Scotland on Ricky Moorhouse

Iona

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We took the ferry to Iona from Fionnphort which is a short 10 minute crossing - mostly passengers and a few vehicles delivering supplies to the island. First we visited the Abbey which is looked after by Historic Environment Scotland and they provide audio tours.

The monastry on Iona was founded by Colomba and his 12 companions in 563. We started the tour by going up Tòrr an Aba (Abbot's mound) - the site where it is understood Colomba's writing hut originally stood overlooking the Abbey.

Ulva

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Ulva is a community owned island with a current population of 6 people. The first experience visiting Ulva is the ferry which you summon using by sliding the indicator on the ferry board to show red. I didn't initially spot this, but Kai and Laura did and managed to summon the ferry for us - otherwise we'd have been waiting a long time! This ferry is for passengers only and is a very short crossing across from Mull.

Staffa and Lunga boat trip

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We headed up to Tobermory early on Tuesday morning for the StaffaTours Staffa & Treshnish Isles wildlife tour which is only available during the summer until the Puffins leave Treshnish. We were fortunate to catch them as the guide told us it would likely only be a few more days before the pufflings fledged.

After we'd headed out from Tobermory the crew were alerted to a pod of dolphins a little off our route, so we took a slight detour to see them. It was amazing seeing them so close to the boat. We also saw a lot of sea birds and an otter bobbing along beside us.

Central Mull

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

For our first day on Mull we decided we'd head out and explore the central loop of the island in the car following a route described in the brochure in the farmhouse. This gave us our first real insight to driving in Mull as most of the roads are single track with passing places - although the passing places are very frequent so you can almost always see one ahead of you. The route took us along between the mountains through forests and by lochs as we wound around the hilly landscape of central Mull.