Short trip to Oban

With a few days between working (part-time teaching yoga), and since it worked out with our family's schedule, I decided to take a brief trip to the west-coast of Scotland to check out Oban (Oct 2 - 4). Although we do lots of traveling as a family, from time-to-time I enjoy taking a few days by myself to explore. While I normally take the train to travel, I got a fantastic deal on the bus (for a 4 hour journey in each direction only £5 return) and it was actually faster than the train which had longer connections. To keep the budget modest I stayed at the youth hostel (which by the way has a great view of the water) and cooked for myself rather than going to restaurants.

Oban is right on the edge of the mainland and looking across its bay one can see nearby islands of Kerrera and Mull. On the day I arrived, I hiked up to McCaig's Tower which is a large monument overlooking the town in the style of a Roman Colosseum. If Oban is a smaller Scottish town with a population of 10,000 then Kerrera is nearly deserted with only 30 residents on the island. On Friday (luckily the nicest day of the month), I took a tiny ferry over to Kerrera and hiked a 6 mile trail over its southern half. During the walk, I visited the ruins of Gylen Castle which was a fortified tower destroyed 350 years ago ... as it overlooks the ocean it was a scenic place to stop for a packed lunch. Exceptionally secluded, it was a great day of hiking with hardly anyone else around and I enjoyed the spectacular views!

Saturday I took a Cal-Mac (Caledonian MacBrayne) ferry to Mull and toured Duart Castle (belonging to one branch of the Maclean clan) which has been impressively restored in the past 40 years. I plan to return (with Harriet and the boys next time) having found the west-coast particularly beautiful.