Hello! Finally, over 4 weeks later, I’m sharing all the deets about our Easter road trip to Oban, the Isle of Mull and the Isle of Iona.
We left early ish on Friday morning, but it took hours to get our rental car. Finally by midday we were on our way to Balloch, on the shores of Loch Lomond, where we snacked, sang, wept and had a stroll through enchanting woods.
We then kept our road trip going, despite the rain, and landed in Inveraray. It wasn’t really planned, but it was a lovely stop!
Finally, after driving in the wrong direction for an hour because we didn’t check our map, we made it to Oban by sunset. Sadly we didn’t see much of it – but we will definitely be back!
The next morning we headed to the ferry and at our arrival we were told the ferries were fully booked all day. Cue tears. We had a reservation across the water for the following night and our entire trip was about Mull and Iona. We went to the standby lane and waited until we were told very unceremoniously that we could get on. So much for all the stress! But we were on our way to the isles!
45 short minutes later, we were driving on Mull toward Tobermory.
After a delicious seafood meal, we headed out on the ‘scenic route’ across the island. Lo and behold a single track road the entire way and I was driving at a snail’s pace because I was so scared. Also we had to drive slowly at times because animals were just hanging out on the road. As a first time driver in the UK, it was a true baptism by fire on those roads!
1 hour later we had just done a length that google map said only took 20 minutes to drive – we were in big trouble! The Brit took over to drive us as fast as possible to Fionnphort, from where we were due to take the ferry at 6.15pm to Iona because our accommodation was booked on the other tiny island.
Yep – you guessed right! We missed it – cue tears for the second time – we were having a very bad ferry day! Despite driving as fast as we could, we arrived a few minutes late and could see the ferry across the water. It was the final ferry of the day so our hopes were pretty damn low. But as the ferry returned to Mull on its final run, the Brit ran over and explained our situation. The men in charge of the ferry were so amazing they actually made an additional ferry ride for us! Just so generous and kind!
So we finally made it to Iona and our hostel was at the end of the island, so we walked, still not believing the luck we had just had! The hostel was truly amazing – it was the quietest and quaintest little thing!
The next morning, the sun finally graced us with its presence and we slowly started making our way back.
We spent Sunday morning on Iona – and then back on the ferry and back to Mull and to driving. However it was a lot easier this time around because the visibility was much better! We took our time and finally appreciated what we could see of Mull!
We finished our time in the isles by visiting Duart Castle – at Duart Point – and by having a nice meal in the beer garden of a pub in Craignure. Then it was back on the ferry and back to mainland.
It was a very emotional and exhausting trip – but in retrospect I’m so happy about the whole experience, about confronting my fear to drive here, to have had my first real trip with the Brit, our first real road trip, to having seen Mull, Tobermory and Iona! We are definitely heading back to Iona (though perhaps on the bus)!
Sadly, after our return, I looked at the footage I had shot and in all the emotions of the weekend, I didn’t realise how bad it all was! Therefore, it made it slightly hard to put together a good vlog. After two weeks, I finally resorted to doing it in the style of bloopers, this is what happens when things go wrong! Hope it’s still enjoyable 😉
Ever had things go wrong during a road trip but think back fondly upon them?xx
