50th Birthday Holiday 4: Tobermory

This post, the fourth in my series about my holiday in Scotland around my 50th birthday, is by way of setting the scene for what will probably be two posts about my voyage aboard The Waverley, the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer. Posts 1, 2 and 3 in the series can be accessed from here by clicking on the numbers.

A CHANGE OF PLANS

We were originally supposed to board and disembark from The Waverley at Oban, quite a substantial journey from Achosnich, where we are staying. However, the road closure that had delayed our arrival on Monday was just one of a number scheduled, which made the prospect of driving to and from Oban more worrying than it should have been. The alternative was to take the ferry from Kilchoan across to Tobermory, and join and leave the steamer there. This was what we chose to do, and we had a fair amount of time in Tobermory before boarding (not much after disembarkation from The Waverley.

TOBERMORY

The Kilchoan ferry is a small one, and the journey across to Tobermory on the Isle of Mull is not a very long one. Tobermory will be familiar by sight to watchers of children’s TV – the brightly coloured houses that form the backdrop to “Jackanory” are there. We had a few bits of shopping to do, which were quickly accomplished. The only other interruption to seeing what could be seen at the sea front was caused by bad weather, which at one stage forced us to seek refuge in a cafe located in a converted church. Finding somewhere to eat our sandwiches for lunch proved a challenge, and we ended up doing so while stood waiting for the steamer.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are the non-steamer photos from this day…