Mull Adventure Blog - Part 3

It has to be said, that with utmost certainty and complete confidence, this portion of my life is turning out to be rather incredible! I say this not to make any of my dear readers envious but rather at astonishment in my own fortune! There’s something just DIFFERENT about this place but I am so glad that I’m experiencing it. There are moments of overwhelming joy, often when I’m sat on the boat, the sun shining, the wildlife abundant and the passengers enthusiastic and I think that I am being paid to do this incredible and different thing. But most of the time I have this calm contentedness about my life here which I love. Alas I know it can’t last but that’s another thing about this island – I don’t have enough time to take it for granted therefore I can be exhausted from a days’ work and yet still find the energy to climb a mountain, it’s beyond words, it truly is!

I do apologise though, I digress, I’m sure you’re wondering where the ADVENTURE part to this adventure blog as disappeared off to. Fear not dear reader, it shall return! We start this blog with the arrival of Helen (the sister) and Andrea (the friend of the sister and myself). After much anticipation and a few too many fruitless phone calls (mobile signal is not Mulls’ strong point!) we were finally united and it was fantastic to see them. We went out to eat (with Natalie from the office) and after much conversation and some spoon antics I headed back to the campsite Helen and Andrea would be staying at. Seen as it was Mull it was raining which, prepared for the inevitable, Andrea and Helen took to quite cheerfully. The fact that their tent was leaking heavily was not taken with such joy!

The next morning brought two soggy, disgruntled and sleepy individuals into the office by the names of Helen and Andrea. Their tent situation had worsened but they were going to enjoy Mull even if the Island did seem to be trying to drown them! I spent the day in the office whilst they explored.

The next day was the day of THE boat trip. I emphasise this particular boat trip in that it was the one that Helen and Andrea were coming on and it was rather an eventful one at that! One of our 7 hour Whalewatch Explorers was due to depart at 9:30am. This it did with my two intrepid traveller friends aboard. This was after having been told that the people in the office that met Helen described her as “exploding into the room.” This description I found to be rather accurate! And so it was that the bow and stern lines were cast, the fenders taken up and the boat set sail for the Cairns of Coll. Little did we realise that once past the Sound of Mull alongside Ardnamurchan point we would see Common Dolphins! Someone aboard had alerted us and I calmly explained that they were most probably porpoise knowing how rare sightings of were and the common mistake of a porpoise for a dolphin. Dear reader I was wrong! They were indeed dolphins and soon they were bow riding with the boat! All my professionalism went out of the window as I searched desperately for something knowledgeable to say about the species. In the end I gave up trying and just marvelled at the sight. They were stunning. Some views of sharks, sea birds and actual porpoise later we arrived on the Cairns to glorious sunshine and seals aplenty. Popz (our skipper) said I could go on land with Helen and Andrea, which I did and we spent half an hour enjoying the white sands, turquoise seas and goose poo aplenty! At the time some of our passengers were wondering from what animal these faeces had come from and the only suggestion I could come up with was Island hopping Red Deer. Eventually it was discovered that it originated from a member of the goose family but not after samples were collected and examined enthusiastically by me! The inner biologist was smiling with glee!

Many photos later it was time to jump aboard Sula Beag again which was anchored a little way out to sea. We take our passengers along on the rib (or as Popz calls it; “The Rubber Duck”) and I was given some training with using the outboard motor on it. The first challenge of which was to start the contraption! Three attempts later it started and our little collection of passengers applauded!

It turned out to be a wonderful trip (as all our trips are of course!) and Helen told me she felt proud of me. I didn’t feel so proud of myself after several panics with the blasted clove hitch knot and fenders shredded my nerves a little but I did manage to do the bow line correctly and I even drove Greenie after our 2 hour Ecocruz! After which we joined Ewan (another guide) for tea in the MacDonald Arms and chatted excitedly about the events of the day.

The next morning dawned and with it...pony trekking! After a mad panic in which we realised we didn’t have enough cash and cash machines are somewhat scarce on Mull we arrived at Killiechronan Trekking Centre and met our soon-to-be faithful steeds! Helen was given a beautiful arab cross (with not much arab in him) called “Caspian”. Andrea was given a sturdy highland pony named “Oak” and I had his half brother “Smokey” whom, I was assured would look after me, nervous rider as I am. The trek began...

I shall leave you all in suspense to await the next part of the Mull Adventure Blog!

Disclaimer: Leaving my dear readers in suspense is not done out of some vindictive aspect of my character, rather that I need to go to bed as we’ve got an early trip heading out tomorrow for which I will need to be awake!
Hugs to you all!

Sarah
Guide

Mull Adventure Blog - Part 2

Hello once again dear readers from the Isle of Mull where it is once again raining as it often does in this place. But I’ll let you in on a little secret, I love it! Not so much the rain but the Island itself with its mix of pleasant people, abundant wildlife and far flung remoteness from any city I have known or will know in the future.

We left our tale last time after a completed week at work with much more still to learn and experience. After having learned and experienced many things this week I can safely say I still have yet more to learn and experience! But this past week involved completing my first introduction talk to our passengers (which was applauded) on what they might see on the trip. I have also been trying to learn knots and rope handling but am still rather abysmal at both. I can tie a clove hitch (after much practice with a piece of string and fake fender) and have successfully done both the bow and stern lines when coming into the pontoon but I am far from good at either. With practice comes perfection I guess.

In more successful news I was given the task of guiding an Ecocruz by myself on Sula Crion (meaning “Tiny Gannet” in Gaelic) which is our smaller boat, and holds only 10 people. Nerves mounted as families started checking in for the trip and I wondered if I would be able to remember enough to make it an enjoyable excursion, as well as boat matters. The skipper told me not to worry, he would take care of the boat and I would guide, plain and simple. Dear reader it turned out to be a fantastic trip! Apart from a brief shower the sun shone and the wildlife didn’t let us down with logging porpoise and diving gannets. The people themselves were fantastic too. Some of the kids on board were so enthusiastic even after seeing their 7th shag, still pointing and checking they had identified it correctly. When children experience that much joy from watching wildlife I have to say it gives me hope for the future! My own enthusiasm was abundant (even more so than usual) due to this and the talks I managed to give and the information I imparted all seemed to please the boss. I came off that trip, 2 hours later feeling utterly competent as a guide!

This week the office was busy and they’ve finally got me on answering phone calls. Now for those who know me well you may know of my distinct lack of confidence over the phone, even to people I know well, therefore nerves were getting the better of me answering this particular phone. However the staff just told me to go for it and refused to answer it themselves which is the best way I learn at any rate and so I am thankful they did it. The first call I answered got my heart racing and stumbling on the phrase “Hello, Sea Life Surveys, Sarah speaking” only to be asked how I was by the boss! After knowing I would not have to deal with bookings over the phone I relaxed. This has happened on several occasions and so I have yet to make a booking over the phone but I have dealt with other requests which were equally as challenging. However I feel it shall still be some time before I can confidently pick up the phone in that office!

Wildlife wise it has been a week both of disappointment and elation for all the wrong reasons! Intrigued? First of all the “high density of Otters on Mull” I have been promised (it’s lies, all lies!) has failed once again. I have still to see one even after waiting for 3 hours at a gem of a place on the north of the island. It was a glorious day though and the scenery on the drive was spectacular so I can’t complain. I am, however, adamant that every Otter on Mull has gathered together in an epic meeting to form an evil plan that conspires against me! The Minke Whales too have proven elusive but with myself firmly on Team Basking Shark I have not been disappointed on that front. In better wildlife spotting news I did an 8km walk on a random whim from Garmony to Fishnish and back one evening. It was a beautiful walk through forests and beaches and many types of habitat in between and I couldn’t help but love the opportunity I had been given to live on this beautiful Island. Now along the walk dear reader I was looking for many types of wildlife and didn’t see any, however I did spot what I wasn’t looking for. I looked for Otters and got Seals, I looked for Eagles and got a Hen Harrier and whilst looking for animals I was more rewarded by fungi in the form of some fantastic Fly Agaric mushrooms in a patch of pine forest sunlight. The photographer in me could not stop smiling and some snaps were enthusiastically gathered!

Next week will bring news of a family visit and assorted adventures, both at work and at play on this spectacular Island. Stayed tuned and, as always, hugs to you all!

Sarah
Guide

Mull Adventure Blog - Part 1

And so it is, dear reader that the epic blog has begun and believe me there shall be epic-ness in epic proportions! Now on occasions such as these I usually find it best to start at the beginning however today I shall break from that tradition and briefly describe my current surroundings. I sit here, in a caravan, listening to the rain hammer on the roof and think about the many people I am missing whilst here. But if I take a short trip outside I can see an ocean of green plants and on top of that...an actual ocean! Ok “ocean” may be overstepping the mark slightly but from the hill where my caravan is perched it is possible to glimpse Salen Bay. This is a beautiful place full of birds and a distinct calm quality, rather cleansing to the soul.

Now to briefly catch up you up on what I am doing in such a place for those of you who may not know I shall enlighten you. I am on the Isle of Mull to work with “Sea Life Surveys” for a couple of months as a wildlife guide. We shall explore the details of that in a brief minute but I jump ahead of myself and now we shall move to the journey which got me here.

I am blessed with two wonderful parents that, among many kindly gestures let me take their car to complete the two day journey. And so it was that I came home from Nottingham to Leeds after graduation and the next morning set off for this green and watery land. The journey was fairly pleasant with only one or two “Tango Whisky Alpha Tango’s” on the road as my dear friend Tony would say! The grandparents were visited and I spent the night at my uncle’s house who is a character to say the least. The next day I continued along the winding roads through mountain passes and over rivers with the sun shining and some good music pumping through my veins. Once at Oban the ferry was boarded, the Sound of Mull was crossed and lo, I arrived on Mull. Do understand dear reader that this is a very brief summary of the journey as I wish not to bore you with details.

Finding my accommodation was relatively easy along the single track roads which had come as a slight shock to Danny when we had both come the previous month. Once arrived at afore mentioned accommodation (up a track which I’m sure only Land Rovers and faithful Toyota pickup trucks should venture onto) I was shown into the main house where some interesting characters were about to be met. Now I am a person who loves to meet new and interesting characters however I have never met such a diverse and concentrated collection before! They certainly intrigued me but needless to say, after two days of travel, I was not in the mood for deep philosophical discussions!

And so it was that the first day of my new job came about and nervous though I was I had been pondering the possibilities of it for over a month. The family run company takes guests out on various different whale watching trips up the Sound of Mull looking for “wee beasties” although some of them be not so wee! On the first day they put me on a seven hour trip, talk about throwing me in at the deep end! I relished the thought though and even the relentless Mull Mizzle (misty drizzle) couldn’t put a dampener on my spirits.

Myself, our skipper and two other guides boarded “Greenie” the small boat (no prizes for guessing its colour) which takes us out to the big boat to bring it back to the pontoon. It did occur to me, as we sailed between many impressive looking yachts, that this was a different and interesting morning commute to work and this made me love it all the more! The rat race hadn’t taken me and hopefully it never will!

After being shown many things that needed to be done (and feeling my brain ache with trying to remember it all) we greeted our passengers on board and I was introduced as “the new girl on her first day” so thankfully everyone was nice to me. This being said everyone on this entire Island seems to include some of the loveliest people I have ever met, many with jolly dispositions which is fantastic. The boat set off for its seven hour voyage and along the way we saw two Minke Whales, some Basking Sharks, our ever faithful Porpoise and plenty of seabirds. We were heading for the Isle of Muck, an even smaller Island than Mull with a population of 38! However they have a tea room, with cake, and on this rather soggy day this was our main reason for visiting the island!

On the way back the sea became choppy (always a risk in these waters) which made it difficult for wildlife spotting. We arrived back at the pontoon in Tobermory harbour and promptly set off again for a 30 minute seal cruise. I sincerely hope that from the title my dear readers may have guessed what can be seen on such cruises and due to the prevalence of our pinniped friends in the harbour itself we didn’t have to travel far to see them.

After an exhausting first day I made it back to Salen and pondered what the second day would bring. It was much of the same although with a 2 hour ecocruz after the seven hour. However on the seven hour trip we went this time to the Cairns of Coll which are a group of truly tiny and uninhabited islands. The sun was out and with turquoise waters and bountiful wildlife it really did feel like some far off exotic place which was a secret to all but a few privileged people who happened to know it’s location.

The third day brought a no show for the sneaky whales but plenty of other wildlife was seen as it always is in such rich waters. The fourth day was my first in the office where, again, my brain began to ache with everything I had to remember and a new enigma to me...a cash register! Frankly dear reader I am a little frightened of the thing. It beeps at me when I do things wrong and makes me jump when it pops open but I guess it’s just another thing I need to get used to. As sods law predicts, the day in the office was sunny and I wasn’t feeling too exhausted after work so it was decided to go for a walk around a place called Aros Park. It was beyond stunning. The island is transformed when bathed in golden light and I managed to make the most of it by walking alongside waterfalls and gazing at Tobermory harbour in the evening light. I drove back to the caravan feeling peaceful and content. Another day was spent at the office with that evening searching for otters in Salen Bay which resulted in many avian species but no mustelids. It did however find a rare Homo sapien species on the phone in the form of Alex who was receiving updates on the wildlife I was seeing in real time. He described it as “Springwatch over the phone!”

And so we have arrived at the present day which is my day off and full of Mull Mizzle again. This has put a stop to the otter hunt which began yesterday but has allowed for a luxurious lie in which has been greatly appreciated. More to come next week in the second part of the Mull Adventure Blog!

Sarah
Guide

Tag Found at Tobermory Lighthouse

In August a walker handed in a green plastic looped tag, found at Rhubha nan Gal lighthouse (Tobermory Lighthouse). There were initials and numbers engraved along it and we decided to Google in the information -

‘99 DFO LOB. NFLD’

What came up was intriguing, if a bit of a long shot, so we emailed the ‘long shot’ just to see if what we imagined could be true.

The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, in Labrador, responded almost straight away and I quote…..

‘This is a tag used for lobster traps in 1999’

I asked if this meant that the tag had drifted all the way across the Atlantic and the answer came back that it had taken 11 years to reach us here on Mull.

Subsequent emailed details came through recently:
‘Lobster trap tags are used to ensure that trap limits are respected. Tags are issued to licence holders in accordance with the number of traps that are authorised. The tags are sequentially numbered and are issued annually. A tag must be securely fastened to the frame of a lobster trap prior to it being set for fishing. The lobster trap will identify the fish harvester who owns the trap. It is illegal to set a lobster trap, when the lobster season is open, without a valid trap tag fastened. The lobster trap tag numbers are identified in the licence holder’s licence. Lobster trap tags were introduced in 1987.’

Somehow the world felt smaller.

Ps, Google Labrador. Definitely worth a visit.

Judy (Mum)