A Visit to Tobermory

For us, a trip to the dentist is by ferry, to Tobermory.  Normally, an appointment isn't a great experience, but today's visit was made much more pleasurable by it being the most beautiful October day, with hardly a breath of wind to stir the waters of the Sound of Mull.

The Raasay came across with a full load of five cars, having had to leave a sixth behind.  Only one car boarded on this side, and the driver promptly drove off the ferry again when he was told the price of a return trip which, for his vehicle, was £66.

The dentist done, and having three hours to spare, we walked the path that leads northwards from the town towards Tobermory lighthouse.  The path, which sets off up the hill between the RNLI shop and the ferry slipway,  is a good one, though it's probably rather more boggy in wetter weather, and the walk to the lighthouse at a brisk pace takes about half-an-hour.

The view from the early section of the path is across to Morvern.  As we walked, the Tobermory lifeboat was coming back after a trip up Loch Sunart.  In the background is St Columba's Church in the tiny village of Drimnin, built in 1838.

As the path rounded the headland at the entrance to Tobermory Bay, we began to get glimpses of the lighthouse, with Kilchoan, Ormsaigmore and Ormsaigbeg laid out beyond it.

We sat on the foreshore beside the lighthouse to eat our lunch, hoping to see dolphins, otters or seals, but were entertained instead by an RAF Hercules which flew low along the Ardnamurchan shore before turning across the Sound to fly directly overhead.  It was followed a few minutes later by six geese heading south.

Tobermory Bay, when we returned to it, was like glass, and the High Street so warm we sat on a bench looking out across the water and enjoying the sunshine.  But the first high cirrus clouds were beginning to spread across the sky, fore-runners of the cold front which is due to cross us tonight, bringing northerly winds and a drastic reduction in temperature.

This photograph, from Kilchoan Early Bird, shows this evening's sunset, with an autumnal tree and the sky still clear.