Scotland. November 2006
Even though winter seemed to be setting in, we impulsively
decided to go to Scotland on the bike. The plan was to visit friends Simon &
Jetta in the borders near Lockerbie and then ride up to the Isle of Mull off the
North West coast.
To get to Mull from Lockerbie we had to go through Glasgow, along the length of
Loch Lomond, through the Trossachs, up onto the spectacular Rannoch Moor and
through the Grampian Mountains to Fort William. From there it was single track
road for mile after mile to catch the ferry at Lochaline over to Mull. The whole
journey was breathtaking, Scotland is totally gorgeous.
On Mull we managed to see two Golden Eagles soaring above us on the brow of a
hill and two White-Tailed Eagles flying over a sea loch. Other new sightings for
us included red throated diver, goosander and goldeneye.
Simon & Jettas house. There are chickens and ducks in the garden and sheep
and cows in the surrounding fields. The place seems a long way from anywhere,
which is a very nice feeling!
Jetta took us to a Tibetan temple north of their house about 20 miles.
Here's the temple itself. The inside was very beautiful with very intricate
paintings and lots of religious artefacts, but photography was not allowed.
A tree full of prayers in the temple grounds.
We took a walk near the house and came across the local form of deterrent against
crows. It was a very macabre sight as the bodies of the dead crows had fallen
from the wings and decomposed on the grass.
While looking at a ring of standing stones we came across these dusky
puffballs.
We also went for a short walk with Jetta along the coast south of Dumfries. It
was a great piece of coastline, but we only had time to see a small part of it.
We said goodbye to Simon & Jetta (and Pru the dog) but arranged to stay for
the night on the way home from Mull.
The ferry only took about 15 minutes and the crossing was very calm.
This is the famous village of Tobermory on Mull where we stayed. The childrens
programme 'Balamory' is filmed here.
This is the view from our room and the reason why we chose to stay in this
particular room.
This was the area where we saw the golden eagles.
Ben Nevis with snow on top. Below it is the town of Fort William.