Puffin Magic

We had booked a Staffa and Treshnish Isles Wildlife boat trip before we left home...but unfortunately we couldn't book the weather. It was a grey, cloudy day with rain threatening as we boarded our boat in Tobermory Harbour...and set off first for Kilchoan on the mainland to pick-up extra passengers. As we made our way around to the Teshnish Isles, we spent most of the time looking...unsuccessfully...for dolphins and whales. It was just too rough and those of us silly enough to be still outside when we entered unprotected waters got thoroughly drenched as the bow waves crashed over the whole boat.

Our boat for the day

Leaving Tobermory Harbour

The rain is coming...

Eventually we made it to Lunga, the largest island in the Treshnish group where we disembarked for 2 hours ashore. We spent our time drying out in the wind, watching puffins by the thousand, climbing to the highest point and catching sight of a few other types of sea birds. The puffins were absolutely amazing...absolutely fearless of humans, popping in and out of their burrows and posing for photographs. We were very lucky with our timing...it was getting late in the season for puffins and they had already left most of the other nesting sites around the UK.

The isle of Lunga

Leaving the boat

The "puffin parade"

Puffins...they are just so cute!

Anita with her own personal puffin

Anita is on top of the world...well Lunga at least

The view from the top

After boarding our boat again, we made the short trip to Staffa where we all went ashore to visit Fingal's Cave. An amazing geological feature which produces resounding booming echos as the waves crash into the end of the cave. It was one of those places where you would love to peacefully stay for hours...but for the impossibility of it with it being a bit like Bourke Street with tour boats coming and going all of the time. Although we only had a relatively short visit to Staffa, the timing couldn't have been better...the rain that had been threatening each time we were ashore finally started as we returned to the boat for the trip back to Tobermory.

Staffa  and Fingal's Cave

The path out to the cave

Looking inside Fingal's Cave

Inside...looking out

Returning to Tobermory