Tag: The Isle of Canna

Arisaig 2026 9: Canna General

Continuing my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the island of Canna and the return journey to Arisaig.

Yesterday in my series about my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th) I dealt with the grounds of Canna House. Today I conclude my coverage of the Tuesday.

THE ISLAND OF CANNA

Canna is a beautiful little island and we only saw some of it – the grounds of Canna House were as far as we got, meaning that much, including the main church and an important bridge escaped us. We found out not long after landing that the cafe was closed, but the shop, which operates an ‘honesty box’ principle was open, and there were tea and coffee making facilities there. We also saw a very curious little church – it was utterly devoid of any kind of embellishment, and had no altar, just a large pulpit from which the preaching would be done. There was some interesting bird life. The journey back did not feature any go-slows for wildlife, but there were still a few things to see.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here is my gallery for this post…

The outside of the tiny church mentioned in the text.
The gateway to the churchyard
Standing alone in the churchyard, a Celtic cross grave.
Inside the church.
A view of the outside of the church.
The map on a t-shirt I bought from the shop.
Oystercatchers in numbers (several pictures)
A large corvid with a silver patch on its upper back.
The bridge
I could not work out what species these birds were.
I have included six pictures of the Jacobite Express.
These last few pictures feature Morar, the only place of significance between Mallaig and Arisaig.

Arisaig 7: Wildlife Cruise to Canna

Continuing my series about my Scottish holiday with a look at the journey to the Isle of Canna.

We have reached the Tuesday of my holiday in Scotland (May 30th to June 6th), which featured a trip to the Isle of Canna. This post is the first of three about the day, with the grounds of Canna House getting a post to themselves and also a general post about Canna and the return journey.

THE WAY THE TRIP WORKED

The boat for Canna runs from Mallaig, eight miles north of where we were staying, and the outbound trip from Mallaig to Canna was the ‘wildlife cruise’ element, with a professional wildlife spotter on board, and several go slows for good sightings. We then had a short time on the island and a swift return journey to Mallaig.

FROM THE COTTAGE TO CANNA

We had a straightforward journey to Mallaig, and boarded our boat in good time. The voyage out was magnificent. I have touched briefly on it in two previous posts, one covering a minke whale sighting and one about some of the best wildlife I saw during this holiday. The sea was calm that day, and there was much to savour.

PHOTOGRAPHS

With a reminder that individual photographs can be viewed at larger size by clicking on them here is the full gallery for the outbound voyage.

The wildlife spotter card (two pictures as it is double sided)
The best of the puffin pictures.
The minke whale
arriving at Canna.