Tobermory Tales - March 2004

After the snow the weather has turned decidedly wet and windy here on Mull.

The Screen Machine arrived for three nights of cinema, which is always a cause for excitement.

For those unfamiliar with this, The Screen Machine is basically a fold-up cinema. It is carried on the back of an articulated lorry and unfolds to become a small yet fully equipped cinema.

It's normally sited in the Ledaig car park in Tobermory which is convenient both for parking and MacGochon's pub!

Slainte!
Gary

I was sitting with my two youngest children yesterday afternoon watching CBeeBies on Sky when two of the acid-crazed presenters leapt into a song and dance routine.

The theme of the skit seemed to be 'Come on holiday to Balamory' and I thought about this while clips of merry-go-rounds, swimming pools and other such attractions flashed across the screen.

You see, whilst Tobermory is a really nice place to visit it doesn't actually have a lot for children to do when the weather's too wet to be outside, and we don't have a swimming pool anywhere on the island (yet).

There's no equivalent of McDonalds or Burger King apart from the Chip Van, although this does serve the most delicious fresh-fried fish and chips you're likely to find anywhere; the cinema is only open for a few days of the year (and arrives on the back of a lorry); and you'll be very lucky to see PC Plum or any of the other cast members around the town.

By far the majority of Tobermory people welcome the Balamory families and are happy to share this beautiful island with all our visitors but please remember that for the most part it's little-changed from twenty years ago.

Having breathed a bit of life into Steph's Landrover Discovery we decided that yesterday was high time for a trip to Fort William to replenish some of the food stocks and fill-up the car with LPG.

Getting off Mull is relatively straightforward. You can take the big MV Isle of Mull ferry from Craignure to Oban (useful for shopping trips as a foot passenger) or the ferry Isle of Cumbrae from Fishnish to Lochaline on the Morvern mainland - this is a better (and cheaper) option if you're taking the car shopping too.

We chose the latter and lined up on the slipway at 10am for the Cumbrae. It was a sunny morning but as we drove aboard the first drops of rain started to fall.

In this picture the Isle of Cumbrae is just approaching the slipway at Lochaline:


After disembarking from the Cumbrae at Lochaline we drove across Morvern to the next ferry at Corran. This is a short hop across Loch Linnhe where we joined the A82 to drive into Fort William.

I don't think we've ever been to Fort William when it wasn't raining and Saturday was no exception. Loaded-up with goodies from Safeway we headed back home again. Rolling off the ferry at Fishnish at 4:45pm the rain petered out and we enjoyed glorious sunshine for the drive back to Tobermory.

Cheers
Gary

Both locals and visitors to Mull have been surprised to see a brightly-coloured bird soaring through the skies above Tobermory in recent days.

Resembling a parrot or parokeet this orangey-pink and green bird looks suspiciously like a carefully painted seagull and the word around the town is that someone bravely trapped one of these viscous beasties and performed a bit of re-touching before letting it go.

Certainly it doesn't seem in the least bit bothered by its recent re-spray although it might be finding its more fashion-conscious friends avoiding it.

As soon as I can manage to get a picture of it I'll post it on both this blog and our http://www.balamory.org.uk website.

Regards
Gary & Steph

Last night (Tuesday) was the date of the Tobermory meeting to discuss the new Local Plan and the promise of fireworks was apparent from the start.

In the days prior to the meeting many local houses had received unsolicited and unsigned letters raising the subject of windfarms on Mull and why this would be a bad thing, and inviting them to the meeting to voice their objections.

Immediately prior to the meeting a notice board had surrepticiously appeared outside Aros Hall proclaiming the same and inviting people inside and there was a good turn-out of residents.

Opening the meeting Eddie O'Donnell of the Community Council immediately condemned any attempt to hijack the agenda, threatening to abandon the meeting at one point.

After giving everyone a long fifteen minutes to study the plans he re-convened to discuss the content. By this point a sizeable number of attendees had decided to leave but there were still in excess of a hundred or so.

Discussion circled around the areas marked for development, explaining the various zones and what they could be used for.

The subject of windfarms was raised again and deemed to be in accordance with the agenda as the area marked on the plan as being considered for one is adjacent to Tobermory.

With the weather turning chilly and the winds getting up we had a royal visitor to Tobermory yesterday - a Princess no less!

The MV Hebridean Princess (picture below):


She was formerly known as the MV Columba and for many years was the main ferry linking Mull to the mainland. After being retired by CalMac she was re-named and now serves as a cruise ship touring the islands during the summer.

She's still a handsome boat and I'm looking forward to enjoying a cruise aboard her myself.

The Balamory Parrot has been mentioned in the national papers the week. I'm still trying to get a photo of it to prove it's real.

In the meantime I'm busy planning my house-hunting trip to Islay tomorrow. The weather has definitely turned against me as to fit in with the ferry timetables I'm going to be travelling by motorbike! Wish me luck and give me a wave if you see me.

Cheers
Gary

So, with the barometer falling almost as fast as the temperature I lined-up at the terminal on Friday morning to wait for the ferry. Strong winds gave them trouble berthing the MV Isle of Mull but by attaching a hawser betwixt the bow and the pier they used the stern thrusters to swing her round.


The crossing to Oban was surprisingly smooth and I stuffed myself with one of CalMac's excellent fried breakfasts! Riding the motorbike down to Kennacraig for the Islay ferry took about an hour an a half and whilst dry the weather was decidedly chilly. The 2+hrs crossing aboard the MV Hebridean Isles to Port Askaig was a mite bumpy but we got there in one piece. Having finally found the house I'd gone to look at I blasted down to Port Ellen and found a room at the White Hart Hotel for the night.

Next morning bright and early I was lined-up at the keyside for the ferry back to Kennacraig. Compared to the previous day this was smooth and by 1:30pm I was back in Oban. Unfortunately the 4pm sailing of the MV Isle of Mull was delayed. At first the story was that there was a diver missing at Craignure and she was standing by to give assistance but later changed to being a boat in distress. Whatever, you learn to put up with these things when you live near the sea, after all it could be someone you know in trouble.

The ferry finally docked at Oban at 5:30pm and steamed smoothly back to Craignure arriving at around 6:15pm. By the time I'm ridden back to Tobermory through the rain, and dodging three red deer on the road, I was tired and aching and slipped gratefully into a deep hot bath.

...Well, sort of. Perhaps marooned would be more appropriate...

One of the most overwhelming factors of living on an island is our near-total dependance on the ferry service for travelling to and from the mainland.

Steph, myself, and three of the children went off-island on Friday to look at a house up near Gairloch and returning to Lochaline on Saturday afternoon we narrowly missed the 3 o'clock ferry back to Mull so settled down for half an hour's wait.

Unfortunately upon arriving at Fishnish the ferry was caught by a freak gust of wind and jammed on the rocks close to the slipway.

The Tobermory lifeboat, Elizabeth Fairlie Ramsay, was called out and successfully managed to pull her clear. She was escorted back to Lochaline by the lifeboat but unable to take passengers again until an engineer had certified her seaworthy.

For us this meant a 66 mile journey in the Landrover, involving another ferry crossing at Corran, back to Oban to begin the search for a hotel room for the night. All the hotels were full but we managed to find a comfortable B&B. Next morning (Sunday) we were up bright and early to catch the ferry MV Isle of Mull back to Craignure.

All in all an eventful, not to mention expensive, trip; and the house wasn't big enough!

Cheers
Gary & Steph and family...

Sometime during Tuesday night Steph's Landrover Discovery and the neighbour's car were both vandalised - lots of scratched paintwork.

Worst of all though, they badly scratched the front mudguard of my motorbike! As any biker will tell you, messing with their motorbike is a hanging offense.

All in all, hundreds of pounds worth of damage to repair.

You don't expect such mindless vandalism in a place like Tobermory. Suffice to say the Police are involved but I'm not holding out much hope.

If I do find out who it is then there's a very good chance they'll be going for a swim off the end of the pier!

Gary

Just when I thought the week couldn't get any worse....

I had the Police round this afternoon to apraise me of progress so far on the vandalism.

We took the rain cover right off the bike only to discover the scumbag had trashed the petrol tank too!

Whoever they are though they aren't that bright as they have kindly engraved their initials into the paintwork.

Either JM, TM or SM are one set, and AK or AH are the other. Without wanting to upset the Police's sterling work I have been independantly given a name for one of the perpetrators which matches the initials and has duly been passed on to Tobermory Police.

If I were pressed then I'd say that the perp's were female, aged between 10 and 14, and that their parents probably know they did it.

If someone were to come forward and offer to pay in full for the repairs then I'd be inclined to consider dropping any charges.

As a biker I don't make that offer lightly....

I am not a 'Happy Bunny'...

Gary

We popped over to Oban on Saturday to do a bit of shopping. The weather was sunny and the sea calm. As the MV Isle of Mull approached Craignure Steph thought she could see dolphins swimming alongside but a quick spy through my binoculars revealed they were an entirely different form of marine wildlife: Jetbikers!

They followed the ferry closely back to Oban, jumping across the wake and powering through the prop-wash.

Does anybody recognise themselves?

They appeared to be having a fine old time but I'm not sure what the Captain of the ferry thought about it all.

Cheers
Gary

p.s. I've added a jetbike to my Christmas list...