A day out in the fresh air from Mull

We can’t recommend highly enough a boat trip we went on to see Staffa and the Treshnish Isles.

The day dawned bright and beautiful – the sun was out and the forecast was for a sunny day. Nevertheless with a boat trip in store we layered up and set off to Ulva Ferry. 15 or so of us boarded the Hoy Lass for Staffa and the Treshnish Isles.

Our captain was a man of some wit with quips like “Staffa was formed 65 million years ago, one windy Wednesday in October”.

We headed out to sea to Staffa and chatted during the trip to Amy. Amy was a traveller from Cheltenham whose passion was hill walking (and who had done a Bath Treasure Trail). 

Staffa was amazing – Fingal’s Cave is there.  The leaflet said “Staffa from the Norse meaning ‘pillar island’ is a unique geological phenomenon, recognised as one of the wonders of the natural world”. The leaflet suggested that when you walked in to the natural cathedral you should imagine you can hear the first few bars of Mendelssohn’s Overture.  Obligingly the captain played it when he steered the boat into the opening of the cave.

When we walked into it later on we were too busy hanging onto the handrail to listen the sounds in the cave.

It was gorgeous on Staffa. We sat on the rocks eating our picnic lunch in the sunshine.

After half an hour or so we re-boarded the boat and set off for the Treshnish Isles – another half an hour away.

There were some seals at the first island, but for some reason the captain didn’t want to land there. Instead he picked up a pontoon from nearby and towed it to another island. There he and his mate expertly attached it to the rocks and we clambered off the boat and onto the rocks to watch the seals and their pups.

One pup in particular played for ages to the camera and made the most amazing noises. It was just like a small child moaning about being left on their own whilst Mum and Dad bobbed about in the sea watching us.

We took lots of photos of seals. The ‘new’ camera really came into its own enabling some great close ups.  And still the sun shone.

All too soon we left the islands behind and headed back to Mull arriving back at the jetty at 4.00pm. A thoroughly enjoyable day out in the fresh air. We would definitely do it again.

There are also two Treasure Trails in Mull both of which we did whilst we were staying on the island.