The southwest of Mull

The weather forecast for today is not too optimistic and therefore we will not drive long distances but stay on the west side of the peninsula we are now on. We have not seen that part yet. But in the morning the sun shines now and again and we can see a lot further than yesterday when the horizon usually disappeared into the mist. On the map are not all dead-end roads that we have driven today.

First we drive to the south coast at Ardchiavaig where the road seems to go directly into the sea. Many place names on Mull still show Norwegian influences from the time of the Vikings who have had a kingdom here for a while. The suffix -vaig means for instance a cove or inlet. There is indeed an inlet and a sandy beach where we take a walk. And of course we look for shells again. We are a bit smarter than yesterday because we took our coats with us in the car, it's not that warm.

But the first thing I find is not a shell but a big dead crab. In local leaflets we have read that in August Beach Games are held here with races on the beach but also in the water with self-built boats.
In the distance we see the sky getting dark and even rain showers fall in the distance but the Sun still continues to shine on the water.

And that gives beautiful pictures as the sun sparkles in the water. We have the beach almost for us alone and, as long as it is dry, it is wonderful to walk. But for the spectacle of the literally glittering water, we just sit on the rocks to watch and enjoy. And we take pictures of course, we have made at least 40.

Then Teije looks for new roads where we still have to go and so we also end up at the northwestern tip of the peninsula, near Kintra. At the end of a cul-de-sac, there are about 10 houses, where would these people live from? Fishing, sheep breeding? We have no idea and no one walks around outside whom we can ask. I think it's a bit like living at the end of the world. But of course you need transport and in bad weather it can undoubtedly be quite haunting.

It is sometimes embarrassing when Teije once again enters a cul-de-sac while you already know that it ends in the yard of a farm. But on the other hand, you sometimes see nice things that you do not otherwise see as this house-craft at a house: an owl carved from wood and a wooden man holding a flowerpot.

After we have driven all roads in this area, Teije is satisfied and can mark them on the map. Imagine that he forgets one (and that has happened) and that we have to come all the way back here to drive a little road to find out that we have been there anyway! Now it's time to go to the Argyll Arms, the only hotel in Bunessan, for a cup of coffee and a chat with the bartender.

After that we go to the local store and soon we are back at our house. In the distance the dark clouds appear again, but inside it is very pleasant. The house is indeed off the road but is very easy to find by the typical red telephone box at the gate. It seems that a lot of those phone cells will disappear in the coming years because everyone has a mobile phone and the use of telphone boots has dropped with almost 90% in 10 years.

Tomorrow will probably another very rainy day and because we have (almost) seen everything on Mull we look at the weather maps and in the east of Scotland the weather seems to be much better. Therefore we decide to leave tomorrow instead of the day after tomorrow. We took most of the photos when it was dry but then we also had a lot of rain during the past week. So we enjoy another long evening in our conservatory of this beautiful house that we can definitely recommend when you go to Mull.