Scotland Part 4: Tobermory, Isle of Mull & Exploring Oban

Tobermory, Isle of Mull

Just off the Western coast of Scotland on the isle of Mull sits the postcard-perfect fishing village of Tobermory. It's brightly colored houses are reflected in blue-gray waters. 

If you're curious how I got here, see my last post. It involved various modes of transportation that my 4-year old son finds thrilling beyond anything.

 Along this lovely seafront, you will find all of the components of a charming seaside village: churches, shops, bakeries/cafes, a bookstore, an artist's studio, a couple of inns, as well as a famous ginger cat (apparently---I unfortunately did not see him.)

I browsed this lovely street for a little while, but soon set out to explore the countryside. The land behind this front row of houses juts up immediately into a steep hill where the rest of the village is located. I scrambled up a path to get to this second level and started walking back a country road.

I wanted to wander for a little while and see where the road might lead, to see what charming surprises might lay ahead. I definitely like to have a plan in general, but I love to leave space for discovery and surprises along the way.

I followed the road past farms and rolling hills, stone walls and gurgling streams. This was one of the most incredible and peaceful afternoons, contemplating the beauty around me, stopping to examine the plants and ferns growing along the road.

It was absolutely peaceful and still. Only a couple of cars passed me on the road that quiet afternoon.

After walking about 15 or 20 minutes, I came across the Isle of Mull Cheese Shop.

Of course I turned down the lane!

 After more beautiful views and moss-covered stone walls, I arrived.

After being greeted by the family dog on my way in, I stepped into the shop for some local cheese and a delicious scone.

The interior of the shop is a beautiful conservatory with a grape vine growing inside it!

The views across the countryside make this the perfect place to stop for a cup of tea or coffee. Unfortunately I did not have time to linger. A sign indicated that Glengorm castle was just a few more miles down the road. I would have loved to continue on to it, but I knew I wouldn't make it back for the 5pm ferry (this was October, after all). Next time I would definitely plan to spend the night on the Isle of Mull so I can explore more thoroughly!

As I sat by the harbor in Tobermory waiting for my bus, I watched the fishing boats come in for the evening and then heard the sound of bagpipes playing from somewhere over the hill---a sweet, haunting melody that blended with the sounds of water lapping on the shore and seagulls calling overhead. It was in incredibly moment! And here's a video with very poor sound quality to prove it. :-)

My heart was full. It was a stunningly beautiful, peaceful, fulfilling moment of the trip. A perfect end to this perfect day.

But this perfect day was not over yet!

As we pulled away from the Isle of Mull on the ferry, I realized we were leaving just as the sun was setting!

The Isle of Mull at sunset.

We passed the castle of Duarte again, this time silhouetted in the sunset.

Oban

Arriving in Oban at Dusk

The last ferry heading out for the evening

 As I mentioned in the last post, my day had begun with a 3.5 hour train ride, followed by a 45 minute ferry and an hour-long bus ride. The walk around Tobermory helped tremendously with the motion & sea sickness I had been feeling. Unfortunately, the hour bus ride returning to Craignure left me feeling quite sure I would not make the ferry ride without incident. Thankfully a little shop had wristbands for seasickness and I survived the ferry ride back.

When I arrived in Oban, I was nauseous and extremely hungry. Fortunately, a seaside town is the perfect place to find the freshest fish and chips.

Oban Fish and Chips was highly rated on Google, full of people and it did not disappoint. This was the best fish and chips I had in Scotland (also the only ones! :-)). Along with some delicious Ginger Beer, the meal went a long way towards calming my stomach.

The shop was only a few minutes walk to Greencourt Guesthouse, where I was staying the night. I highly recommend this place. I had a very comfortable, clean, well-appointed room and was served a delicious breakfast the next morning. The owners are very lovely people as well. They kindly accommodated my uncertain arrival time.

The view at breakfast.

Greencourt Guesthouse

I was excited to meet my friend Rachel as she was coming up from Glasgow on the train. We started our exploration of Oban with a seafood lunch.

This little shack was highly recommended. When you are sitting a few feet from where your food just came from and some seaweed is still hanging on to your oyster shell, you know it's fresh!

Steamed mussels, crab cake and fresh raw oysters. Yum!

Well-fueled for our adventures to come, we started walking out towards the edge of town.

Funny story. Rachel told me how several years before she had seen an overgrown castle outside of Oban.

She had climbed up the hill to explore it, as it seemed completely abandoned and overgrown. As we walked out of town this time towards the castle, we  noticed a wide carriage trail head leading up the hill.

So instead of an overgrown, abandoned castle, we came across a castle and house with public tours, a well-curated museum with a small entrance fee, which we were happy to pay.

One of many evocative views of the castle tower that can be seen as we walked up the carriage trail. As it was the weekend right before Halloween, the gloomy weather, moss-covered trees and medieval castle gave off exactly the right mood for the day!

Dunollie Castle is owned by the Clan McDougall.

A view of the main house, built in 1745.

The main house, still partly used by the family today.

The oldest section of the main house included the kitchens--the long 1-story wing on the left---and the original family living quarters in the 2-story section. Both of these sections are now a small museum open to the public.

 The tour guides were very engaging and knowledgeable. It even turned out that the docent answering our questions about the 15th century kitchen-now-museum was none other than the son of the current clan chief, who---by the way---happens to be his mother! Awesome. :-)

Family kitchen tools from across the years. The kitchens were set up as they might have looked in the Victorian times.

Family Recipes and a clever way to make a shopping list! I imagine something like that to be very useful for me even now. You just flip the tab to indicate that an item is needed.

The last part of the tour was a visit to the old castle tower. Up close, the need for restoration clearly visible.

The tower and surrounding ruins---probably from around the 13th century---were an incredible testament to the engineering and building expertise of medieval Scotland. The tour guide explained the ingenious process they used for building this massive tower. Unfortunately, I can't really remember what he said... :-(

This photo, taken inside the tower illustrates the incredible thickness of the walls---around 10 feet thick!! The window openings were smaller on the outside and gradually larger on the inside. This gave protection to the archers defending the castle

The castle courtyard was in the process of being excavated. In medieval times, this view would not have been here as walls would have completely surrounded this center section.

Up close, this tower is massive. It was impossible for me to get the entire tower in the frame of my photo when I was standing so close to it. The guide mentioned that some of the stone missing from the corner was because over the years stones from the castle were taken and used to build other things around town. "Stone Depot" for the Georgians & Victorians, I guess!?!

The doorway to enter the castle grounds.

The views across the harbor were beautiful. While the day was mostly overcast, a shaft of sunlight had broken through and was shining down on the Isle of Mull.

The estate grounds and gardens were not in pristine condition, but it appeared they were working on restoring them. The Victorians had planted an arboretum that the family was just beginning to restore. Here you can see a Redwood specimen tree towering above the others. I really enjoyed this semi-wild garden. Clearly it was not pruned and sculpted, yet it felt entirely in keeping with the spirit of the place.

This incredible grove of trees has been transformed into a picnic area.

A Willow Hall. This pavilion is created entirely by bending young willow branches and weaving them together. A beautiful work-in-progress.

Beyond the lawns and gardens, pasture land for sheep and cows stretched up the hill.

A giant bird in Scotland? No, just a sculpture of what appears to be a crow on top of a tree stump. This was certainly perfect Halloween decor!

After this charming tour of Dunollie Castle, we caught an evening train back to Glasgow.

If you've made it to the end of this super-long post, congratulations! :-) I'm looking forward to sharing more beautiful views and crumbling castles from St. Andrews, Scotland.

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