Summer days out
We don’t have much chance in the summer to take days off but that makes them all the more special. I thought I would share some of them with you. The two standouts are the Salen Show (always) and a special boat trip in awful dreich weather.
The Salen Show
The Salen Show takes place once a year in August. It is a highlight of the farming calendar. Definitely a day off!
Somerset was not showing our own sheep this year, but he was helping a friend with her Blackface. She went home with some notable prizes! I entered some eggs and a basket of flowers and vegetables in the Produce Tent. The eggs didn’t get a prize but we got a 2nd for the basket. The contents were auctioned off at the end of the day.
There are lots of stands to visit, and stalls selling delicious island produce. The Produce tent is always worth a look, and for families staying in the cottages this can be a lovely thing to take part in. The Salen Show Facebook page has details of the different entries, and the children’s creativity is always wonderful.
A special boat trip
We were very lucky to have been invited on a boat trip at the end of July, booked months in advance with the Oban based company called Coastal Connection. The lottery of booking far in advance that you have no idea what the weather might do on the day. But Coastal Connection has 2 boats, taking a maximum of 12 a trip, so they get very booked up. The day of our trip dawned. It was dreich, damp and with very poor visibility. We met the boat in Tobermory and were soon on our way.
The Isle of Coll
First we went to Arinagour. This is the village on the Isle of Coll, which we look towards every day from Treshnish. I had hoped for a clear view of home from there, but the low cloud and poor visibility meant we almost had to guess where it was. Arinagour was charming, and we had a walk around the village – some of our group went to the hotel for a pint, others went to the cafe for coffee. It felt lovely and quiet, walking and not being in a car. And delightfully different to Mull!
To the Cairns of Coll
Once back on the boat, we left the safe anchorage of Arinagour and the boat turned towards the northern end of the island. It was raining hard, and quite bouncy. Strange not being able to see our next destination as the visibility was pretty poor. We were aiming for the Cairns of Coll, a scattering of islets which make up the distinctive ‘island’ we look at from Treshnish. It looks like a solid island, but it is actually lots of small ones including Eilean Mhor, the big island. Struan our skipper tied the boat up to some rocks and we all clambered up the seaweed covered rocks on to damp ‘dry land’.
A forest of Wild angelica breaks the skyline of every contour, with cloudy turquoise water slowly lapping over the almost golden shell sand beaches. Seaweed covered rocks disappearing into the sea towards other nameless islets. It was almost more magical in the mist. Somerset swam.
Turning for home
Once back on the boat we picnicked and absorbed the peacefulness of the place, quiet but for noisy Arctic terns swooping and diving.
Struan was alerted by other boats that a Whale had been seen near Ardmore Point and more activity further north. So we headed in that direction. Again we couldn’t see much. Eventually we turned and veered back towards Mull. We saw a solitary Minke whale at some distance. As we got closer, the visibility cleared. Another boat seemed to have altered course so we went towards them, and found ourselves in a sea of Bottlenose dolphins. They were so close, very difficult to photograph but so exciting to see.
The weather hadn’t been great, but it was still a totally wonderful day, and one I would recommend. If you get enough people together to fill the boat, Coastal Connection doesn’t have to be costly. And you can choose where you go.
But for couples or smaller groups, you can experience the same level of magic on one of the more scheduled boat trips, like with Sea Life Surveys or Turus Mara, going to Lunga or Staffa.
