ISLAND HOPPING Day - Nine
After another happy smiley breakfast, accompanied with a bit more poetry, the car was packed and driven less than 1/2 a mile down to near the harbour.
We were booked on a Staffa Tours trip out to the Isle of Lunga and then out to the Isle of Staffa.
So I am on day nine, with 16 islands done, only need two more, things are looking good.
We grabbed some fresh sea food sandwiches from the little stall at Fionnphort, to keep us going during the day. After a short wait while they brought the boats in, and sorted out who was on which boat, one was only going out to Staffa, we set off.
It was a bright sunny day, with showers forecast and quite a strong north westerly wind, which made for interesting sea conditions. It was not a uncomfortable trip out though, the boats are very good, purpose built for the job, and handled very nicely. To be honest I think it added to the sense of adventure, if it had been flat calm, you could have been on a lake somewhere and not headed out into the Atlantic.
After about 50 minutes we reached Lunga, and now we saw the clever bit. There is no beach or pier by which to land on to Lunga, so Staffa Tours have come up with an ingenious solution. Moored off shore is a long floating pontoon, the boat moors along side this, which is much longer than the boat. A crew man then releases the pontoon from the bouys it is attached too, then the boat sails towards the rocks on shore. The pontoon extends quite away in front of the boat and they then drive the pontoon on to the rocks, and make a temporary path on to the island. You get off the boat, make your way across the pontoon and then a brief scramble over the rocks and you are on Lunga. All very clever, the boat pulls away and goes and sits in a sheltered area till it is time to pick us up again.
Now I better explain which Isle of Lunga I am on, as there are two. One is over to the east, nearer to the Isles of Seil, Luing, and Easdale, which I have visited earlier in this trip. Like them, that Lunga is comprised mainly of Slate.
This is the other one, in the Treshnish Isles, off the west coast of the Isle of Mull. Formed through volcanic activity, it looks beautiful sitting into the lovely clear waters. It has been described in the past as ' a green jewel in a peacock sea'.
There are many rare plants out here, Grey Seals are in the seas around, ( yes, we spotted them), and it is a breeding place for Storm-Petrels, Kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters, Guillemots and Razorbills. However its main attraction is the 17,000 pairs of Puffins here. They are so tame, that if you sit down on the cliff tops, they will come so close you could almost touch them. Apparently they are quite happy with our close presence, because with us watching and photographing them at close quarters, it keeps aerial predators away, and allows the Puffins to go about their business in safety. The Wild Rabbits are also very confiding, and sit quite happily just feet away. Puffins nest in burrows, and it was quite interesting watching them grab a large a beak full of grass and waddle off, then pop down a hole to make their nests.
All too soon it was time to go, returned to the boat and headed off to Staffa. The wind had got up and so had the seas, but it was fun. Even more so, hanging off the back of the boat, trying to get a shot of another of another of their tour boats that had come round from Tobermory. As we went down, they shot up, then we would roll to the left as they surfed to the right, needless to say, I got many shots of the waves, or the sky or half a boat.
The Isle of Staffa is famous for its Basalt columns, formed by volcanic activity. You may be familiar with the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, which has similar formations. Its other attraction is Fingal's Cave, a large sea cave, 60 feet high, formed in the basalt columns.
It was after visiting here, that Mendelssohn wrote his Hebrides Overture.
Unfortunately, despite getting us in really close to the entrance to the cave, the crew said it would be impossible to actually land on Staffa today. Oh well, another reason to return.
After the efforts to get out here, I decided to call this Half an Island.
We then headed back towards Iona, and as it was a nice day apart from the wind, I got off the boat here to have another look around. I would get the ferry back to Mull later.
Within minutes of landing, I heard Corncrakes. I heard three, then spotted one and got some shots. I watched for a while and several birders and photographers turned up. One had a huge lens, and when I pointed out the bird in the undergrowth, he declared it was too far away for his lens, despite the fact I was managing to get reasonable shots with my much smaller lens. They all drifted away, and then the Corncrake began to move, I followed its progress from the side of the field, getting some nice shots, then it popped up on to a rock, spread its wings in a courtship display. This is interesting I thought, and continued clicking away, next thing I knew it got off the rock, went over to another Corncrake I had not seen by the side of the rock and promptly mated with her. I could not believe what I had just seen. Corncrakes are rare, very secretive, to see one is hard, to see two together even rarer, and to actually see them mate almost unbelievable. I also managed to get some shots of them doing so, but the vegetation is in the way a bit.
This is definitely one of the very high spots of the trip !!!
I think Mr Big Lens would have been sick, if he knew what he could have shot if he had stayed around for another ten minutes.
I had to leave Iona, got the ferry over to Fionnaphort and then had to make my way over to the other side of Mull, to go and look for a B&B in Tobermory.
All in all, a long day, but apart from the disappointment of not landing on Staffa, just one fabulous amazing day. After a day like this, you realise why you keep coming back time and time again to these wonderful Scottish Islands.
Islands Visited; Three & a Half
Total Visited; Seventeen & a Half
Ferries Used; Three
Total Used; Twenty Six
Ports Used; Three
Total Different: Twenty Four
To see the rest of todays shots just follow the links....
http://365project.org/markp/Alternatively/19-05-2015
To all who view, comment and Fav, a very big Thank You.
