Last April Mr Writer and I went on holiday with two good friends to The Isle Of Mull in Scotland. I've been meaning to share some of the photos of this beautiful island ever since, so I'm pleased to be sharing them today! I hope you don't mind this photo heavy post- I think you'll agree that it is a stunning place...
After flying to Glasgow and them driving to Oban, we took the ferry across to Mull, where we stayed in a little village called Salen.
This was the view just a couple of minutes around the corner from the cottage we stayed in. From here we watched birds and seals resting on the banks in the water.All of us who went on the trip are nature lovers but one friend in particular is a very keen birdwatcher and "wildlife follower," for want of a better word! I shall call him "Mr Nature." We saw all sorts of things because he pointed them out- sadly I don't have good enough eyesight to identify things! We were really hoping to spot otters as Mull is great territory for them, but sadly they alluded us this time!
We stayed in this lovely cottage, looking out over the water
Views from the cottage. One evening we looked out to see a stag in the garden! We later saw him several times in a field near the cottage with a group of doe deer!
The island is so unspoiled which was lovely to see. Driving along the scenery was beautiful and it was rare to meet anyone else on the roads.
What struck us was the remote way of life- you could drive for miles and miles and come across a house and then drive for miles and miles and miles before you came across another one. There was a small but very well stocked Spar shop near to where we stayed and from there the only supermarket on the island was in the town of Tobermory, and when I say supermarket, it was what I'd call a local shop size. Truly a different and very lovely way to live
We visited the main town of Mull, Tobermory, several times.With its colourful buildings, it is famous as the location for the children's TV program Balamory ( if you remember the programme you may now get the theme song stuck in your head, as we did!). We wondered how the locals felt about their towns association with the program, but several of the shops seemed to celebrate it with displays in their windows.
We enjoyed fish and chips, a tour of the whisky distillery and a meal at Cafe Fish, which is hailed as one of the best fish restauants in Scotland.
We went on a woodland walk and there was a lovely view of colourful Tobermory in the diustance across the water
This beautiful beach is in the stunning Calgary Bay. The sand was so white and the water so clear and turquoise blue. We spent time exploring rock pools and walking on the beach. We then drove up the (very!) narrow and winding road up the cliffs to see the views
We went on a Mull Charters boat trip to see White Tailed Eagles and we had the most brilliant views of these magnificent birds. Mr Nature took these photos on the trip and he and his other half, who shall be known as Miss Lovely, gifted us one of the photos as a housewarming gift.
I was hoping to be able to find some traditional textiles on Mull and we found out about the Ardalanish Isle Of Mull Weavers. We drove out there and found Ardalanish Farm down lots of tracks with lots of cows roaming all around. Some of them were pregnant and absolutely huge!
It was brilliant to be able to have a glimpse behind the scenes at the weaving process. They spin yarn from the fleece of their own sheep and then weave it into beautiful fabric using traditional processes. I bought some offcuts of Ardalanish Tweed while we were there (I will eventually make some purses from this!) and we also bought a wrap to use as a throw on the back of our sofa.
The view from Ardalanish weavers
We saw a lot of sheep!
Ooh and highland cows! Casually chilling here by the road. I wish I'd managed to take a video, we drove past a filed of Higland cows, big and little ones, all charging around!
We traveled all over the island and there was not a single bit that wasn't breathtakingly stunning. I hope it stays so unspoiled
And finally our friendly donkey friends who lived in the field across from the cottage we were staying in. They were very cute and came over to say hello whenever we left the cottage.
Phew, well that was a little taster of our visit to Mull, thanks for reading if you made it this far! I hope it's inspired you to visit this amazing island.
Have you been away somewhere recently? I'd love to hear about it, share your recommendations in the comments and we can all add some places to our must visit list!
