On the water

It was extremely tough to choose a blip today. We’ve had a day out to remember, on the water with Turus Mara. The trip - from Ulva Ferry, to Staffa, to Lunga in the Treshnish Isles, and then back around the rest of the Treshnish Isles to Ulva Ferry - is brilliant in and of itself, but on a day of unbroken sunshine it was extraordinary. Despite wearing a hat and sunglasses all day (including in Fingal’s Cave, which somewhat reduced the visibility…), I feel pretty much like a cooked goose. Highlights are hard to pinpoint from a day of too many photographs, but obviously being inside Fingal’s Cave is an n=1, seeing puffins always a joy, and the overwhelming number of seabirds nesting on the sea stack on Lunga was just extraordinary (and smelly). I’ve therefore added extras of Fingal’s Cave and of the mass of seabirds on Dun Cruit. Today will certainly live long in the memory. It was also curious, because we were relatively packed into the boat… 26, I think. I haven’t been that close to that many people for a very long time. In terms of the structure of the trip, it is very well designed. Perhaps the playing of Mendelssohn over the boat’s speakers as we viewed the cave before landing was slightly too much. 

Luckily, it isn’t too far from Ulva Ferry back to the cottage. I wouldn’t have fancied a longer drive after that much sunshine. We sat out for a beer (having slaked our thirst on cordial), and we’ve managed to put together a venison casserole which was not too bad, but which we were both struggling to eat because we are so tired.

There are still another two hours of sunshine on Mull to go (and there were at least a couple before we got up…). I may not see them all. This cottage has a conservatory, and we’ve already resorted to putting the blinds down. I’ve retreated into the much cooler and darker sitting room to do my blip.