Breakfast this morning was provided at our accommodation, Park Lodge
Hotel.
Breakfast was both welcome and tasty!
Our adventure for today was a cruise to the islands of Staffa Tours
cruise of Staffa
and the Treshnish Isles. It departed at 9:45am and returned at
4:15pm. We were lucky enough to spot a Minke Whale (but not quick
enough to photograph it). Our first port of call was Staffa. The famous Fingal's Cave is
there. The composer Mendelssohn visited there in 1829 and it was
reported that the composer immediately jotted down the opening theme
for his composition after seeing the island. It's official title is
"The Hebrides Overture" but it is better known as "Fingal's Cave".
If you don't know it, you can listen here.
The Harbour at Tobermory
On our way!
Staffa Island
Fingal's Cave on the right and Boat Cave on the left
These birds are shags. Perhaps the
expression "like a shag on a rock" came from these birds.
The pathway to Fingal's Cave was quite rough and uneven.
There was a handrail to cling to for the steeper parts.
Even getting to the shore was a
bit of a rock scramble.
After only a short ascent of
a rocky, gravelly, steep and sometimes slippery
path, we were rewarded with the sight of our first
puffins.
Note that the one above was caught taking a step!
The path then continued "up" but there were lovely
views for compensation.
After another trek up the steep path (no,
it's not just me... we saw two people slip
over and heard about a third) we were
rewarded with this view of thousands of guillemots.
Lunga was inhabited by only a few families
until about 150 years ago.
We both really enjoyed the cruise,
despite the long hike. When we returned to
Tobermory, we visited the Mull Aquarium. This is a
"release" aquarium, meaning that all the creatures
are caught in the local area, kept for four weeks,
and then returned to the place from whence they
came.
The aquarium was only small but it was
set up well and it was interesting.
By the time we left the
aquarium, it was 5:00pm so we decided to try MacGochans,
a local pub, for dinner. This was, as all
eating places have been in Scotland, a little
expensive but quite good.
