The Kings Birthday saw us up early and off to the airport (thanks Zoe) to catch the first of our four flights which would ultimately deliver us to Edinburgh. Yes, it was the scenic route and it was almost 46 hours bed to bed but it saved a considerable amount of $$!
Our hotel in Edinburgh (Tigerlily) was in a great location, walking distance to all of the main attractions and the weather was superb. Having visited Edinburgh previously I had only allocated one day here and after a bit of ‘road trip’ shopping (the obligatory picnic set) we had a fairly specific attraction in mind.
The Royal College of Surgeon’s Museum is home to one of the largest and most historic pathology collections in the world.
It began as a collection of ‘natural and artificial curiosities’ with many of its early specimens obtained through somewhat nefarious methods (think grave robbers) and it was absolutely fascinating. Encompassing not only thousands of specimens ranging from syphilitic lesions to cancer of almost every body part but also the development of surgical instruments throughout the ages and the history of anaesthetics.
One floor is also dedicated to the future of surgery with a display of robotic surgery techniques and a full sized teaching version of the Da Vinci robot, the same one that took Russell’s kidney out. I can say Russell would have been glad I wasn’t operating it for his surgery, I had trouble drawing a cat LOL.
All in all a very worthwhile visit, I highly recommend if you’re visiting Edinburgh.
The next morning we picked up our car (a SEAT Arona) and began our trip northwest toward the Isle of Mull.
Our route took us through the lovely village of Killin, a popular lunch stop to view the pretty falls in the middle of town. We were entertained by a slight altercation between a car towing a caravan and a car coming from the opposite direction on the single lane bridge but all ended well.
Our hotel for this evening was the Kingshouse Hotel. Situated on the West Highland Way on the edge of Rannoch Moor it is extremely popular with hikers and rock climbers who were spilling out of the bar in great numbers, beers in hand enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Luckily we had arrived early enough to check out nearby Glen Etive, a scenic glen and the location for Skyfall Road in the Bond movie and it also featured in Braveheart.
This was also our first experience of the single-track roads that are common in Scotland (we’ve traversed many more since,) somewhat nerve wracking in the beginning but once you know the rules, all good. The speed limit is 60 (mph) and basically you zoom along the straight line of sight bits, slow down and cross your fingers for the corners and if you meet another car one of you backs up to one of the many little passing ‘bulges’ in the road. Great fun although Russell’s knuckles were white most of the way.
The scenery though was incredible in every direction. The road follows the River Etive, its waterfalls and pools lined in places with wildflowers including rhododendrons, bluebells, foxgloves and daisies and mountains towering overhead on either side.
MANY photo stops later we reached the end of the road where the river empties into a sea loch and several camper vans were setting up in the most idyllic spot.
For us though it was time to turn around and head back to the hotel taking in the scenery from a different perspective on the way back. We were lucky enough to see some fairly distant red deer and then a couple having wedding photos on the way.
Dinner in the restaurant with its floor to ceiling glass windows was surreal and the entertainment arrived on the front lawn just as we were finishing up much to the guest’s delight. Russell did have the very tasty venison but we were assured they are not related….
The next morning we continued on our way toward Oban where we were to board the ferry for the one hour trip over to the Isle of Mull. The weather was less favourable today with a persistent light rain for much of the way but we arrived into Oban in time to find the camera store and buy a new battery for Russell’s camera and then got into the queue for the 1215 ferry with some signs of blue sky emerging.
The journey was calm and uneventful except for the car alarm going off most of the way but luckily it wasn’t ours.
Driving off of the ferry we didn’t stop to explore Craignure, instead heading west again along another single track road toward the little village of Fionnphort where we would stay the next two nights.
A thirty five mile drive took us nearly two hours (always double what Google says in Scotland 😉 ) through more beautiful scenery and we arrived into Fionnphort at the same time as the small foot ferry which goes over to the island of Iona was pulling in.
Hustling to get our outdoor gear and cameras together we just made the ferry and took the short (ten minute) trip over to tiny Iona.
Only 1.5 miles wide and 3 miles long, it has an illustrious history. St Columba came from Ireland in 563 and founded an Abbey which is considered to be the birthplace of Celtic Christianity in the United Kingdom.
The settlement survived some 350 years and numerous Viking raids before the centre of Scottish Christianity eventually moved east to St Andrews and took on a more Roman style of worship and lifestyle. The world famous Book of Kells was created here although now resides in Dublin.
Many Scottish kings are buried in the cemetery including the ‘real’ Macbeth and you can read more here.
We visited the Abbey and the excellent Museum with its fine examples of Celtic crosses before continuing our walk to the northern end of the island and the white sandy beach known as the White Strand of the Monks. Sadly the scene where many resident monks were killed by raiding Vikings it is a popular spot with artists and visitors and on a sunny day (which by now it wasn’t) is famous for pristine acquamarine coloured water and stark white sand.
Heading back on the ferry we passed the Creel Seafood bar, a tiny blue shack at the top of the boat ramp where I had pre-ordered one of their famous seafood platters for our dinner. They were already famous but last month Will and Kate dropped in and they became even more famous – good enough for them good enough for us!
By the time we finished (or did our best) we had the beach to ourselves except for a couple of locals.
John, our BnB host, served up a lovely breakfast Saturday morning and then we set off with a packed lunch for our boat trip out to the Treshnish Isles with Staffa Tours.
The fifty minute ride took us north and eventually to Lunga Island famous for its bird life and most specifically its puffins. Lunga did not disappoint, it was absolutely exhilarating and sooo worthwhile. After a short steep climb we came to the area where the puffins have their burrows, literally at our feet! We spent quite a while watching these comical little birds (the northern hemisphere’s penguin ‘equivalent’), one parent stays in the burrow whilst the other one goes fishing for the baby puffling that doesn’t leave the burrow until it can fly.
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Tearing ourselves away (I could have stayed there all day) we climbed up a bit higher and then followed the path that hugs the cliff (Russell facing his fear of heights bravely) on to Harp Rock.Â
This spectacular rock stack is home to literally 1,000s of guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars that can be viewed from across a narrow ravine. You can hear the cacophony and smell the poo before the birds come into view and the whole experience is nothing short of amazing.
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We sat and ate our lunch watching this spectacle totally in awe of nature.
When the boat returned to pick us up our next stop was Staffa Island, home to Fingal’s Cave. Well, it wasn’t actually a stop per se, work is being done on the landing area and it was supposed to be finished three days ago but alas bad weather has delayed and we couldn’t land.
It is formed entirely by hexagonal shaped basalt columns, the result of a lava flow in the Paleocene age.
The name ‘Fingal’ originally comes from an Irish myth, where the hero Fionn MacCumhaill’s (shortened to ‘Fingal’, meaning ‘white stranger’) and his faithful warriors migrated into Scotland from Ireland. The legend is that Fionn built the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, (which is identical to Fingal’s Cave,) after a challenge to fight.
It has been immortalised by composer Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, written after he visited and was amazed by the cave acoustics -have a listen you will probably recognise it.
The Cave itself is probably best viewed from the water anyway I think.
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What a way to end the day, the highlight of our trip so far for me … more to come 😊