Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: Wowbagger on 18 May, 2014, 07:30:38 pm
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Jan and I are going to Scotland on Thursday. We have the night of 22nd and 31st May in Edinburgh, but we are intending to spend the rest of the time, or at least, most of it, on Mull.
Anything special we should do/look out for? We are intending to camp, but will not be averse to some time in hostels/B & Bs, if to escape the weather or garner some electrons.
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Anything special we should do/look out for?
Midges?
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Anything special we should do/look out for?
Midges?
Too early, I hope!
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Sea Eagles.
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I'm off to Oban tomorrow ! I will probably be getting the ferry to Mull :D
I recall you've been to Tobermory before.
The campsite at Fionnphort / Fidden is a lovely spot and the trip over to Iona is worthwhile. There is a nice cafe (The Coffee Pot) at Salen. (they provided Swarfega when I turned up with filthy hands after a mechanical) Calgary beach is nice.
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+1 to the Fionnphort campsite.
You lucky gits.
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I'm pretty sure we had coffee in Salen before.
I'm just looking up where the shops are. And the pubs. Not to mention the campsites.
I have even found a weaving mill (Ardalanish) which will keep someone happy for a bit, especially if it's wet. Uisken camp site is nearby.
I have earmarked Fidden and Lochbuie for visits. We may well visit Iona, and possibly get the boat to Staffa if the weather is right.
There appear to be some very expensive restaurants: the Ninth Wave seems to be one to avoid. The Old Post Office in Lochbuie does home-made ready meals to take away. Tagine, beef or lamb stew with dumplings, curry, £6.50 for a double-serving... might go there. :P
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Using the Tobermory to Kilchoan and Lochaline to Fishnish ferries enables a scenic day circuit through Ardnamurchan and Morvern.
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The following is from a loooong time ago...
I did discover that its possible to get a bike from Lochbuie to Carsaig along the coast 'path'. Not recommended and I think it would be described as extreme COR, including lowering the bike down a 6' cliff face on a rope! The route by road is about 6 times the distance but takes only a quarter of the time.
Beware the motons Iona Ferry bus drivers running from Craignure to um... Iona.
Highland cattle DO own the road, but will get bored and wander off eventually.
Important one. Check where your water is coming from. The cottage we stayed in just had a pipe to the burn. My father got a bad attack of bacterial arthritis as a result.
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The camp site at Fidden (spelling) on the south western tip of the island was wonderful until the tail of an Atlantic hurricane blew in when I was there in Sept 2012. The site is practically on the dunes in the bay.
Riding the road round the west coast of Mull (B8035) is also recommended, Hilly, but less used than the main east coast road from Craginure (ferry port) to Tobermory.
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Train from Queen St to Oban has 6 dangly bike spaces. Remember to get in the correct coaches as the train splits mid journey.
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They were very clearly labelled "IONA FERRY".
Whether they were driven to Iona, or stopped at Fionnphort to let the passengers get on the ferry I know not.
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The nearest campsite to the Craignure ferry terminal is TheShielings. Just turn left out of the ferry terminal & follow the signs. My tent was £13. For £13:50 I could have had one of their permanently erected plastic tents, standing room, beds & electrickery.
I'm a masochist though...
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Anything special we should do/look out for?
Midges?
Too early, I hope!
Well you could be lucky...but I am in Glasgow this evening and the clegs are out in force...warm and humid just what they like, so the midges may not be long in coming. Stick to the coast and the sea breezes will keep them at bay.
Heading north tomorrow....away for a month, no hard and fast plans apart from including the Western Isles, and the Orkneys. Also lots of old mates to catch up with.
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Just returned from Mull.
The weather was shite!
Calgary bay is great as a camp or lunch stop, nice beach. There's a good restaurant heading north out of Calgary, great food. Ulva is fantastic, the boathouse was worth the ferry trip.
Otters are plentiful on loch na keal, one went past my tent at 6.00am on the pebble beach. It was twenty feet from me, not afraid at all, I was brewing a coffee!
You've got lots of bird life too, Stonechats, wheatears, eagles, pipits, curlews and hundreds of bloody cuckoos! They woke me up at 4.00 every morning and sang me to sleep every night.
Watch out for the TSL?? Construction vans, they need driver training on single track roads. Everyone drove very well except those mother fuckers. They are working in the mountains digging and banging all day and are everywhere.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5038/14208381852_65430d0c99_z.jpg) (http://flic.kr/p/nDxEUU)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5114/14210833865_6e43f4b644_z.jpg) (http://flic.kr/p/nDLeNZ)
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5276/14210743464_110f408bdb_z.jpg) (http://flic.kr/p/nDKLWm)
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You MUST visit the Fishnishpishdish. No, really, you must. :-X
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You MUST visit the Fishnishpishdish. No, really, you must. :-X
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There's a restaurant called the Mishdish in Tobermory. Is that what you mean? Why the :-X?
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You MUST visit the Fishnishpishdish. No, really, you must. :-X
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There's a restaurant called the Mishdish in Tobermory. Is that what you mean? Why the :-X?
The Fishnishpishdish is the caff at the ferry, a favourite of all Audaxers Ecosse. Pingu captured the essence of the warm hospitality:
"The welcome at the Fishnish Pishdish was as warm as ever - a locked door kept us waiting in the cold wind for the ferry"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_pingus/8647313649/in/set-72157633243688312 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/the_pingus/8647313649/in/set-72157633243688312)
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We are gathering things together. I have a choice of trowel. I asked Mrs. Wow to take her pick.
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Last time we went you could see from the odd drip/slop where some houses/shops in Tobermory had been painted [to look more Balamory], then the BBC crew had re-painted them back to 'normal'. Some of the colour juxtapositions there are still pretty startling!
Re: midges - take up pipe smoking....
+1 to Lochbuie and Calgary Bay
We had excellent fish wherever we ate out :thumbsup:
and Iona was worth the trip alone.
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The Ninth Wave is £40 for 4 courses. The menu looks good. Booking essential their signs say.
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Their website says £42 for 3 courses & chocolates and coffee.
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We are mostly packed. We could almost have gone for tonght's sleeper, but tomorrow's 1st class East Coast timetable tells me that we get free food and drink.
The yr.no website is very promising for next week - not especially warm (up to 17°C) but hardly any rain.
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Up and about. Aiming to catch the 9.06 from Southend Central - it works out about £9 cheaper than going from Prittewell. 11.30 from King's Cross, into Edinburgh for 4.15.
It seems that, coincidentally, Mrs. Wow's sister and her husband will be in Edinburgh this evening. We are hoping they arrive early enough for us to go for a meal with them.
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Don't forget the waterproofs & pack extra thermals! It's cool & damp at the moment!
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We've packed longs and are equipped for a mild winter's day. We also have an extra blanket to cover our sleeping bags. I've kept warm in a hard frost with that combination.
I think we might well follow you round, albeit at a more leisurely pace. We are considering staying at Lochbuie tomorrow night and Uisken on Saturday. There's a weaving place that does tours at 1pm daily and Jan wants to do that. Fidden on Monday, possibly.
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I can just see Mull and the peak of Ben More fading into the distance as I type....on the ferry to Barra. Very windy....the Minch will be fun. Mull looks terrific though, from here anyway.
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We'll give you a wave when we get there!
I have just finished my Rewards Points First Class lunch and am now enjoying a glass of a decent enough red. When I get my OBRC I reckon we might default to first class rail travel for longer distances. Jan's ticket was only a little over £60 and with drinks and lunch thrown in that's well worth the extra £20 or so over and above the second class fare.
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We have arrived at our B & B which we obtained through Airbnb. About a mile and a half from Waverley. I have just had a shower, Jan is in ad we speak. We have been trying to get in touch with Jan's sister, without success. The favourite for dinner is the Origano (sic) in Leith Walk, onle a short distance away.
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An intense shower of rain this morning but it's been brightening up all day. Blue skies :-)
Damn windy though!
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Have a lovely evening in the Burgh. Just cycled home from Edin to Sunny West Fife. :0) if I'd seen your post earlier I would have met you from the train with some fizz and shown you the sights before you headed to your b&b.
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The Origano was superb. Mrs. Wow was defeated by a garlic bread starter and half of a chichen salad. I had bruschetta crudo followed by a pizza named Vesuvio. It lived up to its name.
I love it when you are far enough north that it is still light at 10 pm. And tomorrow we will be further north and west, so it will be lighter later!
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We can see snow from the Glasgow-bound train. I think it is on the Lomond hills.
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We can see snow from the Glasgow-bound train. I think it is on the Lomond hills.
ITYM the hils by Loch Lomond? I'd be very surprised if there was any snow on The Lomond Hills (http://The Lomond Hills)
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OK, I naively assumed that they would be the Lomond hills, and that Ben of that name would be amongst them.
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Anything special we should do/look out for?
You can be among the first fare paying passengers on the new Edinburgh Trams. They go into passenger service at 5am on Saturday 31st May.
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We are now on the Craignure ferry and we have been chatting to a young couple with a small daughter who is being towed by an absolutely beautiful black Thorn with red Rohloff and Schmidt hubs. It is truly gorgeous.
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Just back from a wee tour of Machrihanish and Arran, and have the midge bites to prove that they are alive and well >:( Make sure you buy some Smidge (http://midgeforecast.co.uk/smidge/about-smidge).
Campsite at Fidden farm nr Fionnphort (http://www.coolcamping.co.uk/campsites/uk/scotland/scottish-isles/isle-of-mull/83-fidden-farm?search=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coolcamping.co.uk%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DIsle%2BOf%2BMull&index=1&count=2) and wild camping at Calgary Bay to be highly recommended as is a day on Ulva.
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Happy travels! I enjoyed my stay at Tomsleibhe bothy (http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/bothy-details.asp?bothy_id=72) a few years ago. The last few hundred yards or so to the bothy is a slow push, tho
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At Craignure tonight. Campsite busy but wifi reaches easily to our tent, which is about 10 yards from the high water mark. It's a bit breezy and cool, but I think the sun might be on us in a few minutes. The Ardnamurchan Peninsula is bathed beautiful sunshine.
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I'm in Tobermory, treating myself to a meal at Cafe Fish. It's fully booked so I'm sitting outside in a wooly hat and lowering the tone.... :-)
Calgary Bay campsite is a beautiful spot, but the coast road is a bit brutal! The sign says the tap water isn't drinkable...
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Things are not going perfectly at the moment. Mrs. Wow has a cold - not a stormer, but one which causes congestion. On the first night I got very little sleep because one of us was snoring so much and last night the poor dear couldn't get comfortable and kept waking me up. Add to that that I have lots of arthritic pain in my right shoulder and we make a right pair of old crocks.
On the brighter side, the weather h as been fine but with a refreshing northerly wind. Now for breakfast, shower, bit of laundry and then a potter downd to Lochbuie for a night. If tonight doesn't go well then I suspect we will be on the lookout for a B & B for a night or two, with little hope of getting one. This campsite is fully booked for the next couple of nights.
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Of you're desperate you could head up to Fishnish. Take the ferry to Lochaline and try the dive centre. They have 12 2 person rooms with bunk beds shower & toilet. Or the old postoffice (also from the dive centre) may have a room. Its a kind of rented house where divers rent the whole thing but there may be room if its free (especially mid week)
I'll post contact details.
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Lochaline Dive Centre
Lochaline, Morvern
Argyll PA80 5XT
Scotland, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1967 421627
Fax: 01967 421661
Skype: seaarch
Web: www.lochalinedivecentre.co.uk
Web: www.smartdiving.co.uk
Twitter: @divelochaline
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Hope she perks up so you can make the most of the sunny weather. Pop into a b&b for a night and have a good rest and feed up.
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Hope you both perk up. Sadly most of the B&Bs I've passed have had signs saying full.
SYHA in Tobermory ?
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The weather yesterday was perfect - warm and sunny. Last nigh t we suffered a very nasty midge attack while wild camping at Lochbuie. Currently having a reviving coffee at the Pennyghael Hotel. Heading for Bunessan / Fionnphort hopimg for a b & b but with the backup position of Fidden Farm.
We have seen plenty of cuckoos and a dipper
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We have seen plenty of cuckoos and a dipper
I found it very strange listening to cuckoos at turned 11.00pm at night, and it was still light!
What time is it now dark at night?
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Have resorted to B & Bs as Jan has reacted badly to midge bites. Trust her to have to answer a call of nature in the middle of a midge attack!
We had two nights at the Argyll Arms, Bunessan and are heading for Salen today. I went to Iona yesterday whilst Jan had a day off the bike. Fantastc weather yesterday and today. While on Iona I saw John Smith's grave and a pair of corncrakes.
Oh, and the coffee and cake is much better a few hundred yards further west than the Pennyghael hotel. I just had a scone that was stll hot from the oven, with home-made raspberry jam.
Coast road next!
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We have just booked two nights wt the Salen Hotel. I haven't seen a forecast for tomorrow but this trip has served to confirm my view that weather forcasts are rubbish this far from London.
Although it was very tough, especially for Jan, who is coughing a lot and suffering from the beastie bites, the coast road from Pennyghael to Salen is just stunning. The weather was gorgeous all day: even the ten minutes' warm rain, the edge of a thunderstorm over Ben More, that occurred about 7 miles from the end of the ride, was pleasant. Our choice of lunch stop was inspired because we spent the time sitting on our Helinox chairs watching a black throated/great northern diver (I am inclining to gnd after looking at piccies) and then an otter turned up. There was a moment when they may have been joined by the Fat Southern Bagger, so warm was the weather, but in the end I refrained.
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Waves at Baggers from approx 2 1/2 miles away.
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If you see a skinny American, with wife and three boys, say HI for me! My friends Clay and Frances are in Mull too.
Is there anybody at all left on the mainland ???
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Is there anybody at all left on the mainland ???
I expect the reserve midges are holding the fort.
I did say at Long Itch that there were going to be midges... There's always midges.
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This merely seves to demonstrate the extent to which TWKWSTA.
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If you see a skinny American, with wife and three boys, say HI for me! My friends Clay and Frances are in Mull too.
Is there anybody at all left on the mainland ???
That Farrage bloke says there's millions of Romanians here on the mainland, or something
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If you see a skinny American, with wife and three boys, say HI for me! My friends Clay and Frances are in Mull too.
Is there anybody at all left on the mainland ???
We have met some Americans, but not that fit that description.
Jan is coughing well, as well as suffering from The Wee Beastie Bites. We will have a day or two off the bike and potter into Craignure for Friday night and the tent again. Hopefully she will have recovered then. Possibly a bus into Tobermory today.
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Hope Jan gets better soon.
I seem to be suffering from lack of Mojo at the moment & can't decide where to go or what to do next!
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Make the most of it you are having the best of the weather atm. It is appalling in the SE
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Poor Jan. Give her my love. Seawater is good for midge bites.
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After attending to some laundry we caught the 95 bus to Tobermory and we are sitting in a tea room, having ordered cake. We have two more nights in the Salen Hotel.
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Go visit the soap shop, they sell some nice soaps.
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Island Bakery for the best biscuits ever.
:D
They are good for midge bites.
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Go visit the soap shop, they sell some nice soaps.
Are you trying to tell me something? :-\
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I've never met you before! You're not from Glasgow are you? ;0)
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We have decided to have an unladen potter tomorrow to Ulva, and possibly a look at Eas Fors, if we get that far. We might just have a walk on the island and food at the boat house.
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This hotel does not seem to offer wifi. This is bad. It appears that I have improved the efficacy of my wifi hotspot by balancing it high in the window.
We had a lovely pottering bike-free day today. Leisurely breakfast, a bit of laundry, 11.05 bus to Tobermory, cake and coffee, another wander, some gentle spodding, wrote a few post cards, including some e-post cards to offspring, some fish and chips from the quayside, more sitting outside in the sun, a rain shower, a look round the marine centre, a pub and the bus back.
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Here is a sun tan selfie from Sunny Scotland.
https://mobile.twitter.com/WowbaggerHT/status/471749123172212736
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It is 10.23pm and it is far from dark.
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You sure that's not rust :P
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Mrs. Wow has been coughing badly for a while and now has a high temperature. I have found a doctor's surgery a short distance away and we will go there in the morning.
She's nearly always ill when we go on holiday. Meanwhile, tea and paracetamol.
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Yikes.! GWS Jan
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She was not ill on our Mosel trip. Maybe she needs more German cake!
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No infection, apparently. Asthma. An increase in her inhalers.
Meanwhile, Jan had a day back at the hotel and pottering around Salen. I went to Ulva, which I am sure is ripe for a Limerick. It was a lovely ride over, punctuated by groups of people wielding binoculars and spotting scopes. There was a sea eagle on a lump on a hill. It took off briefly once while it was being mobbed by a buzzard and a hooded crow. The eagle was completely unconcerned by the crow, but every time the buzzard flew at it, it took a little jump and tried to deliver a passing peck.
When on Ulva I went for a pleasant walk but saw nothing more exciting than tadpoles, living a precarious existence in a pool about ten yards from a patch of sea weed. At the Boathouse, the coffee, cake and smoked salmon roll were all excellent.
On the way back I ran the gauntlet of more spotting scopes: both the sea eagles were soaring high. There were more divers, a pair of black throated and another of great northern. Later there was quite a crowd with their binoculars and spotting scopes pointing firmly downwards towards a patch of bladderwrack. There was an otter, basking in the shallow water grazing on whatever shellfish it could find. It had clearly met with some mishap or other as there was a very sore-looking pink patch on its tail.
So, a holiday not without its problems (Mrs. Wow's health) but very good weather-wise and no complaints at all about the array of wildlife on offer. Tomorrow we cover the 10.5 miles back to Craignure and then back to Oban and Edinburgh on Saturday, home on Sunday.
It will be B and B for us from now on.
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Even though I paid in advance for the expensive campsite, I have enquired of all the b and bs within 4 miles of the ferry for tonight. Jan coughed less last night, but her chest aches through muscular strain and she feels completely washed out. Only 10.5 miles to Craignure, though, it's flat and we've got all day.
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We have just arrived at the "Chronicle" B & B which is immediately across the road from the campsite and next door to the pub. The journey over was pleasant and the weather is still good. We stopped for tea/coffee/ice cream and nattered to the Atkinson family, from Northallerton, who are well acquainted with some on this 'ere forum.
We are ensconced in our room but need to find something useful to do with the rest of the day.
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Leans to you both. I hope Jan can relax for the rest of the day. When you're back, it might be worth her asking the doc about getting a preventer inhaler, as her asthma does seem to be bothering her a lot.
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If that's the brown one, she's got one. Just has to get into the habit of using it.
We are in our final B and B on Mull, the Chronicle, right next to the pub. It is very comfortable and reasonably priced, as well as being conveniently close to the ferry.
The Craignure Inn had some good ale on this evening, Highlander, from Fyne Ales. They had, however, run out of steak, which was very disappointing as I had to slum it with venison casserole. I also had a Shoulder of Monkey - in fact, both shouulders. Ready for sleep now.
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Early ferry & Full Scottish at Wetherspoons ? :demon:
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10.30 ferry and we'll see. Itvgives us an hour go play with.
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Weather looks gorgeous there today!
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It's been good all week. The first night was a bit chilly and there was rain the first morning but after that it has been warm, not windy and there has been plenty of sunshine.
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A much tighter day than we expected, due to the ferry arriving 40 minutes lat and cyclists being amongst the last to disembark. Lovely weather again.
I'm a bit puzzled by this "Airbnb" mallarkey as neither of them seem to be supplying any breakfast, unless a jar of hobnobs counts.
A very fine final evening was enjoyed as Kirst joined us for dinner at a rather good restaurant, Blonde, that she had recommended.
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We are south of Berwick and therefore in England. I ought to retitle the thread "Mull last week".
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We are moving again now after a considerable delay on the approach to King s Cross.
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Everywhere I plan to go, I find a thread on here as Wowbagger has already been!
So I'm going to Scotland in April, and I have a Sunday which will be spent on Mull. Fairly time limited as the 1st ferry on a Sun isn't till 9.50, so I will have between about 11am and 4ishpm to get a ride in before the 5pm ferry back to Oban. So with about 5 hours what would you do?
I've never been so was thinking about going up to Tobermory- there and back is only just over 40 miles so a little short even with a lunch stop. I think you can loop round the top a bit and make it nearer 60, but is it *very* hilly- would I be leaving it too tight, or am I going to the wrong half of the island completely?
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Go to the Fishnish pishdish to see how grumpy the man is towards cyclists :thumbsup:
The southern loop is about 50 miles and has been used on a few audaxes. It's great cycling country through mountains and alongside sea lochs.
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LadyC
Mull is stunning, enjoy.
I took rather longer on the island than your one day but I had full camping kit so was rather slower.
Firstly note that the A848 is largely single track and the traffic can become quite busy in pulses to catch and leave the ferry.
There are three options to consider:
Southern loop to Loch Beg and the small shop adjacent to the Kinloch Hotel or the B8035 is a climb to loop back but stunning views.
Out and back to Tobermory has the risk of the traffic though this will largely be the pulses to the ferry. Tobermory can get rather busy if a cruise ship is in port.
Northern Loop, either from Salen and round the far coast via Calgary (rolling hills and some steeper climbs) or using the small road along side Loch Frisa which was the route I didn't use.
Going beside Loch Frisa will be shorter and miss out the climbs out of Calgary and Dervaig
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God its so confusing. Votes for northern and votes for southern loop (bearing in mind I've never been to Tobermory)
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Tobermory is pretty, however all you are likely to do there is go along the harbour front and look at the multi coloured shops, there are a few shops but how open they will be on a Sunday is questionable. The town itself is smaller than Ascot high street and unless you want to go round the distillery I would advise going for one of the longer more scenic routes out to the west coast of the island be that south or to Calgary Bay.
Either way there was a nice tea shop in Salen when I was there in 2012 which may be an appropriate distance north from Craginure and is on all the routes if you do the southern loop anticlockwise.
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I recall the road from Salen to Tobermory as a bit of a slog, whereas the loop on the A849 is delightful in many places.
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The small road by Loch Frisa- is it a proper road? No funny towpathy or sustrany type nonsense?
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Looking on Google earth and street view the road to the east of Loch Frisa appears to be a forestry commission road so Sustrans style compacted type 1 sub-base material with craters. The alternative to the west of Loch Frisa is a proper road and you will gain the climb out of Dervaig to get to Tobermory.
I remember spending a fair few minutes at the viewing point studying the view getting my lungs back in.
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There is another ferry onto the ardnamurchan peninsula and yo can ride from there back to Fort William. I don't know whether the ferry runs in winter though. I didn't ride this bit as I had torn knee ligaments and sweet-talked the bus company into taking the tandem for us. They were very helpful.
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The Lochaline Fishnish ferry runs in the winter. As does Kilchoan Tobermory. Kilchoan is practically Ardnamurchan, though, so a long ride out or back. The ride from Lochaline through Morvern and along the B road through Kingairloch is a lovely ride. But in winter, to get back to Fort William, you'd be restricted to the Corran ferry which would leave you with the main road into Fort William as I don't think the ferry from Camusnagaul to the Fort runs in wintertime. It's only a few miles, but narrow, winding and full of fast A road traffic. I have ridden it a couple of times and wouldn't again. In winter it may not be so bad, I suppose.
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Actually, I might be wrong...can't see any seasonal restriction on the timetable. http://www.lochabertransport.org.uk/TransportinLochaber/PublicTransport/Ferries/CamusnagaulFerry.aspx
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Dont ask me how I found it but the SYHA at Tobermory is up for sale with offers from £275,000. We spent at least one evening fantasising.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38510023.html
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I've done the ardnamurchan peninsula a couple of times- absolutely gorgeous but want a different route this time.