16 May - Mull

Mull is a huge island (compared to Arran) and difficult to get around (also compared to Arran).

I set off to Tobermory and encountered another traffic jam.  In this case they closed off a section of road both ways and re-surfaced it. 

 

It is complicated as the backed up traffic blocks the road on single track roads so it can only back up in the passing places otherwise there is stalemate.

Tobermory is photogenic.

There are two levels and the views – and the gardens – on the upper level are a delight.

 

Browns Merchants sold hardware and whisky

The ferry to Kilchoan – more about that later

A good museum in Tobermory:

 

Geology of  Mull and its volcanoes (brown).  The black granite is quarried.  It was transported to London to build Blackfriars, Westminster Bridges, the Albert Memorial and Holborn Viaduct.

A toilet bowl recovered from the wreck of the paddle steamer SS Pelican which was being used as a coaling hulk when it sank in 1895.

A skirt lifter and how to use it.

 

For years our biscuits were kept in tins like this.

I remember the strap from my Primary school (for the girls, the boys had the cane)

Lunch on the pier

This may (or may not) be a sea eagle aka a white tailed eagle.

I roughed it again that night near to the Ulva Ferry, hoping to have a boat trip to the Treshnish Isles the following morning.