Highlands and Islands

We had arrived in the ferry capital of Oban excited to continue our journey around the Western Isles and head onto the Hebridean island of Mull. We were out of luck. Our lifestyle of simply ambling about without prior planning did not appear to suit the Calmac ferries – there was nothing available for days.

We stayed that night in a lovely aire on a farm just outside of Oban and the next morning I put our awning out for the first time ever so that I could train under it sheltered from the rain. It was brilliant, another successful test of our kit.

I had been scouring the Calmac ferry website three times a day and finally a slot came up in four days time. I quickly booked us all on, along with a return three days later – hoping that would give us enough time to do the island justice.

So with a few days to kill we decided to head north to Glencoe.

On our way out of town we had to run the gauntlet of finding a hose pipe to fill our water tank up again. We tried a campsite, but couldn’t get in as we were too tall, and two fuel stations had no water at all. Eventually we passed a marina and I thought we might have some luck there. Success, there were a row of workshops with a hosepipe outside and the lovely owner of a boat repair shop was happy for us to use it. He admired the Mog and chatted to us for the half an hour it took to fill up.

We arrived at Glencoe an hour later and it took our breath away

In every direction we were awed by fabulous views down the valley

With mountains souring high above

We headed for the visitor’s centre and read all about the history of mountaineering and the dangers of avalanches. There was then a short video presentation about how they built a turf house using traditional methods which we watched before walking out to see the turf house itself

It was very well done, very authentic

The shop in the visitor’s centre, as every shop in Scotland, sold fluffy Highland Coos. I had resisted buying one on the Britannia in Edinburgh and again at Mount Stuart in Bute. I had decided against the very cute one in the shop at Luss but today I gave in. Meet Dot the Coo – she’ll be keeping Teddy company on the windscreen from now on – supersized truck, supersized mascot!

We managed to find space in a National Trust aire overnight which was nice but quickly got very full of campervans

Next morning was freezing cold and James had to put the heater on inside to thaw me out after my training

We headed down the Glen Coe to the Three Sisters viewpoint, squeezed into the car park and did a short walk with beautiful views

But before long the path got too close to the road to be any fun so we drove further down to Rannoch Moor, a desolate wilderness of blanket bogs, lochans and rivers. It was interesting to see but the parking at the viewpoint was too small for the Mog and the number of other tourists made it feel rather less than isolated.

Instead we headed back into the town of Glencoe for a lovely lunch with scones for desert before walking through the pretty town

And into the forests around Glen Lochan

It was a lovely walk, topped off by meeting a local lady and her gorgeous Northern Inuit dog

Almost enough to make me want one!

The weather had definitely turned against us, after two weeks of glorious sunshine we were now experiencing more typical Scottish weather. I sat miserably looking out of the window in the morning watching the rain pour down, unable to get out to do my training without getting everything soaking wet.

Eventually, at around 8:30am, the rain stopped and I jumped out, did my training in the relative dry and ran back in again an hour later. Almost as soon as I was back inside the heavens opened – fate was definitely on my side.

With such a gloomy day we decided to take a drive around Loch Leven rather than venture outside. The roads were narrow but good and the views were pretty

We then started back for Oban via Glen Orchy which had been recommended as ‘the pretty route’. As we turned onto the road we wondered whether we had made a mistake. It was a narrow single-track trail with passing places and the Mog was a little bit too large for it – at some points our wheels were over the edge of the tarmac.

James was concerned about the slippery road and the drop-off down one side but we ploughed on, determined to enjoy the views. In the end no damage was done – it’s all good practice…

Once we reached Oban we parked the Mog in town and walked up the hill to Macraig’s Tower

It was interesting

And we could see for miles over the town and harbour

But we are still no wiser about who Macraig was or why they built the tower

We stayed at the same aire at the farm that night and discovered that it was Easter, so treated ourselves to one or two little purchases…

The next morning, stomachs full of chocolate, we excitedly arrived at the ferry ready for our trip to Mull.

One of the staff members at the ferry port frowned at us and told us to get onto the weighbridge. I showed him that we had booked the Mog in at 6.8 tonnes but he still wanted us to be weighed. We are quite glad we did because, whilst we’d weighed him at 6.8 tonnes on a weighbridge near my Mum’s before we left, we hadn’t finished packing him and we were carrying little fuel and no water. Now we know what we weigh fully loaded – 7.2 tonnes, that’s a lot of tools and liquid!

As the guy waved us onto the ferry I asked him why he had wanted to weight us – he said he was just fascinated by the truck and was curious!!

We arrived on Mull within an hour or so. First stop – Duart Castle, ancestral seat of the Clan Maclean. It had been in ruins from the 18^th century until it was repurchased by Sir Fitzroy Maclean and restored to its former glory in 1911

The castle was packed full of fascinating historical information about the islands and the Clan

The Great Hall was magnificent

And the bedrooms had been beautifully furnished

The family still use the castle for events and gatherings but it is no longer lived in.

The clouds were finally starting to clear and from the ramparts we could see for miles across the waters back to the mainland – it was stunning

With a clear view of Ben Nevis in the distance

From there we drove north up the east coast heading towards the main town of Tobermory and the whole time I couldn’t get the Wombles theme tune out of my head!

As we drove along the coast road we admired the peaceful views across the countryside

We drove straight past the shipwrecks with only just enough time for me to snap a quick photo but nowhere to be able to stop for look around

We then found the Aros castle ruins

And ended up in another National Trust car park at Aros park. We walked to the Upper Falls

Then down to the Lower Falls

From here we could see across the water to Tobermory with its colourful buildings lining the front

We decided to stay the night in the car park as it was quiet and headed into Tobermory itself early the next day – so early in fact that nowhere was open. We wandered along the front, admiring the view over the bay

Eventually things started to open up and we had breakfast in the old converted chapel you can see in the middle of this photo – the building was great, the food not so much.

There isn’t much to do in Tobermory and after an hour or so we had pretty much seen all there was to see. We headed back to the car park and walked past the Tobermory distillery which now had its doors open. We poked our heads inside and asked about tours. They said they had spaces on a tour starting in ten minutes so we joined and had a great time

It was fascinating to see the huge stills and hear all about how whisky is made

It turned out that the guide was from Birmingham and he and James chatted about the schools they went to!

As it was only 11am we opted for the ‘Drivers Pack’ rather than the tasting and enjoyed our little bottles of Tobermory and Ledaig whisky later in the evening

From there we drove out to see a stone circle at Glengorm Castle. The castle itself has been turned into self-catering holiday apartments so we couldn’t go round but it looked impressive from the outside

And the cafe looked inviting but was sadly closed

The walk to the stone circles wasn’t long but it had started raining again so we were a little damp

The last thing to do at this end of the island was Calgary Bay and an art installation I had found called ‘Art in Nature’. It was supposed to be intriguing sculptures hidden along a woodland trail.

So we set off on the half hour drive to the north western coast but this is the point at which our day started to go downhill rapidly.

The coast roads around Mull are mainly single track with passing places but they were wide enough for the Mog’s wheels and we could see up ahead far enough to be able to pull in whenever someone was coming in the other direction. The roads across the island to the west were much narrower, winding and cambered. Vehicles coming in the other direction appeared round a tight bend or over the brow of a blind hill without warning and the Mog was struggling with all the stopping and starting. We were both getting very stressed and agreed we were not having any fun.

To make matters worse, when we finally arrived at the art place it initially looked closed and we were about to leave but I saw a sign that suggested it was open 24 hours a day every day so hopped out and asked someone who told us where to find it.

An intriguing art installation it was not. Most of the pieces were either missing or worn out

We did get a nice view over Calgary Bay though

And this boat was good

But the rain was coming down heavily now and the pathways were muddy and slippery

All in all it had not been a good decision to come here and we now had to turn around and drive those awful roads all the way back to Tobermory

Our misery only increased when Google told us we had another two hours to drive to the campsite we needed to get to that evening and, whilst the roads beyond Tobermory were nowhere near as bad as the ones to Calgary Bay, they were still narrow single-track paths and by the time we arrived at the campsite it was 6:30pm, our nerves were raw and we were beginning to wonder what we had got ourselves into.

We were not feeling Mull. Things could only get better – and fortunately they did.

The campsite was peaceful and calm with pretty views over the hills

There was a lovely sunset in the evening

And somewhere to fill up our water tanks and recharge our composting toilet the next morning

The reason why we had driven all the way here was because we had booked onto an early boat trip to Staffa Island and Fingals Cave and the boat left from the nearby village of Fionnphort. We headed to the small and pretty port and arrived in plenty of time

The boat ride to Staffa only took half an hour and the views were lovely

We even saw a few seals along the way

And it was puffin breeding season so the sea was covered in thousands of the tiny little birds bobbing about on the waves

Apparently these hardy little things spend 8 months of every year out in the middle of the ocean not seeing land, just eating fish and riding waves. Incredible!

As we approached Staffa a large swell started heaving the boat from side to side and we all felt a little seasick

But it was worth the discomfort

The Basalt columns of Fingals Cave were amazing

Apparently when seas are calmer you can take a boat inside but it was hard to imagine today

The boat dropped a few people back at the port in Mull then carried on to the small island of Iona where we disembarked for the afternoon.

Iona is a gorgeous place steeped in history. The population is around 150 people, there are more sheep that human inhabitants

The island came to fame in the 6^th century when St Columba arrived and set up a monastery which became the centre of Christianity and learning across the region for years, attracting pilgrims – as well as Viking raiders.

The abbey of today was built in around 1200 and was a thriving religious centre until the reformation in the 16^th century after which it fell into disrepair until it was restored by the Iona Community in the early 20th century

Reading all about the history was quite fascinating as was seeing St Columba’s original burial chamber

Crosses erected nearly a thousand years ago

And numerous tombstones from around the same time

The church itself was cavernous

And the monastic cloisters were serene

Apart from the abbey we also wandered around the ruins of the nunnery

And then wandered out to one of the fabulous beaches

Where the views just kept getting better

It was getting a bit chilly and we had already had a long day so we decided to get the ferry back to Mull and come back the next morning to walk the beaches at the southern end of the island

Sadly that was not to be. We were up at 5:30am the next day with plans to get two loads of washing done and tumble dried before catching the 9am ferry only to find – too late! – that the dryer wasn’t drying. By the time this became apparent we had the first load washed and soaking wet and the second load in the machine.

We decided to take it as a win though because it was a beautiful, warm day, the campsite was lovely and the owners were happy for us to stay as long as we needed. So we hung our clothes line up and spent the rest of the morning lazing around whilst the wind and the sun did their stuff

By the time the clothes were dry it was already 1pm and our ferry back to the mainland was booked for 5pm. So we packed up and drove the two hours back to the ferry port, admiring the views as we went

And making a quick pitstop at the Three Lochs viewpoint

Back on the mainland we stayed overnight at our usual aire on the farm, disappointed to have missed out on the Iona beaches but having had a lovely day in the sun – life could have been worse!

In retrospect we had not enjoyed Mull particularly but there had been some highlights – the Tobermory distillery was great and Staffa and Iona were worth the trip on their own. Our biggest problem was that we had significantly underestimated the time we had needed to do the island justice – a mistake we were determined not to repeat.

Now back on the mainland we headed up north again, past Glencoe to Fort William

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the town and was pleasantly surprised. It was quite pretty

We spent the afternoon wandering around, spending all our time in outdoor shops where I bought a new fleece that I didn’t need and James bought a new belt and cap which he definitely did.

The whole area around Fort William is dedicated to one, rather large, feature – Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain. But, whilst we wanted to see it, we had no intention of dedicating eight hours of our lives to climbing it! So we weren’t sure exactly how to do justice to our visit here.

We stayed the night in an aire on a small farm and I chatted to the farmer for a while. He suggested climbing Cow Hill behind us for lovely views and driving up to the viewpoint to see the peak in all its glory.

So the next morning we pulled our walking boots on and headed through the forest to the top of Cow Hill

It was a steep climb, in fact rather steeper than we had bargained for, but it only took half an hour.

Once at the top James was keen to get back down again so we followed the farmer’s advice and took the less steep path down. Unfortunately this path did not go down so much as round and after 20 minutes we found ourselves no lower, just a long way from the truck. James was not amused but despite being reluctant to retrace our steps we decided to cut our loses and do just that. An hour later, tired but having spent our morning with beautiful views, we finally made it back.

We sped off to the Ben Nevis visitor’s centre but there wasn’t a great deal to see there so instead we went up to the Ben Nevis viewpoint

It was a shame. Apparently Ben Nevis is hidden in clouds for 350 days of the year and the 15 days when it comes out are mainly in April – which is where we were. That morning, whilst we had been doing our unplanned hike around Cow Hill, the skies had been cloudless. By early afternoon when we arrived at the viewpoint the clouds had rolled in and it was chilly and starting to rain. But all in all we didn’t do too badly.

And the drive back into town gave more opportunities to see the peaks in all their glory

We had whistled through our Ben Nevis sight-seeing as we were on a timetable. Half an hour away from Fort William is a rather famous viaduct – the Glenfinnan Viaduct. You may not have heard of it but if you are a Harry Potter fan you will certainly be familiar with it – it is the bridge which the Hogwarts Express is shown going over in all the films…

(Not my photo!!)

The actual steam train is called the Jacobite train and the viaduct is worth seeing in its own right – but sadly, since the Harry Potters films brought it to world attention the whole place is besieged with tourists every day trying to get that famous shot of the train going over.

We had checked the train timetables and knew we had to be there for just after 3pm, we also knew parking was going to be an issue. We were not wrong. When we made it to the car park 45 minutes before the train was due there were barriers across and we were waved away with a shake of the head – car park full. Cars and motorhomes were parked all down the roads and in every layby for miles either side, it was chaos.

We drove a couple of miles up the road and pulled onto the grass verge where the train track ran alongside. James noticed a small bridge over the tracks and we wondered whether we could get to it

We stomped up the road and through a bog and finally made it onto the bridge. So there we were, no idea whether this railway was actually the steam train railway or just a normal line. We were doubtful as there was no-one else around and it seemed to be on the wrong side of the road with no obvious level crossing

After about ten minutes we guessed that the train would be passing by any time now if we were on the right track…no pun intended.

Just as I voiced my concerns about it being likely that the train would come through James put his finger to his lips and pointed to his ear. We heard a distant rumble of wheel on track. We looked at each other with smiles and sure enough, a minute later the steam train appeared

We may not have got the Harry Potter Instagram shot of it going over the viaduct but we’d had a private and close up viewing all to ourselves, we were delighted

Unfortunately, despite returning to the viaduct car park half an hour later when the rest of the tourists were leaving, we were still unable to see the viaduct itself as the car park staff refused us entry on the grounds that we were too tall…too tall for what we never found out!

That night we found a cosy layby off the main road out of Fort William and spent a quiet night, despite there being a burnt out campervan next to us

We didn’t want to know how that got there but the idea that there was a mad arsonist with a grudge against campers kept me awake for at least 5 minutes!

We were back on our mission to see as many of the Western Isles as possible, the next one on our list being Skye. This was going to be much easier as there is a bridge which links the island to the mainland so there was no need to worry about ferry bookings.

On the way to the bridge we stopped in at the lovely Eilean Donan Castle, picture-postcard Scotland apparently on more shortbread biscuit tins than any other image

It is a beautiful setting and the castle looked magnificent despite the drizzle and low clouds

If anything, the wet and grey weather seemed to make Scotland feel more, well, Scottish. We didn’t mind at all.

We even came across the Rolls Royce Club Highland Outing in the car park

It made a change not to be the only ones having our photo taken by everyone else!

This was another castle that has been re-purchased and restored to its former glory in the 20^th century by the ancestors of the original Clan. As with Duart Castle it was packed full of historic furnishings and history but no photos were allowed inside.

From there we had a very brief walk around the small village of Duirnish but found nothing much to occupy us apart from a nice view from the bridge

But Plockton, a few minutes further down the road, was gorgeous

We wandered along the sea front

Over to the pier

And along the main high street

Duncraig castle, which you can see across the water in the photo below, was sold to a private buyer around three years ago for the princely sum of £2.85M including the private island in front of it – what a bargain!

That night we found a great place to park-up next to the Plockton airstrip. We were the only people there and it was so quiet we felt as though we were in the middle of nowhere.

And we probably were. We had travelled deep into the Highlands by now and the population was getting sparser. But for all that, we were about to take the next step away from the hustle and bustle of life – we were heading towards the Outer Hebrides. And if we thought the west coast was beautiful we had no idea what was in store for us over the next two weeks – we were about to fall in love all over again…