Woke up, went for a shower (might as well get my money’s worth while paying to stay at a campsite), and them promptly got soaked by horizontal rain while walking back to the tent. So, now all my clothes are damp. I start to wonder when they’ll get a chance to dry out. The weather forecast hasn’t been particularly inspiring. Moz had booked a boat trip out to Staffa and we’re wondering if it’s still worth going give the gray gray weather. After some umming and ahhing, we decide that we might as well cycle into Fionnport to get something to eat, and we can decide about the boat trip, and more generally, what to do all day if it’s going to constantly rain, later.
Somewhat surprisingly, by the time we’ve had breakfast, the weather is starting to improve so we decide to stick to plan A.
Some seals to see by the sea.
Staff turns out to be just as dramatic as its reputation suggestions, but sadly, the effect is somewhat lessened by the surprisingly large number of tourists wandering all over the island. Including us, I should add.
Fingal’s cave
I love the geometric rock formations.
Hexagons are cool
And Moz has a new-found interest in bird watching
These are shags, right?
The good think about all the sea breeze is that my jeans are nicely drying off. However, I should really get around to buying some good outdoor trousers for next year if I’m going on another of these trips.
Me. Standing with some cliffs in the background
The different types of rock formations are pretty interesting.
Yeah yeah, I should probably get my hair cut at some point!
All in all, an interesting small island. Just a shame it was so busy. I suspect Iona will be similarly busy, as we passed a lot of coach tours in the cycle down from Craignure yesterday.
Would be a good island for a castle. If you didn’t have to worry about things like fresh water, food supply, etc etc. It would look cool though, and that’s surely the main thing.
Anyway, onward to Iona.
Iona Abbey
We arrive on the island at lunchtime, and as luck would happen, there ‘s a pub just by the water. We duck in for lunch and before heading up the Abbey. As expected, the Abbey is really busy, which means it perhaps isn’t as peaceful and tranquil as it would otherwise be. But it’s still a nice enough building.
I like the ferns growing in the walls.
Everybody loves a good quad!
By the time we finished looking around, the weather has finally brightened up and we walk down to the beaches on the north of the island.
An imposing cow
All in all, a better than expected (given the weather forecast) day. Tomorrow the plan is to cycle back up north and then to the west of the island. We’ll see how far we get.
