Kerrera

The jetty at Gallanach, with passengers embarking on the Kerrera ferry; the ferryman standing in wait for us.

Hiya
Fantastic day out on Kerrera -- left home just after 9am and got back just after 5pm. Walking all the time, except for maybe 40 minutes waiting for the ferry to and from the island, and about an hour sitting down for lunch at the gorgeous Tea Garden.

Most appropriately, a camellia shrub at the Kerrera Tea Garden. It's already almost past its glory.

A live hedge near Kerrera Tea Garden - part of their organic garden. A little further on, the rhubarb was already huge and in bloom!

The sun was in our faces much of the time; the skylarks were up in the sky; the waters were crystal clear; the horizon was hazy, yet we just managed to see Jura beyond Scarba and Seil.
As for wildlife, we saw a gannet coasting, rising and falling on the thermals up the western shore; we saw some of the famous wild goats of Kerrera; ...
... we saw one rabbit and lambs galore, some very shy, others not so shy...

As on Iona a couple of weeks ago, some of the lambs are so young, they have yet to grow into their skins. They're leggy!

We saw black Highland cattle, and numerous shaggy ponies and sturdy, yet elegant horses; we even saw some spectacular parrots!

Flowers and trees are far advanced, yet there were still some daffodils and narcissi; ...

Narcissi by the old school/chapel.

... wild cherries and blackthorn in swathes of white everywhere ...

By the Tea Garden, a cherry-tree in bloom vies for prominence against some golden-flowering, spiky shrub.

... and celandines like sun-coins scattered all over the patches of machair and dry bracken; ...
... elsewhere daisies, and light-purple violets; palest pink wood anemones; white wood sorrel blossoms with their purple veins; oh, and pink and pale blue forget-me-nots in a garden.
The pace is leisurely on Kerrera: we were overtaken by a few adults and kids on bicycles, and by one landrover ferrying a small boy and an elderly couple up to a farmstead.

Looking across the sea to Mull.

On the bouldery beach west of the beautifully restored ruin of Gylen Castle, seven sea kayakers had spread out their -- presumably -- damp gear. We were coming down from the castle when four of them had just finished packing up and were putting out again. Very colourful, very peaceful.
It made me want to learn use a kayak even more than I have so far! What a great way of getting around these islands and complicated shores! About an hour later, as we made our way back to the ferry from Gylen and the Tea Garden, we saw the four kayakers pushing hard up Kerrera Sound, against a stiff breeze blowing from the north.

Gylen Castle and the bay. On the horizon, the islands of Seil and Scarba.

The north face of Gylen Castle.

Gylen Castle has a natural archway. The ground tells me these days it's mostly sheep that seek shelter in there.

Gylen Castle is virtually untakeable. If memory serves from the excellent information panels, it was actually used as a residence for not even 75 years, and burnt out after a siege. The fire destroyed everything wooden inside, including the rafters that held up the roof.

Several previously abandoned crofts are being refurbished and are now occupied. It's good to see new windows put in and smoke rising from chimneys.

A traditional way of constructing a window (wind-eye) in a bothy.

The only thing that is in dire need of refurbishment is the old school/chapel only a little distance uphill from the ferry's jetty. The building is in a dismal state and the old piano seems to have had a narrow escape from part of the ceiling caving in. The toilets are unspeakable and the whole place just screams out for a bit of TLC and money. One millionth of the funds sent down the drain by our brilliant bankers would be plenty!
It makes me so angry to see the governments of the G20 throwing good money after bad. The things we could do if they had just decided to give each one of us a proportionate slice of that gigantic cake! We could all be debt-free, or with money in -- I almost wrote "the bank", but maybe a stocking under the mattress might be a safer place...

Cloudscape above Kerrera Sound from the ferry as we returned to the Mainland.

But I want to end on a positive note. The walk back to our homes took us up the old drover's track and into Oban via Pulpit Hill. Some spectacular flora there:Cheerioh, and come back soon!