Tobermory (or Balamory?)

Holiday Backblip - Day 5

Time to have a look at the east coast of Mull, which we'd rather neglected due to the delights of the west coast:-) A bit dull and misty again, but no rain and quite warm. Possible midge weather, we thought, but fortunately they never appeared!

We ambled along the shores of Loch Scridain and through the high roads of Glen More and stopped to take pictures of the Three Lochs, then headed in to Craignure where we had a tasty (and very reasonably-priced) lunch at a small cafe near the Post Office while watching the CalMac ferry coming in. As we drove north out of Craignure we were delighted to discover the only stretch of 2-lane road on the island, although it didn't last for long!

We passed the romantic ruins of Aros Castle perched on a rocky outcrop as we headed towards the bright lights of Tobermory, the island's main town and better known to young children as Balamory, after the TV show:-) Just as we arrived, we stopped off at Mull Pottery, so that I could buy the obligatory small jug to add to my collection! Parking at the harbour, I had the perfect view of the pretty painted houses that line the seafront here.

As we wandered into the town, we saw an exhibition of Free Trade clothes from Nepal and my husband couldn't resist buying a beautiful lined zip jumper, made of yak wool and sold by a delightful lady from Katmandu. As my husband has been to Katmandu, they had lots to chat about and she was thrilled to meet him! Trust him to come to Mull and buy a jumper from Nepal:-)

We loved all the little shops along the seafront and especially the Mull Ice Cream shop, where we felt obliged to try the produce! After a walk to The Pier to admire the Tobermory Lifeboat moored alongside and a quick visit to the only cashpoint we could find on the whole of Mull, it was time to make our way back down the east coast to Salen and then across the short road which separates the north and south of the island to continue our journey back to the cottage.

We didn't really give ourselves enough time to discover the points of interest along the north east coast, so we hope to return again one day.