scotland2023

Staffa, Fingal's Cave,  the Puffins and Iona.   Although the rain abated while we ate our early breakfast, I knew I was missing a treat on the drive to Phionnphort because Sue had done it years ago, and told me about it.The mountains are EPIC around here on a clear day - so I was bitterly disappointed not to be seeing them. But, were we downhearted? - A bit! We parked up, and boarded our trip boat for Staffa. The bosun supplied oilskins (just in case) but, by now, things were improving. Not to the extent we could see much in the distance, but at least we were dry. On the trip out, the bosun pointed out various seabirds and, when he spotted a lone seal on a rock, made a slight detour for us to get a closer view. They look so awkward sometimes when lying like this. No sun - but a sing-song cheered us up :-) Like I said - the clag was still down, BUT it did seem to be clearing slowly. Approaching a misty Staffa. This guy's dog was getting excited - but of course, they have to be ...

Leaving Oban. Duart castle, famous location of many films etc Arriving at Craignure On the drive to Calgary beach, we came across these old boat hulls. They almost looked like paintings. We drove through Tobermory and carried on, as it was still early. We wanted to visit Calgary beach at the far north west end of Mull. The little B road was a delight to drive. I was quite getting into this type of driving -like going back in time! After the pleasant drive, we reached Calgary beach. Remote and wonderfully deserted as we approached it. We had our eyes on that headland.  Perfect day for it! After exploring the main beach, we decided to walk to the headland we could see.This is looking back from halfway there.  This is the old boat pier.  This small pier, constructed with stone from Iona was originally built to allow 'puffers' to deliver coal to the Mornish Estate and was also used to transport sheep to and from the Treshnish Isles for grazing. The sky was gorgeous now, ...