Isle of Mull

We arrived in Oban after a mostly rainy day of driving. Joe drove through Carlisle and Glasgow, but then the roads started to get narrower again after we left the motorway and he gave the wheel back to me. He only hit the curb once. (I won't tell you how many times I've bounced us off the curb... I'll leave that to Neal or Maeve or Joe)

We took a bus tour of Mull and Iona: 45min ferry over to the Isle of Mull where you hop on a coach tour bus. 75min drive across the island and then jump on another smaller ferry for a 10min ride across to Iona. You're left to wander for 2 hrs then reverse it all back to Oban. Our bus driver was very entertaining, although Maeve and Neal didn't always get his jokes. And I'm very glad we took a bus; the roads were amazing. It is for two lanes of traffic, in opposite directions, but it looks like a large sidewalk by Cdn standards! Two cars cannot pass each other, one must pull over so there are pullouts every 100m or so. Exactly who has to pullover is sometimes decided by a game of chicken, almost. And believe it or not, a large coach bus doesn't always intimidate a wee small car! Like I said, amazing...

Maeve on Iona

Iona is known as being the birthplace of Christianity in this region; St Columba came over in 563AD from Ireland and founded a monastry. We wandered through the ruins of a the nunnery, but didn't pay to go into the abbey. It is being refurbished or renovated or whatever, apparently the island is attracting people of all faiths and beliefs these days and the islanders are trying to use that to their advantage. (kudos to them, I say) The island is beautiful, and rugged, and remote and relaxing. It was a great day.

Loch Ness

We then headed off in search of Nessie. (after managing to luck out - yet again - on securing a B&B spot) We took a boat tour of Loch Ness today, and visited the Loch Ness Visitor's Centre which did a really good job of showing the history of the Loch. Neal and Maeve even got a chance to steer the boat. But no sightings.

searching for Nessie

Old Man of Hoy

And now we're here -- the Orkneys! After lucking out and finding a B&B on the busiest weekend in Britain, and with a folk festival here in the Orkneys... someone's on our side. Tomorrow we're going on a bus tour to catch the sights and then get on the last ferry. Not long enough, I know... but at least we got up here!

Yvonne