Mull and Iona

We were up bright and early today to catch the first ferry of the day from Oban to Craignure, on the Isle of Mull.

It's only a 45 minute crossing, so we hit the ground running at 8.15am and headed towards Duart Castle, ancestral home of Clan McLean, built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the straight. Original construction began in the 13th century, but after various periods of siege and abandonment, much of what we see today is a 1911 reconstruction.

The main road around Mull is a single lane road, with passing turnouts at regular intervals, usually 100-200 metres apart. If you meet a car coming in the opposite direction, one of you must stop at the nearest passing bay and let the other through. So progress can be slow, with lots of stopping, headlight flashing and waving to other drivers!

We arrive at Fionnphort in time for lunch at the pub, before boarding the ferry for Iona.

Iona is known as the birthplace of Celtic Christianity, with Iona Abbey founded by St Columbus in 563. It has a small art, craft and tourism industry, focussing on wildlife and nature conservation. There are a small number of roads for locals to use, but no tourist cars are allowed, so walking and cycling are the preferred transport methods.

We returned to Mull late afternoon and drove back to the east coast via the central road. The scenery along the way is spectacular, so we made plenty of stops for photos, caches and animals on the road, arriving at our accommodation in Salen after 5pm.

The hotel we are staying in has a pub quiz tonight, so we had dinner and a night of quizzing before catching the end of Eurovision.Read more