That will be that

It was a straight forward walk along the seafront to the ferry terminal in the morning and we were there in time for the first ferry out of Oban for mull , I had forgotten the logistics of arriving on mull as it was over 10 years since my previous visit to the island  , the ferry journey over isnt long a very pleasant hour or so on a nice big ferry , but you arrive at craignure which is a 40min road drive away from Tobermory , there was a bus waiting for the ferry passengers it costs £11 for an open return, the ferry over was busy so its a very busy full bus , but we were glad that there was at least a bus from the ferry this time ,we went into the tourest information office before boarding the bus,  and had a look at the maps of the island then spoke to the very helpfull assistant , getting a walk up ben more without our own transport to the start point was going to prove virtually impossible even with a wild camp , so we opted to get the bus into town and think it over , it takes about an hour for the bus to get to tobermory and it drops you right at the harbour where the distillery is and mcolgans bar which we went into for a bowl of soup a beer and some local info and then decide if and where to stay for the night , using the wifi in the pub we found a few options and thought we would have a walk along the front and make a decision once we had taken a look at our options ! we could always decide to get the next bus back , the very picturesque harbour front of tobermory has some lovely brightly painted buildings and one of those is the iconic mishnish bar and hotel. the outside is painted bright yellow and the bar inside is lovely , we went in for a pint and a look around loved the place and decided we would be staying here , what a great wee place 

braw

  our room was on the top floor overlooking the harbour and after unpacking we had a walk along the harbour shops, i ended up buying some  books from the lovely books and tackle shop , At the end of the harbour is the distillery we went in and had a chat about their whisky we got a taste and booked ourselves on the tour ,which was starting in an hours time so enough time for a bowl of soup and a beer next door at mcgolgans before the tour starts ,

       there was only 5 of us on the tour and it was conducted by a young Lithuanian chap who for being Lithuanian seemed very knowledgeable about whisky and the distillery which has been making whisky here since 1790 , It was an interesting quick tour and a very pleasant tasting session after the tour was over ,so after a pleasant sampling i had to buy a bottle and some whisky fudge and a couple of minatuers before leaving ,

being at the harbor front should always include a poke of fish and chips and we chose to get some from the chippy van not the shop to be eaten whilst walking back to the mishnish . while walking along eating our chips we seen an advert for newton faulkner playing here tonight in a place called the aros hall very close by , it would be silly not to go see him while we were here . so we made enquiries about ticket availability and found out we could pay at the door later  ,

The fire was roaring in the mishnish and we were lucky to get two of the nice whisky barrel seats right infront of the fire for our beers and some food,I had prawns in noodles which was lovely , The newton faulkner gig was excellent , such a small venue for a well known artist made it an up close and personal sort of gig with plenty audience participation , the beer choice at the hall was rubbish it was cans of guiness or tenents lager so i was glad of a decent beer after the gig Once back at the mishnish

      Breakfast is served from 8:30 - 9:30 we were finished eating our breakfast before 9:30 , it was lovely and with pleasant harbour views , we took our time packing and didnt stress about getting the 10am bus untill we realised we could make it if we rushed ! but we were too late we missed it by 5 mins , no problem we thought there is a ferry every 2 hours so the buses will link with those ? WRONG the winter bus timetable strikes agian there is only 2 buses deaprt from the harbour to the ferry terminal a day 10 &5 the other ferries dont get a bus from tobermorry , so yet again on this trip we had decisions about hanging about or getting a taxi we had paid our return bus ticket and a taxi would be £40 but if we waited untill 5 the last sailing of the day the train journey back to glasgow would be on a dark train arriving at nearly 10pm glasgow ! we opted for the £40 taxi after all the winter timetable stuff this week it now seems obvious why certain tickets dont get sold during the winter , the grand tour ticket that finishes on the 22nd of october would have been no use to us or at least no different from the tour ticket we bought 

                    we had a bit of a wait at the ferry terminal for the second ferry of the day , the views from the ferry on the sailing were stunning , i spoke to newton faulkner on the ferry the weather for the ferry was cold but pleasant our arrival in oban gave us an hour to kill before our train to glasgow , so just enough time for some soup and a beer ,there is a witherspoons on oban pier named after the famous whirlpool the corryvraken , right on the pier almost inbetween the ferry and train,  it was ideal and it had a roaring fire perfect to take the chill of the ferry journey out of me ,

                There was plenty seats on the train and we nearly got a double window seat , right up until a young couple boarded at the last Minuit they had booked the window seat opposite mine , It turns out this young chap sitting across from us was a real rail enthusiast he knew absolutely everything about trains ,he proudly showed us his heaps of tickets and told us he has been on every train station in Scotland , and he had recently done a round Britain train journey that made our highland rover ticket a Sunday outing ! he had bought an all Britain rail pass for £300 and slept on sleeper trains every night for a week travelling the length and breadth of Britain all day every day on trains , he showed us the spreadsheet he had made detailing his destinations distances train numbers ( yes serial numbers ) and he definitely got his moneys worth out of that journey , as we travelled down to Glasgow together he gave us facts about the line we were using things like its the only line in Britain with a wire on it sensitive to rockfalls that will change a signal to warn drivers , how old our carriages were what the new trains our local line was getting when stations were built stuff like that , and when we were approaching crianlarich he used his app ( an app on his phone that maps locations of trains all over Britain ) to make sure the special West Coast Railways tourist train was in, its a company that offer a selection of rail journeys, taking you the length and breadth of the country by either vintage diesel or steam engine in traditional carefully restored Mark I or Mark II carriages. sure enough it was in the station when we arrived and he got out to take pictures of it , 

     Its a 3 hr journey by train from Oban to Glasgow very scenic all the way , we arrived in Glasgow perfect timing for the sun to set we had travelled the whole way in perfect weather and now it was dinner time , something quick and easy to eat in Glasgow as its rush hour at queen street station , the renovations are going on just now in the station the easiest option for us with our big packs was a quick walk up George square to the counting house for dinner and beers it was mobbed we were lucky to find a table we could dump our bags at , our journey home and the end of this tour was as good as over an excellent dinner and a short train journey home end of a fun wee adventure