From Inverie to Rum with Kinloch Castle and on to Tobermory
Sleep beyond 7am was not really an option for most of us this morning. The rumble of the starting of our ships engine and bow thrusters told us another day was under way. Rain squalls rushed across the sky as we made our way out of Loch Nevis and headed west across the sea to Rum. Who would have guessed how pleasant the weather would turn out by the time our ship, Lord of the Glens was tying up along side the pier at Kinloch on the East side of the Island. We were blessed with blue sky, warm sunshine and hardly a midge to be seen as we walked along the shore side road to the remarkable Kinloch castle.
George Bullough, the eccentric son of John Bullough, a wealthy Lancastrian industrialist had the castle built when he was twenty-one in 1900-02 as holiday home. Red sandstone from Arran was used to construct the walls and soil from Ayrshire was imported for the garden. The interior includes extraordinary features for the time such as double glazing, air conditioning and a Jacuzzi bath. The guided tour of this fantastic building left many of us speechless.
The Island of Rum now belongs to Scottish National Heritage, and they have the responsibility of managing the island and protecting the wildlife, not the castle. The mountain landscape of this island is exceptionally beautiful as are the names of the lofty peaks that were named by the Vikings; names such as Hallival, Askival, and Trallval. One-hundred-thousand pairs of Manx shearwaters nest amongst the islands mountaintops. The Manx shearwater is a pelagic bird of the oceans that only comes ashore to breed, spending much of its life feeding out at sea as far away as South America. Golden eagles and sea eagles also breed on the island along with many other relatively rare birds.
At noon we were all back on Lord of the Glens and heading out from Loch Scresort. Our next destination was Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. As the weather was so fine and the sea relatively calm we were able to make a passage through the channel between the Island of Eigg and Rum before turning to the east to pass between Eigg and Muck. Along the way occasional sightings of the Manx shearwaters and gannets feeding added to our enjoyment. We also passed some splendid sailing boats that were obviously enjoying the fine sailing conditions. Our journey from the ‘small isles’ took us towards the most westerly point of the mainland, Ardnamurchan and on into the Sound of Mull to Tobermory. The West Coast was looking at its finest in the bright afternoon sunshine.
The bustling village of Tobermory with all its interesting shops, all the boats coming and going and the opportunity for a panoramic walk round the bay must make this one of the highlights of our journey across Scotland, especially when seen in sunshine as it was this afternoon. Fine beer and oysters at one of the many pubs along the waterfront enhanced the experience still further for some of our guests.
