Isles of Mull, Iona, and Staffa

Friday, 13 September 2019

The alarm went off when it was still dark outside.  Lucky for me, Tim got out of bed first so I was able to go back to sleep for 45 more minutes.  When Tm was done, I quickly got ready as well, packed our day bag with breakfast (hard-boiled eggs), some snacks, and water.

We left the apartment at 6:30 AM and arrived to the West Coast tour office 15 minutes later to pick up our tickets.  Instead of trying to plan this day on our own, we decided to book a Rick Steves suggested tour.  With tickets in hand, we headed to the ferry terminal.  At 7:15 AM we boarded our first ferry of the day to the Island of Mull.  Here are a few photos Tim took as we were leaving the port of Oban.

During the ferry ride, there was a well situated rainbow as we passed Duart Caste.  The castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean.

Here I am enjoying the ferry ride.

After 45 minutes, we arrived at the Island of Mull.  As soon as we disembarked the ferry, our bus was waiting for us.  It was a double-decker bus, so we headed to the top floor to get the best views during the 1.5 hour bus ride to the other side of the island. 

Here I am enjoying the fast that I don't have to drive today.

We got so lucky with the weather today.  It was probably one of the nicest days for at least a week, with blue skies and sunshine.  When I booked this tour, I really didn't know what we were booking.  I just knew that Rick Steves suggested it, so I booked it.  I was amazed at the beauty of Mull and started to think that this is where I want to live one day.  Don't take my word for it.  Check out these amazing photos.  Keep in mind that I took this photos through the window of a moving bus.  They are still magnificent.

Wow!  And the good news is that we get to go on the bus later to return to the other side of the island.  On this side of the island we catch our second ferry of the day and set off for the Island of Staffa, 30 minutes away.  When we looked at the map, Staffa is just a small dot of an island.  What are we going to see when we get there?

Here I am enjoying the second ferry ride.  That is Tim in the back left.

Holy Cow!  This is what we saw when we approached Staffa.  An island with the same hexagonal rock formations (basalt columns) as Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

We landed on the island and climbed to the top and was rewarded with these amazing views.

We walked back down and walked along the wall to Fingal's Cave.

We got pretty lucky because the opening of the cave was closed to visitors for the past few months due to needed repairs.  The guy was there and said it was going to reopen tomorrow, but let us take a peek.  Very impressive.

We then walked back to meet the ferry.

We boarded back onto the ferry and took a 30 minute ride to the island of Iona.  This ride was a lot rougher than the ride out to Staffa, so I was pretty happy when we finally arrived.

Iona is the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland.  Here is the remains of a nunnery on the island dating from 1203.

They say that the first celtic crosses were made here on Iona.

And here is the famous abbey that most people travel to Iona to see.  It dates back to as far as 563 making it one of the oldest Christian religious centers in Western Europe.  The cemetary has what is believed to be the gravesites of Macbeth, The King of Scotland along with many other kings of Ireland and Scotland.

Tim and I decided that we would rather hike to the top of Dun I.  So, here we go.

I am tired and happy to have made it.  The view was definitely worth the climb.

Near the top of Dun I is the Well of Eternal Youth.  According to an article I read "Ancient Celtic myths speak of Brigid visiting Iona at midnight on the summer solstice. It is said that she blesses the waters of this little pool so that they carry healing for those who seek renewal."  Just in case this is correct, I washed my face with the water.

We climbed back down and made it to our forth ferry ride for the day to take us back to Mull.

We arrived back on Mull 15 minutes later and realized we got on an earlier ferry than we were supposed to.  This got us to the bus 45 minutes early.  Oh well.  The view from here is amazing anyway.

Because we got the the bus early, we were able to snag the coveted front seat of the top level of the double-decker bus.  We now had an incredible view out the front.

After 1.5 hours we made it back to the other end of the island.  Here is our ferry pulling up to the port at the same time as the bus was pulling up.  This tour is perfectly timed.

The Island of Mull has about 3,000 residence, and no school above 6th grade.  So, the kids take the ferry to Oban for the week of school and return on Friday afternoon.  We happen to be here when the school kids arrived back home.

Back on the ferry for our fifth ferry ride of the day.  This is Lismore lighthouse built in 1833.

Pulling into the port of Oban.

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We disembarked at 5:45 PM after a very long day.  We decided to get something to eat.  Tim thought today was a good day to try haggis and his first drink of Scotch whisky.  He said the haggis was surprisingly OK and the whisky was delicious.  Notice that the word whisky is without the 'e.'  This is how the Scots spell it.

After dinner we stopped at the market to buy some ice cream and went back to the apartment.  We did laundry and ate ice cream and were in bed by 10 PM.  Today was a long day, but one of the most beautiful days we have had in the past month.  These highlands of Scotland are amazing.