Framedlight

Next morning the view from our campsite at Killiechronan was dry but a wreath of cloud lay over the mountains on the other side of the loch. Driving around the coast towards Ulva we passed Kellan wood and saw a lay-by where there were a number of people with binoculars. As we suspected there was a pair white tailed eagles who seemed to be nesting in part of the wood which was a long way away. But they were flying fairly close to us. We must have stopped by the side of the road for at least an hour watching them, until they favoured another area to hunt and got too distant. When the eagles were not visible I amused myself taking pictures over the loch. We moved on to Ulva, a pretty place where a ferry goes across to Ulva island and you can get a boat to Staffa and the Treshnish Islands. This is probably preferable to getting a trip from Fionnphort although quite expensive.There was a small white cottage by the jetty with lobster pots piled up against it. ...

After the Staffa trip the weather started to lighten a bit. We left Fionnphort and picked up a hitch hiker along the way. He was a student waiting to start university in October and was working on an organic farm in the meantime. He was trying to get to Tobermory but we were cutting off the main road down to Uisken beach so could not carry him very far. Uisken was very pretty with lots of small islands and rocks. I spent a little time taking pictures of the objects on the beach. There were a number of stranded jelly fish, but the lack of sun had helped preserve them. A small patch of blue sky appeared and the sea became completely calm. We had parked at the top of the beach in the company of a few sheep. Eventually we were joined by a remarkable couple who admired the van and said that he had worked for the diplomatic service and they had driven across the desert to Iran in a converted VW camper van with specially adapted wheels and suspension. The...

Following our one warm day on Mull, the morning dawned in a thick mist. As we departed the quay in the Iolaire, the boat we had booked with Staffa Trips, the skipper pronounced that it 'was always like this after a warm day'. He could have said that when we booked the excursion! The boat was a nice wooden one, mainly open with plenty of room for Hettie the dog to curl up under the seats. The crew were also very helpful and gave a running commentary on the sea life we could see through the murk. Below are some eider ducks on a small rock, cormorants on a large rock and a young seal who was just shedding his baby fur. We could see small islands appearing out of the mist, a bit later some guillemots and finally a couple of flying puffins told us we were getting close to Staffa. We motored on until Staffa became visible and finally docked. I suppose it may have been more exciting approaching it in the fog as we were almost on top of it before we c...