Saturday 25 June 2022

Iona, June, Day 1.

We enjoyed a comfortable night at Maridon House and started the day with an excellent full English.  We had plenty of time for packing and reorganising the car before popping to Tesco's for petrol and then driving down to the ferry terminal.  It wasn't long before the ferry arrived and unloaded and we were being boarded.  The weather was bleak with rain in the air as we left Oban but the views were splendid.  As we rounded the northern tip of Karrera Island we gained vistas up the sound of Mull with Lismore lighthouse on one side and Duart castle on the other and the Munro of Ben More dominating the island. Passing Karrera was happily nostalgic for me with fond memories of scuba diving visits here in 1975 and 1976 - half a life time ago. In the Sound of Mull we enjoyed sightings of gannet and guillemot and a group of common seals basking on a reef.  As views of Craignure opened up we could see our campsite from 2015, more happy memories.
Off the ferry we were soon driving along the single track road up into Glen More, becoming accustomed to the regular use of passing places once more.  We stopped briefly at the summit of the pass hoping for views of raptors but were disappointed.  Continuing down into the Glen we soon reached the shores of Loch Scridain - otter territory, but no luck.  Otter remains a work in progress but hopefully the situation will be resolved during the next ten days.  Arriving at Fionnphort we drove down to the ferry terminal to unload our bags only to find that there was somewhat of a panic.  We hadn't realised that the wind had got up so much that it was near gale force and the ferry that was in was to be last one.  It was suddenly a mad dash to get the bags out, the car sorted and moved back up the road to the free carpark and a dash back down the hill and onto the ferry just as it left.  We quickly realised the reason for the panic: the ferry was rolling badly and it was nearly impossible to stand up.  I managed to scramble up on to the upper deck to grab a few photos only to discover that one of my bags containing camera gear seemed to have gone missing.  Fortunately it was hidden behind a larger case.  Once on the other side of the sound getting off the ferry dry shod was the biggest problem.
Eventually all of our group, complete with bags convened at the Bishop's House for our intial briefing.  Having settled into our rooms a small group of us opted to walk up the steep little hill of Dun I, the highest point on the island.  The views were fabulous and the light wonderful.  Unfortunately the gale made it difficult to stand up, never mind take photos.  Still we had seen a small flock of twite on the way up which was special.  The Bishop's House is situated just behind the ancient St Mary's Abbey which we passed on the way back. 
I look forward now to a week of relaxation, meditation, bird watching and photography, but first an early night.
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