Boating Around the Scottish Isles

Our first full day in Scotland was an exciting one!  We got up early and grabbed breakfast before heading to the docks to catch our first of many ferries to take us around the islands off the coast of Oban.  This was another recommendation from Christie and Josh, who had already done this trip and I'm so happy we listened!  The first ferry took us to the island of Mull, but before we got there, we admired the Scottish coastline which is as breath taking as you imagine it to be.

After we arrived on Mull, we caught a bus that took us across the island.  While on the bus, we had a recording telling us all about the history and the people of the island. It's pretty deserted and the kids have to go to the mainland for high school because there aren't enough students to have a high school.  Pretty cool! They also are taught in Gaelic, even though most of them don't speak it when they start kindergarten.  By the time they graduate, they all are fluent and most go in to Gaelic professions.  So so cool! 

The island of Mull is beautiful and so scenic.  There were lots of sheep and coos (Scottish for cow) all over. 

Once we made our way across the island, we caught another ferry to a small island. By ferry, I really mean small boat.  We had to wear rain coats because, not only was there a possibilty of rain, there was also a large possibility of splashing.






Luckily, we stayed pretty dry on the way to the island.  We were both happy to get off and get our land legs back once we got there, though.

Is this real life?

Part of the island was a cave that you could walk in and check out.  In order to get there though, you had to walk along the edges of some pretty steep rocks.  Not my favorite part of the trip. 

future Christmas card picture

Mike stole the camera at some point and started a photo shoot. hahah

#nofilter

After we spent about an hour walking around and taking in the beauty that is Scotland, we boarded the ferry again.  Things got a little bumpy and choppy and my affinity for motion sickness came to fruition over the side of the boat.  Needless to say, I was glad when we arrived on our third and final island of the day, Isla.  By the time we got here, it was past our lunch time, so we stopped in the little cafe near the dock.  I suffered through some fish and chips before we set out to explore the island.  They gave us two hours on the island, which ended up being more than enough.  There is a small church there for you to walk around, but other than that, there wasn't much.  In fact, when we got back to the dock to catch the boat, most people were already there waiting.

Mike and his buddy the sheep

Luckily, the ferry ride back to Mull, where we caught the bus and then the big ferry back to the mainland, was relatively smooth and no sea sickness took place. By the time we got back to the mainland, it was almost eight and we were hungry.  We grabbed dinner and a nightcap before heading to bed.  Thanks Josh and Christie for the ferry recommendations! It was totally worth it to get to see some of the Scottish Isles and the coastline.  

PS If you survived this blogpost and all of the pictures, you're a champ.