Post by Kim on Dec 19, 2001 23:04:58 GMT -5
19 December
Stirling, Scotland
Hi again,
To continue.....from Oban I took the ferry to the Isle of Mull, and from there to the Isle of Iona. Once again was blessed with the bus to myself on Mull, therefor a private tour guide! I could get spoiled on this!
Actually didn't spend any walking around time on Mull. You have to take the bus from the town where you arrive from Oban to the other end of the island to get the one to Iona. And that was my main goal that day.
<br>However, Mull is a farily good size island and has about 1000 permanent residents. It looks very much like the mainland in that area, barren, wild, very 'hilly' with lochs and glens. And once again the wildlife. But even more fun were the sheep. They are just free-range grazing and are everywhere! All
the roads are one lane and the sheep are all over them, and barely even look up when a vehicle goes by. The driver said that not too many of them are killed by cars, but in the spring they lose quite a few lambs. Makes sense. These guys
are amazing though. You see them up on these incredibly steep mountain sides, what looks to be sheer rock cliffs almost, just munching away. Even saw them on the very tops! How in the world? They must be incredibly sure footed, and strong at that! Also saw some wild goats here, with those huge curl around horns. My driver said they are generally pretty nasty critters and best left alone. Like I had any desire to go pet one! The coastline here is fairly tame on the east side, toward the mainland with some nice beaches although I could not imagine ever swimming in those cold waters. But on the west, the seaward side it is again very rugged and steep. They get the electricity from the mainland, but the water is from right there on the island.
Iona is a tiny little island just off the tip of Mull. Relatively flat, relatively being the operative word here. But I suppose there is nothing much more than 400 feet or so there. What is there is Iona Abbey. A simply beautiful church that is older than old. St. Columba, from Ireland, fled his home land and arrived on Iona. This is the home of Christianity in Britain...this church was gounded in 1270 or thereabouts. Of course it has been rebuilt now, in the early 1600 and the current building dates from there. When I was visiting, there was a man in the abbey, with a guitar, singing the most glorious old songs! It was once again magical. He stopped for a bit and I thanked him and remarked on his beautiful voice. His reply was that 'he' puts the beauty of song in all of us and it was a joy to offer it back. There is also the ruins of an old nunnery just down the road from there, although not directly related. This island was greener, and a good deal 'tamer' looking than most, but still so isolated at the same time. There are about 300 residents there, who rely on the ferry's for everything coming in. It was a beautiful
sunny day when I was there....almost want to say when has it not been?.....and made for a most relaxing day.
From Oban I travelled the rest of the Highland way train route....just as spectacular as the first half I must add...and arrived in Mallaig, the end of the line. This is a very small town indeed, still a quite active fishing harbor and they say it is the noisy town as the gulls are always massing over the
harbor. The fishing boats are coming and going at all times of the day, so the gulls are always swarming about for food. The harbor is encircles by a bit of 'flat' land, but then it climbs quickly and once more the town hugs the hillsides. There are about 1000 here as well, quite a bit smaller than Oban indeed. A couple of 'fishing' gear stores, a general store of sorts, a small grocery, two hotels, couple of B&B's and three restaurants. That's it. The minute I got off the train, owing to the time of year, it seemed the whole town knew there was a stranger in town, and once again, everyone had a tale to tell.
I have to say, The Scots will darn near talk your ear off if you will give half a listen!
Continued in next post.
Stirling, Scotland
Hi again,
To continue.....from Oban I took the ferry to the Isle of Mull, and from there to the Isle of Iona. Once again was blessed with the bus to myself on Mull, therefor a private tour guide! I could get spoiled on this!
Actually didn't spend any walking around time on Mull. You have to take the bus from the town where you arrive from Oban to the other end of the island to get the one to Iona. And that was my main goal that day.<br>However, Mull is a farily good size island and has about 1000 permanent residents. It looks very much like the mainland in that area, barren, wild, very 'hilly' with lochs and glens. And once again the wildlife. But even more fun were the sheep. They are just free-range grazing and are everywhere! All
the roads are one lane and the sheep are all over them, and barely even look up when a vehicle goes by. The driver said that not too many of them are killed by cars, but in the spring they lose quite a few lambs. Makes sense. These guys
are amazing though. You see them up on these incredibly steep mountain sides, what looks to be sheer rock cliffs almost, just munching away. Even saw them on the very tops! How in the world? They must be incredibly sure footed, and strong at that! Also saw some wild goats here, with those huge curl around horns. My driver said they are generally pretty nasty critters and best left alone. Like I had any desire to go pet one!
The coastline here is fairly tame on the east side, toward the mainland with some nice beaches although I could not imagine ever swimming in those cold waters. But on the west, the seaward side it is again very rugged and steep. They get the electricity from the mainland, but the water is from right there on the island.Iona is a tiny little island just off the tip of Mull. Relatively flat, relatively being the operative word here. But I suppose there is nothing much more than 400 feet or so there. What is there is Iona Abbey. A simply beautiful church that is older than old. St. Columba, from Ireland, fled his home land and arrived on Iona. This is the home of Christianity in Britain...this church was gounded in 1270 or thereabouts. Of course it has been rebuilt now, in the early 1600 and the current building dates from there. When I was visiting, there was a man in the abbey, with a guitar, singing the most glorious old songs! It was once again magical. He stopped for a bit and I thanked him and remarked on his beautiful voice. His reply was that 'he' puts the beauty of song in all of us and it was a joy to offer it back. There is also the ruins of an old nunnery just down the road from there, although not directly related. This island was greener, and a good deal 'tamer' looking than most, but still so isolated at the same time. There are about 300 residents there, who rely on the ferry's for everything coming in. It was a beautiful
sunny day when I was there....almost want to say when has it not been?.....and made for a most relaxing day.
From Oban I travelled the rest of the Highland way train route....just as spectacular as the first half I must add...and arrived in Mallaig, the end of the line. This is a very small town indeed, still a quite active fishing harbor and they say it is the noisy town as the gulls are always massing over the
harbor. The fishing boats are coming and going at all times of the day, so the gulls are always swarming about for food. The harbor is encircles by a bit of 'flat' land, but then it climbs quickly and once more the town hugs the hillsides. There are about 1000 here as well, quite a bit smaller than Oban indeed. A couple of 'fishing' gear stores, a general store of sorts, a small grocery, two hotels, couple of B&B's and three restaurants. That's it. The minute I got off the train, owing to the time of year, it seemed the whole town knew there was a stranger in town, and once again, everyone had a tale to tell.
I have to say, The Scots will darn near talk your ear off if you will give half a listen!
Continued in next post.