday 2nd August
We were joined this morning by a rather large group of bulls - big and small - so it was on to Fioophort to catch the ferry to Iona. After a wet walk to the reservoir to the south of the Island and finding green Iona marble on the beach, we walked back to the priory.
By the time we reached the beaches at the north of the Island the weather had improved enough for a picnic and a paddle!
With good viability we scaled the high point Dun I.
We then ferried it back, and drove along the coast to Gruline where we visited the Macquarie Mausoleum and Eas Fors Waterfall, before camping for the night by the Ulva Ferry slipway.
Friday 3rd August
A day on Ulva - great recreation of a black house, lovely walks and great tea and cakes. We even made it to another island - Gometra - an offisland off an offisland off Mull :)
A drive around the Island to Fishnish and a walk in the woods before camping for the night at Garmony.
Saturday 4th August
Another wet start to the day - a quick dog walk and a visit to Craignure before driving to Salen and a bus ride to the start of the Mull half marathon.
It was a dry run, with a tee shirt, medal and Mars bar waiting at the end. It was then a mad dash back to Craignure and a lucky space on the ferry.
A quick pressie shop in Oban on the way through and off we drove to Moffat and a night outside the nature reserve.
Sunday 5th August
A drive back home, with a coffee at Whittle-Le-Woods and a stop at Decathlon ..... and a yummy Chinese for tea :)
