The isle of Mull, 2nd day with the Iddons.

I spent 5 days and 4 nights on Mull with Roy and Sandra. They took me all around the island and showed me some of the little highlights they thought were nice. They are also a big fan of bird watching and so we often stopped when they saw a bird they couldn't identify or if they thought they spotted a rare bird they do not see often.

Here are the sights I saw with them over the next day.

The morning of where I left off last. That's Roy and Sandra's RV. I already cleaned up my tent. 

We drove off and stopped here for some coffee and biscuits. They were looking out for a Sea Eagle the whole time. 

An old church on the way. 

A residence. On Mull, there are a lot of properties that are built specifically for tourists or visitors to rent, like a log cabin in Utah... Though I am unsure if this is one of them. 

Most of these smaller towns and places heavily rely on tourists because of the way the modern world is now. There is less need for local goods and merchants because of big corporations and industries, therefore, they rely on the beauty of their land in order to attract people to come and spend money there. Otherwise the local businesses wouldn't survive otherwise.

A pheasant, one of the many birds we saw on the way. I think they look cool. 

A stone... Roy and Sandra tried to take me to a trail that would lead me to a stone circle and I just needed to follow white stones to find it. There were too many wide bogs though and I could not cross one in the end so I didn't end up seeing it. I took a picture of this rock instead. 

Another bird. This is called a Yellow Hammer. Roy and Sandra were really happy to see this and said they don't see them often. 

Earlier on, Roy and I managed to spot a Snipe! They are just a small light brown bird with four distinct white stripes down their back. The one we spotted was near the road and as we drove by it caught our eyes as it ran into some shrubs. I can see why they are rare to spot. They are quick little guys and although they can fly, they generally stay on the ground to stay hidden. Seeing this reminded me of the movie Up when the kid Russell kept trying to look for one. I've never seen or knew what a snipe was so I always picture that big colorful animated bird from the movie when I hear snipe haha. Now I can attach a real image to the word, though that animated one still comes to mind along with it haha.

We reached another spot to rest and have some tea. There was this shop here that relied on other people's honesty as it was left unattended. There were small amounts of food and snacks in there as well as a place to make coffee and tea with signs that told you the price. There was a box with a slit on the top sitting on a small round table by the door as well as a bowl sitting next to it with change. 

On the door, there was this sign. Roy thought it was pretty hilarious and pointed it out to me. 

While having tea, Roy and I started discussing about coins and I noticed that there are so many different designs on the back of them all. I noticed that most of the newer coins had an incomplete image like a puzzle and decided to put them together not realizing I had happened to have a set on me. Roy and Sandra was surprised that it actually worked. The pound at the top shows the complete shield on a single coin. 

The 50p (pence) coins on the right are some rare ones that he has been collecting. The top is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the first man who ran a mile in 4 min which Roy found in the shops change bowl I mentioned earlier which he traded for a plain 50p, the middle is a sort of coat of arms (I forget the significance), and the bottom are boxing gloves, part of a set of coins celebrating the 2012

Summer Olympics in London. I thought the lettering was upside down to the image which I thought was odd but I just realized I was wrong, I just had the coin upside down the whole time. You can see "2012" in blocky letters with the Olympic rings in the zero underneath the image in the way I arranged it. I made it a goal to find a tennis one or any one of them at all. 

After having some tea, I decided to go for a hike around the area. There was supposed to be a castle nearby so I went to wander.

This is near where the RV is parked

I saw 2 caves on the trail

The one on the right had one that went pretty deep but was too small to go into

The right one led back out the other side of the cliff

I have I thing for lone trees

I spotted this from a distance and as I got closer I climbed up to it

Took me a couple tries

I realized I went the wrong way for the castle since its on the other side of the sea loch. I kept going anyways. 

Eventually after a long walk I came to a rocky beach by a house you can't see left of the picture. 

There was an older couple that I happened to pass and they told me that house is a rental for people to get away in. There is no electricity in there and very basic plumbing. A perfect way to get away from the modern world I guess with some basic luxuries.

I river flowing into the sea

Where the river came from. You can see the couple in the left of the photo in the distance getting ready to sit and wait for a Sea Eagle. 

There were perfect rocks for skipping. The most I managed was 7 skips. 

I found a pool of water with little shrimp inside. 

I turned around to go back and see the castle. Later on I met the couple after I came back from the castle and they were telling me how they didn't see the eagle but they saw two sheep herders come over the hill herding sheep on foot after I left! I was a bit bummed I missed that. I would have liked to see that. They were telling me how the herders were running up and down the hill gathering the sheep together. They've never seen anything like that themselves which made me even more bummed cause I probably won't at all if it's not that common to see.

Anyway I got back to the RV and had lunch. Row and Sandra had already ate without me. I was telling them how I went the wrong way for the castle which they had initially told me to go the way I went and Sandra said she realized it was the other way after I had left. She said someone said it was only 5 minutes away from where we were in the opposite direction.

After some toast and cheese, I went to go look at the castle.

Off in the distance

There was a mansion next to it on the left

Unfortunately it was under restoration to get ready for summer tourists for safety. 

I actually approached it and hopped a gap in the fence to see if I could look on the inside. There was a wooden door but it was locked with a chain. Windows were too far out of my reach and I didn't want to ruin anything by climbing to one. Still a sight to see. 

Some views on the way back to the RV

Say some wild life. My first rabbit. I saw two pheasants run off after I turned a corner as well. 

More views

I spotted two more rabbits. This one was getting ready to go home. 

This one was still grazing

Cute guy

I got back and Roy suggested I feed the chaffinches. They aren't too shy around people. The guy I saw near Glasgow university must've been feeding chaffinches  as well. 

Getting dark

Unobstructed view 

I sat and chatted with Roy and Sandra as Sandra prepared dinner. I realized I never took pictures of her cooking. The first night we had Pork chops, mashed potatoes and some veg. This night we had spaghetti and some salad... I might be mixing the meals and food but no matter. Haha they treated me with 5 star service as I kept saying. 3 meals a day, a tour with some bird watching and trails to walk along with first class views. Only sleeping accommodations were questionable haha.

We talked a lot about our lives, their children's lives and their grandchildren. They were good conversations and I really enjoyed their company. They are incredibly warm and welcoming and I felt as if I was a son to them. It was really easy to get carried away in a conversation with them.