"I'm at the Arches"

Carsaig #1 from Carsaig #2


Carsaig #1 from the sea.


"I'm at the Arches."


Even the great Carsaig Arches are dwarfed by the scale of Malcolm's Point. mind you if this is the size of his point, what size was Malcolm?

20/07/2007

Carsaig Arches, Mull

Not far from the great slab of Leac nam Leum, there are even greater wonders of Mull's volcanic past.


The Carsaig Arches are now high above the sea but during the last Ice Age, when water levels were higher, Atlantic swells surged through the arches.


Hexagonal basalt columns teeter on top of layers of lava.


In turn the lava layers are interspersed with layers of volcanic ash. The ash is very soft and can be picked with a fingernail. As you can see, wave action is undercutting the basalt by wearing away the ash. One day, probably quite soon in geological terms, the whole lot will come toppling down.

Might I be presumptuous and recommend that you visit the Carsaig Arches sooner rather than later?

20/07/2007

Look before you leap.

We landed on extremely slippy green boulders at the foot of Malcolm's Point.


Mike is dwarfed by the scale as he casts a line from Leac nan Leum.

We were unprepared for the huge scale of Leac nan Leum, a great basalt slab, which stretched for hundreds of metres. This was testament to the violent volcanic past of the island of Mull during which, huge volumes of lava spilled down from the Ben More volcano. Even today, after some 50 million years of erosion, the lava fields are up to 1.8km thick.

Leac nam Leum is Gaelic for Slab of the Leap....


At its eastern end, the slab is riven by a great chasm over which one of our ancestors is reputed to have leapt while being pursued by an army of dreadful giants or some such terror.

Tony, who did not have the same constraints on his time, made a more measured judgement and, after a long look, decided not to leap.

20/07/2007

Picture problem in Blogger

Since November 30th there has been a problem with the way Blogger displays large pictures when you click on the small picture embedded in the Blog page. Blogger are aware of the issue and Blog authors can fix it by editing the html references to each picture on each page. If you have your own Blog, the explanation of how to do so is here.

I have now fixed my pages of 30/11 and 1/12 and I hope the Blogger team will have the issue resolved soon.

Howling wolf rock (not the blues).

Shortly after leaving Uisken we passed "howling wolf rock". Rocks whose shape looks like something else are called mimetoliths. This mimetolith is the only grey wolf we saw on our travels. The wolves were native to Scotland but the last was exterminated in 1743.


We gathered the most wonderful seasoned wood from the top of one of the beaches. We filled all the hatches of our kayaks and took it back to Fidden beach which had been stripped bare of firewood. It was to provide the best sea kayaking fire we have ever enjoyed but it did not need to frighten off any wolves. The farmer's dog was quite unafraid of fire and made off with half of David's tea.

20/07/2007

Uisken to Malcolm's Point

After our circumnavigation of Iona we were looking for a more restful day so we ran the kayaks by car along to Uisken on the south coast of the Ross of Mull. We were bound for Malcolm's Point a mere 11km along the coast to the east.


Making progress along the first part was somewhat difficult given that there were deserted white shell sand beaches round every corner.


When we rounded Rubha nam Braithrean the bay opened out and Malcolm's Point lay before us.


As we approached, we were dwarfed by the scale of the cliffs. Layer upon layer of volcanic ash alternating with basalt lava flow soared over 300m above us.

20/07/2007

End of a perfect day on Iona

After leaving Iona Abbey and Martyr's Bay Restaurant and Bar David and Mike headed straight back across the Sound of Iona for Fidden. Tony and I decided to do a little more paddling and found this amazing cave (complete with white sand beach) on the SE of Iona about 21:30hrs.


On finally leaving Iona, we took a last detour via Tinker's Hole. We eventually returned to Fidden at 22:30. We had covered a mere 34km but felt we deserved a rest.

19/07/2007

An Iona fishergirl

Leaving Market Bay on the Ross of Mull, we paddled back towards Iona in the still of a perfect summer evening. We passed the lovely hamlet of Kintra at the mouth of the Sound of Iona but the tide had now turned and we had to fight the increasing flood current which was flowing against us through the Bull Hole. This is a narrow channel between the Ross of Mull and Eilean Nam Ban. Ahead, some basking seals ignored us, they could see we were making almost no progress. We then ferried over to the island side and on across the Sound of Iona.


We landed below the village just as the last ferry departed with its load of tourists. A little local girl, sitting with her father in a beautiful white clinker built boat, asked “Is that a sea kayak?”

“Yes it is” I replied.

“I would love to do that” she said, wistfully.

“Well you very lucky, you are in the right place for it.”

Her dad then said “Aye, she likes the sea; she’s been helping with the lobster pots today.”



19/07/2007

Munching Mull mackerel in Market Bay

After Mike caught some mackerel, we needed to find somewhere to land. There can be no finer land fall than Market Bay (Traigh na Margaidh) on the Ross of Mull.


Straight out of the sea into the pan and fried with a little salt and dill; what a feast!


We also had time for a swim and some climbing on the granite torrs before heading back to Iona.

19/07/2007

Mountain biking Glen Trool Blue route and Bennan

The summit of wind swept Bennan in the Galloway Hills.


Jennifer with Bennan disappearing into the mist.

We have recently visited the Glen Trool Blue route a couple of times to increase our cardiovascular fitness and stamina to cope with winter paddling conditions in Scotland. The Blue route has some fantastic berms on its final decent and is certainly not blue at the speed we go down it. However, it is only 8km long, so on our first visit we went round it twice.

Today we decided to tack the gruelling ascent of Bennan (562m) on to make it a little longer.


Mike, Jennifer, Tony and Bob on the way up. The way back down to the blue route passed in a blur.


We rejoined the blue route for its final decent.


Glen Trool is down there in the mist.


One fantastic berm after another leads to...


...a final blast through a larch plantation.


19 km and 688m of ascent.

We deserved a pint of Guinness in the Black Bull (est 1766), Straiton on the way home. In case you think we have undone all the goodness of the exercise, here is a fascinating scientific fact which I gleaned from television last night. Imagine four pint glasses on a bar. The first is filled with milk, the second with freshly squeezed orange juice, the third with lager and the last with Guinness. Which one has fewest calories?

Well it's the Guinness of course. It's a health drink!

25/11/2007
04/11/2007

Getting old

Turnberry lighthouse is surrounded by a seething sea kicked up by a force seven sou'westerly.


Yesterday we had no wind and full sunshine, I was looking forward to a calm paddle in crisp winter sunshine today.


It would have been good for windsurfing but it was only 7 degrees. I must be getting old, I went for a quiet walk round Culzean instead.

24/11/2007

Five little fishies

Leaving Eilean Annraidh, we crossed the Sound of Iona and made our way east along the north coast of the Ross of Mull. We paused off the headland of Rubha nan Cearc while Mike got his trusty rod out. He quickly caught five fat mackerel and we looked for somewhere to land....

19/07/2007

Eilean Annraidh, Iona

This view from Eilean Annraidh, which lies to the north of Iona, has inspired artists for at least 200 years. In the distance lies Ulva and the Wilderness of Mull.


We landed here for a rest after making our way up the west coast of Iona.

Bay at the Back of the Ocean, Iona

This incredible cove is at the north end of Camas Cuil an t-Saimh (Bay at the Back of the Ocean) on the west coast of Iona. It is near to Port Bhan. This view is more reminiscent of the Outer Hebrides than the Inner Hebrides. The rock here is ancient grey gneiss unlike the relatively young, red granite of the Ross of Mull which is only a few kilometres away.

19/07/2007

Spouting cave, Iona

We circumnavigated Iona in an anticlockwise direction. We rounded its south west headland to discover a wonderland of stacks, islands, tidal channels hidden bays and caves.


This cave was deep and had amazing colours in the walls. There was white shell sand below its turquoise water...


...and a little sandy beach right at the back of the cave.


The next cave is called "spouting cave". In the gentle swell it was more like a kettle than a cave but you can imagine what it would be like in an Atlantic storm.

19/07/2007

Japanese whale killers

It is with horror that, in this morning's Independent, I read of the Japanese whaling fleet setting sail to kill humpback whales. These magnificent wild creatures are some of the largest organisms ever to have lived on Earth.


Bottlenose dolphins playing free in the Sound of Gigha.

I have been blessed by frequent sitings of cetaceans off Scotland's west coast. Bottlenose dolphins have come to us and displayed highly inquisitive and recreational behavior. Off Gigha three of them brought rocks up from the bottom on their beaks, tossed them in the air and then whacked them for six with their tails. I have also witnessed minke whales breaching off the west of Harris and narrowly missed seeing the humpback whale off Arisaig a few years ago.

In Scotland we used to kill whales. I am glad to say we no longer do so. Where would you rather see a whale, in the sea or on a plate? Despite writing this on a Japanese computer, I have decided not to buy Japanese goods this Christmas.

27/08/2005

Autumn turns to winter

Yesterday autumn leaves were falling,
And now winter's chill days are calling.

The foundation of St Oran's Chapel and voices of ancient saints

The oldest building in the grounds of Iona Abbey is St Oran’s chapel. It stands on the site of Reilig Odhrain, or St Oran’s shrine, around which is an ancient burial ground containing the remains of many kings from Scotland Norway, Ireland, Northumberland and Man. The early Christians in Ireland and Scotland did not practice their religion in the same way as that of Rome. Indeed Iona had been a sacred place to the Druids for generations before St Columba’s time. There is a grim legend attatched to the building of the original Reilig Odhrain which hints that there was perhaps a long and drawn out transition between Druidism and Christianity.

The following account was quoted by Macleod Banks in 1931. Her source was a Dr Maclagan of Clachan, Kintyre in 1894.

“When this chapel was in the course of erection, no matter what they would do or how well the work was done, every morning all that had been built the previous day was found thrown down. At last a voice came to St Columba, telling him that the only way to get the chapel completed was to bury a living man under its foundation; without that, the voice said the chapel could never be finished. Columba decided that no one could be better to put under the foundation than his own son, and accordingly got him buried at once and proceeded to build on his top. One day, however, Odhran raised his head, and pushing it through the wall, said, - “There is no Hell as you suppose, nor Heaven that people talk about.” This alarmed St Columba, in case Odhran should communicate more secrets of the other world, and he had the body removed at once and buried in consecrated ground, and St Odhran never again troubled anyone.”

We looked through the door into the darkness within. Only the glint of a gilded Celtic cross on the altar was visible. A light breeze rustled round the door and we thought we heard whispering voices echoing round the dark walls of the chapel's interior. It sounded like it might have been only a house martin's nest but we decided that we did not want to hear what St Oran might have to say to us. We chose not enter and instead paid our respects to St Oran in the light of the summer evening. Then, in the gathering dusk, we left Reilig Odhrain for Martyr's Bay where our sea kayaks lay waiting to carry us back across the Sound of Iona. Our visit had been undistubed by the sound of the voices of either day visitors or ancient saints.

19/07/2007

A Hebridean Version of Colum Cille and St. Oran [Mrs.] M. Macleod Banks, Folklore, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Mar. 31, 1931), pp. 55-60

Iona Abbey

The current day Iona Abbey is the reconstructed ruin of a Benedictine Abbey which dates from about the 13th century. St Columba had established a monastery here in 563AD but his buildings were of wood. At one time the monastery was one of the largest Christian centres in Europe. The Abbey was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reformation. It lay derelict until its restoration started in 1938.

St Columba was not the first saint to bring Christianity to Scotland. St Ninian established a mission at Whithorn in Galloway in 397AD.

The magnificent carved Celtic cross at the Abbey door is a replica of St John's cross, the broken remains of which are displayed in the Infirmary Museum at the rear of the Abbey.


Nearby St Martin's cross still stands. It dates from the eighth century.


By arriving late in the day by sea kayak, we were the only visitors . As we wandered round these ancient stones we experienced the peace of Iona.

19/07/2007