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
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
posted by Sea Life Surveys at
6:32 pm
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