"MULL - HOME OF THE CLAN" a Island of Mull Travel Page by mtncorg

Just south of the little jumble of buildings that makes up Craignure - the southern ferry port for Mull, gateway to Oban - is the symbol for the worldwide diaspora of the Clan Maclean, Duart Castle. Jews say to each other, “We’ll meet next year in Jerusalem!” so the meeting place for Macleans must be Mull. And so it is. Every eight years, the clan gathers here from around the globe, in June. I am three months late. That is ok. Being among a thousand other Macleans might be a little much?

Mull is, of course, more than just an opportunity for a member of the diaspora to return home. It is a large island of mountains and lonely glens. The sheep and cows outnumber the people by a good number and that is even after taking into account the large influx of summer tourists that flock here to see what Mull has to offer. Tobermory and Iona are the top reasons tourists come. Tobermory because it is ‘cute’ and has been featured in a popular BBC television program. Iona because of its central role in the story of Christianity throughout Scotland and northern England. The single lane roads that lead in each direction from the Oban ferry terminal at Craignure rumble with the sounds of tourist buses.

I went in the Iona direction in one outing, taking a local bus which let me see Iona before the main glut of tourist buses reached the little ferry port of Fionnphort where you embark on the ferry to cross from Mull to Iona. In the moments before the frenzy, Iona is natural, historic and spiritual. But the same can be said for much of southern Mull where I roamed. The lonely stretches of road that lead from Craignure to Fionnphort make for some great driving. Even better is to get off that main ‘busy’ road and pay a visit to places the tourist buses don’t venture. The road to Lochbuie, for example, is to experience - especially when on a bicycle - something more elemental.