Heading for the Inner Hebrides

As we headed north after leaving Arran our next stop was Oban, where we’d heard about an amazing seafood shack in the harbour selling fresh seafood.

It is said that while Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were filming in Edinburgh they actually sent a helicopter to pick up seafood from the shack, whether that’s true or not I don’t know but its reputation is warranted.

We bought their seafood platter which consisted of a whole lobster, crab claws, a huge chunk of hot smoked salmon, herring, prawns, mussels, calamari and clams, as well as a few dipping sauces all for only £48, which is incredibly good value. Everything was so fresh – it was absolutely fantastic. If you are in Oban and like seafood definitely give the Green Shack a try, you won’t be disappointed.

As we left Oban the weather was worsening. Storm Amy was on the way and we were directly in her path. It was predicted to be a massive storm with incredibly strong winds so we knew we had to find somewhere sheltered for a couple of days to hunker down.

Fortunately the camping and caravanning club have a lovely campsite just North of Oban which is set within a walled garden. We really lucked out and couldn’t have found a better place to hole up in a storm, protected behind the high walls. We did however lose electricity, hot water in the showers and the cell tower went down so we had no phone reception but the staff at the campsite were great and coped with it all very well. After surviving the storm walking in the woods surrounding the campsite showed how much storm damage there was with trees and branches down everywhere.

When we left the campsite and continued our drive North the road was like an obstacle course with lots of trees down across it. We were very lucky to have found somewhere so well protected during the storm but even so, we had some scary moments in the night when it felt like a giant hand was shaking us.

After leaving our refuge we drove up to Glencoe but after visiting the visitor centre and their recreated turf dwelling we decided that the weather was just too bad for any hiking (think low cloud and pouring rain) and so we carried on up to Fort William.

Fort William is the biggest town in the North West of Scotland and we were destined to be back and forward through here a few times as they have plenty of shops and a good motorhome service area here.

We decided we’d wait for a weather window and come back to Glencoe so in the meantime we headed to the West coast to visit the remotest pub in Britain. This is the Old Forge in Inverie and there are only two ways to get there, either on foot via a 24km hike from Kinloch Hourn, which is itself a 22 mile drive down a single track road or via boat. We opted to take the easier route and took the 30 minute ferry across from Mallaig.

The ferry journey was very calm which was good and we even saw dolphins on the way over to Inverie. There isn’t much in the village other than the pub, a café, a small shop and a hostel but there is plenty of walking to work up an appetite or thirst before hitting the pub or café, just make sure you don’t miss the last boat back!

On the way back from Mallaig we parked up at a small car park by a very swollen river which was just a few Km’s away from the Glenfinnan viaduct. I decided to walk to the viaduct, which is very popular as it was featured in Harry Potter. This was a mistake as the path was flooded and I had to jump and climb onto a bridge which was cut off by flood water. Needless to say I returned to the camper with two very soggy feet.

The viaduct is quite impressive though. We also had our closet encounter so far with Red Deer who we’d heard rutting most evenings at our park-ups but rarely spotted them, however this time they were grazing right by our camper. The downside of the spot though was that we were woken at 5am because someone had parked their camper blocking the road and the forestry trucks couldn’t get through. Their reaction, understandably, was to blast their horns until he moved.

At this point we were expecting to head down to Mull but we discovered that the Mull car rally was going on so the ferries were fully booked and the island would be very busy. So, with a weather window opening, we decided to head back to Glencoe.

We drove back through Fort William and down to Glencoe where we spent a few nights wild camping in the park. I think the parking here would be horrendous in the summer but in the off season we managed to park up at all the trail heads and always managed to find somewhere for the night without a problem.

The views that I got on the Buachaille Etive Beag hike were amazing I just wish I could have seen them all. It was really a story of two halves as one of the peaks was completely covered in cloud when I got to the top while the second was completely clear, almost like two different days.

The next day I hiked up to the Secret Valley which is a hanging valley between two peaks where the local clan used to keep cows to be safe from the English. How they got them up here I don’t know though as the route up was pretty steep and a bit of a clamber in some places.

As well as the hiking we drove through the Glencoe valley and stopped off for the classic waterfall picture of Buchaille Etive Mor.

The thing that surprised us most was that whatever the weather there seemed to be couples dressed in their wedding gear having their photos taken with the mountains as a backdrop. From what I saw the poor women looked freezing in their wedding dresses.

After enjoying a few days in this area we left Glencoe and drove back past Fort William (where we purchased some much needed wellies!) heading for Lochaline, the shortest ferry crossing to Mull. On the way we stopped off to investigate the ruins of a castle on an island – accessed via a sand bar at low tide. Castle Tioram was built in the 12^th century and controlled access to Loch Shiel from the sea. It was the traditional seat of the Clan Ruaidhri.

We were definitely taking the road less travelled. I suspect that most visitors take the ferry from Oban across to Mull but the drive down to Lochaline is beautiful and a road trip in itself with some lovely loch-side park-ups for the night. There are one or two tight turns and approximately half way down it becomes a single track road but there are plenty of passing spaces which are clearly signposted.

Now that the rally was safely over and most people had left we finally made across to the beautiful Isle of Mull, the 2^nd largest of the Inner Hebrides at 875 km². This is twice the size of Arran but with fewer people living there.

Our first port of call on the island was Duart Castle, which is a single tower on a headland, the seat of the MacDonald Clan. If you are not a MacDonald it’s a castle that you can easily skip as there is not too much to see inside. However on the estate of the castle we did see our first Highland Cows or Hairy Coos as the Scots call them and we did fall in love with these beautiful beasts.

After a night in the mountains in the interior of Mull we headed to the Southwest corner of the island where the well known Fidden Farm Campsite has a great winter setup with a beach-side Aire for only £10/ night. We had visions of getting our kayak out here and maybe even going for a swim but it wasn’t quite warm enough for us Southern Softies so instead we opted for walking the beautiful shoreline.

We used this campsite as our base for visiting the Island of Iona and to take a boat trip to Staffa Island.

Iona is referred to as the “Cradle of Christianity” in Scotland as in the year 563, St Columba came from Ireland and established a monastery here. The graveyard in the grounds of the Abbey allegedly has 48 early kings of Scotland buried there.

It is possible to visit the Abbey and attached Nunnery that are on the site of the original monastery and the audio guide is actually very good.

The island of Iona has a very laidback feel, partly because vehicles are banned but also perhaps because of the time of year we were there. As well as being educational, it really does make a lovely day trip as there are some pretty walks and gorgeous beaches to visit. We took our bikes across on the ferry and had a great day leisurely cycling and walking around. There are also some small shops and cafes for much needed baked goods and refreshments.

The next day we headed out to visit the nature reserve, Staffa Island. In the summer it is home to Puffins but we were there well after Puffin season. However we did get to see plenty of very cute seals basking on the rocks.

Perhaps the biggest draw of the island however is Fingal’s Cave. The cave is actually named after the hero of an 18^th century poem in which the cave is one end of a bridge that an Irish giant built so he could cross over the water and fight his Scottish rival. Back in reality the cave is reminiscent of the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland as it is formed by the same hexagonal basalt columns. It was a good trip, the only downside was that we didn’t really have long enough on the island to have a good walk around and visit the cave, it all felt a bit rushed.

After leaving this corner of Mull we drove up the West coast and spent a rainy day at Eas Fors waterfall. A beautiful multi-tiered waterfall that eventually cascades down the cliffs into the sea.

In the North of the island I went on a hike to Langamull Beach. The hike to the beach went very well but in trying to loop back I decided to take what I thought would be a shortcut but ended up having to hack through forestry to get round a high deer fence – eventually finding a lower bit that I could climb over. Unfortunately I then had to climb down a cliff into a bog and hack through the bog to re-find the path. This was one of my famous shortcuts that made life so much harder than it should have been. I got back to the camper with my legs and arms cut to shreds by brambles and exhausted from spending a good 45 minutes fighting with the bog.

In the North of the island is the capital of Mull, Tobermory. This is a colourful town with the islands main supermarket and what seemed like a lot of bakeries which of course we couldn’t resist as well as some delicious fish and chips – we definitely need to diet after this trip !

Just next to the town is Aros Park which has some nice riverside walks with a number of smallish waterfalls and we managed to find a spot to spend the night nearby. We absolutely loved Mull, it has such a laid back vibe with stunning scenery much like our experience in Arran, but it was time to move on again, so the following day we headed back to Fishnish and boarded the ferry to Lochaline to do that stunning drive once again in reverse.

We drove back to Fort William – it seems all roads in this part of Scotland really do lead there – and then headed North for our visit to the infamous Isle of Skye.