Isle of Mull 2019

This is the year we thought we would make it to the Isle of Mull. 

We sadly had to delay it slightly due to my sisters funeral in Essex.  We overnighted in Notts and then Englthwaite Hall and wanted to visit Hadrians Wall.  We then stopped at Strathclyde Country Park.  Lovely staff, good walks, but oh what a lot of noise from the motorway.  I was surprised by the number of double axle caravans being towed by Transits, by people with accents….say no more. 

Arriving in Oban and asking ferry staff if I could park and wait for my ferry, only to be told…’do you want to go on the earlier ferry’?  Yes please! 

Short journey to Craignure and only 2.5 miles to our campsite.  The campsite was a real gem.  I found it in an internet search and the pictures got my interest. 

Jim, the owner lives in a croft (Alt-Na-Gar) and he built two hardstanding pitches in his rear garden.  The pitches have a view of the Loch and behind it is a small field with sheep and lots of lambs.  Jim is full of local knowledge and really friendly. From the site there are some brilliant walks, these walks were full of Cuckoos, I have never heard or seen so many. 

I would recommend this site to anyone. 

Being interested in nature, Mull is just full of it.  Knowing that they have Eagles as the No1 attraction, I hoped to see one.  Chatting to another visitor, he asked me if I had seen a Sea Eagle, to which I said no such luck.   At which moment his wife said ’There it is behind you’!  This great big bird just glided over the tree tops.  This helpful man then told me where to go to see them, giving me exact directions.  The next day found us along with some other birders standing and watching a stand of trees with two eagle heads sticking up from the tree tops.  20 minutes later one of the sea eagles took off and sailed straight past us……..MAGIC.  I don’t think they flew much more that day, so I was really lucky. 

I never realised Mull was so rugged, with lovely twisting single tracked roads.  Knowing what I know now, there are quite a few places that I would like to revisit. 

We then moved to Loch Lomond, a CL, which was unfortunate as it had no walks and the weather became cold and grey and we couldn’t wait to move on.  Newton Stewart was a lovely CL.  Friendly owner and one of the best shower rooms I have ever seen and at £1 for a fifteen minute shower I was impressed.  The Galloway Forest provided some lovely walks. 

Then an overnight in Notts again to break the journey and then home. 

Apart from an almost fatal head on with a fire engine (on blues and twos) who decided it was safe to overtake a car into a blind bend, only to find me entering the bend.  I had nowhere to go, the verge had an enormous hole which would have turned me over.  I just held the line and skirting the kerb, the fire engine leant on the overtaken car and how we missed I do not know.  I can imagine the firefighters breathed a sigh of relief and might question the drivers ability.