Day 22 – Mull, Staffa & Iona

Here’s our 10 hour day in a Nutshell:
Oban Ferry to Mull Island —> Mull Bus to end of island—>Mull Boat to Staffa Island—>Staffa Boat to Iona Island—>Iona Ferry to Mull —>Mull Bus to Mull Dock —>Mull Ferry to Oban. Needless to say we had a lot of transportation methods to get where we needed to go. We pre-booked all the transportation and had a string of tickets for each transfer.

By 9am, we were walking towards the Oban ferry building in city center. It was a very busy morning at the ferry terminal. With the break in the weather, everyone was excited to have some island sunshine. The ferry from Oban to Mull Island took 40 minutes. It was so nice to be able to sit on the ferry deck soaking up the sunshine instead of battling the rain.

We docked at Mull Harbor. The remnants of the old dock from the 1800s are still there. Boats used to pay 1 penny to enter the harbor and use the dock. Along the road were 6 busses. We were able to find our bus, but there were others who seemed clueless. It was an 80 minute bus ride to the other end of the island. Along the way, the bus driver narrated island fun facts. For example there are only 3000 residents on the island and with our bus load of people, we increased the population by 2% for the day. It was only 35 miles to our destination, but the island only has single track roads, so the going was slow. Our bus driver, Chris, was a master at taking his big bus down the small roads. We did hear a very loud thud at one point. A seagull had flown into the bus. Chris said, “Ahhh, No worries, we just grazed him. He’ll be fine.” 

When we arrived at the Mull’s small harbor, we got on a small boat bound for the Isle of Staffa. Staffa is known for 2 things, a large Puffin colony and Fingals Cave. 

Fingals Cave is much like the Giants Causeway in Northern Island. In fact, the 2 places are linked in mythology. The legend goes that Staffa was the end of a bridge that linked to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. The Scottish and Irish giants would taunt each other until they eventually destroyed the bridge. Seeing the puffins is more of a hit or miss. They only colonize at Staffa from June through August. Sometimes they are out to sea floating on the water and other times you can see them flying in and out of their burrows. We had no idea what to really expect with the puffins. 

When the boat tied up at Staffa 80% of the people herded their way towards Fingals Cave, jostling for position on the rope guide. There was a clear traffic jam between those going out and those returning. We chose not to participate in that nuttiness and sat on the bluff enjoying our picnic lunch.

Since we had seen the cave up close from the boat, we went to see the puffins first. It was a good hike up and down some muddy terrain. It was clear why the majority of the people go to the cave and not hike out to the puffins. 

The puffin experience was more than I could have imagined. We sat on the high bluffs while the puffins went on with their daily life. They were all around us…sometimes just 3 feet from my boots. We watched them cuddle, build their burrows, gather grass and twigs, waddle between burrows and fly in for some spectacular landings. They were absolutely delightful. We spent our entire allotted amount of time on Staffa with the puffins. I had never been so close to them. They communicate by making a noise that sounds like a man’s stomach growling. I could have spent an entire day sitting there with them. They are very communal. Puffins form long-term pair-bonds. The relationship between 2 puffins was very sweet…they were excellent examples of what makes a good marriage…teamwork with a lot of caring and sharing. When they are done breeding and their chicks have fledged, the colony leaves for the winter and stay out at sea, far from any coastlines. The fledglings will stay at sea for 3-4 years before returning to Staffa to breed.

We left Staffa way too soon in our opinion and boarded our boat bound for Iona. The entire reason I wanted to go to Iona is because of the Abbey. In the 800s, the Book of Kells was written and illustrated by 4 monks at this Abbey. When they completed the book containing the 4 Gospels, they sent it to Kells Abbey in Ireland for safe keeping since Iona was always under siege by many different groups, including the Vikings. I’ve seen the Book of Kells many times which is on display in Dublin, so to finally get to walk the Abbey corridors where it was created was perfect.

The boat driver said we had 2 hours on Iona. I wish we could have had that amount of time on Staffa. We deduced that they spend more time here because there is a cafe and craft shops where people can spend money and have lunch. We wondered the graveyard, nunnery and small chapel next door to the abbey. Supposedly Macbeth is buried in the cemetery. They think he is buried at the far left-hand side of the cemetery, but there is not official marker of his grave or real proof.

While waiting for the return Ferry from Iona to Mull, we enjoyed a little picnic snack on the beach. A local dog obsessed with fetching found Matt and nudged his deflated beach ball towards Matt to throw for him. Matt made a new friend. When it was time to leave, the dog came up to the dock with his ball trying to get any of the passengers queuing up to throw it for him. Once back on Mull after the ferry crossing, we found our driver, Chris, waiting for our return drive. I think everyone on the bus fell asleep during the long ride back to the main harbor. Every now and then we’d be woken up by Chris on the microphone sharing a new island fun fact. Then we all fell back asleep.

Final ferry crossing from Mull to Oban was nice. We had been going for almost 10 hours and the early evening ferry ride home was rather peaceful. Everyone on the ferry was quiet from their long day of activities. It had been a good day trip of island hopping.

 We popped into the little Chipper shop again from dinner before walking back to our B&B. I caved and had their Fish of the Day, but passed on the chips. Again, it was the best Fish n’ Chips (minus the chips) that I think I have ever had. This little shop blows away every place in Ireland and the rest of Scotland. We ate our dinner take-away on a bench overlooking the harbor. 

BTW, WiFi in Scotland SUCKS! WiFi in this B&B is beyond crappy and does not reach our room. Hence, the lack of blog postings.