Mull in October
Come and stay on Mull in October, and experience all the island has to offer as it begins to approach the winter. It is a great month – the weather can be wonderful encouraging you out walking and exploring. Or it can be wet and wild.. when you hope you remember your waterproofs!
Night skies
Solar activity which determines the Aurora comes in a 12 year cycle. This winter is allegedly ‘solar maximum’. This means an increased chance of experiencing the Aurora – though of course nothing is ever guaranteed! Since 2016 I have recorded every time I see/photograph the Aurora. I use the Glendale Skye Auroras app. From these records I can see that I have seen or photographed the Aurora 40 times so far in 2024. As opposed to 2016 when I only recorded 29 experiences. Below is a photograph I took here at Treshnish, over the rooves of Shieling and Studio. It was a very strong display, this photograph was taken looking west, rather than north.
I have shared more aurora photographs on our farm blog – the first time I really experienced it was again – Mull in October – in 2013! An amazing night when I stood in the moonlight catching the aurora on camera, and listening to the stags roaring on the hill.
The rut
I took this photograph of a Red deer hind (with a 2 year old young stag behind) in late October. The roaring is over by now, but there are still lots of deer on the move. We were lucky that these 2 and the hinds and calves on the other side of the road didn’t run off. They stood looking at us looking at them until we needed to drive away. Magical!
What’s open
There is still a main season and an out of season on Mull. October is the bridge between the 2 seasons! The Rally is in the middle of the month and is a busy weekend for the pubs and Tobermory. Treshnish is far enough away to be relatively unaffected by all of that. Except of course the road is closed at certain times. I quite like it when the road is closed – it is like the very rare occasions when we get snowed in!
After the rally cafes and restaurants across the island start closing for winter, though there are always places open in Tobermory. Look out for Tobermory Bakery, Tobermory Chocolate, the Mishnish Hotel, Macgochans, and the Western Isles Hotel. We are lucky to have the Bellachroy in Dervaig which opens some nights a week for meals. Also the Spicy Sprout does occasional delicious takeaways from the village hall.
