My morning started with an alarm-like beeping waking me up. It was coming from the cupboard above my bed. I stood up and opened the cupboard and it was the electricity meter and it looked like it was out of credits. It happens to be a pay as you go electric meter which I have read about, but this knowledge wasn't going to help me when the beeping continued and then a POP! The light went out and the rest of the electricity. I couldn't even have a shower, as the shower is electric and requires power to run and to heat the water. So I got dressed and went next door to Anne's cottage (the land lord), but there was no answer and she was not at the Posh Nosh restaurant yet. So I went back to my cottage and started packing up my luggage, as I had to change accommodation today. At 10am, Anne was at the restaurant and she went down to the post office and put £20 of credits on the the power key and gave it to me. I went back to the cottage and inserted the key into the meter, viola! The power was back on! Makes you appreciate and monitor your electricity use. After taking a nice long shower and with the fridge and heater on, I used £0.40 of energy, before I moved to my new accommodation for the next two nights. My room wasn't going to be ready until early afternoon, but I was able to drop my luggage (both bags are 40+lbs, which I question why I packed so much, but I know I will have what I need this summer, includes a bulky tent, sleeping bag and outdoor gear). Anyways, by the time I moved everything around, I wanted to figure out what to do with my day. I had planned to take the bus north to Dervaig in the morning, but the power crisis put me behind schedule. I checked the bus schedule and saw the bus going south to Craignure was leaving in 10 minutes, so I hurried over to Ledaig car park and hopped on the bus. The journey is about 50 minutes long and the scenery, spectacular! You follow the coastline south with gorgeous views of the Sound of Mull and the hills beyond. It is overcast and very windy today (a bit chilly too), but the sun occasionally breaks through and makes a hill or two glow with this amazing light. Amazing! Once in Craignure, I set out on foot for Torosay Castle. I took a footpath through the woods, which was lovely and had great views up the Firth of Lorne, the garden isle of Lismore and the hills beyond. After a 2 km walk I arrived at the castle and paid a small fee to access the gardens and spent the next 2 hours walking the grounds and gardens of Torosay. Its early in the season yet, but the many rhendendeons are in spectacular bloom along with many other wildflowers and some Japanese cherry trees in full blossom. Did I mention I LOVE gardens? I found a bench and wrote in my journal a bit, but after awhile realized the blustery wind had made me a bit hypothermic, so I headed to the tea room and got a lovely bowl of cream cheese soup (odd I know but hot and delicious!) and slice of carrot cake. I eventually made my way back outside and had fun scratching a orphan lamb's ears and started to head back down the forest trail to Craignure. There was an alternate trail called the Hedgehog Wood Path, so I went thru a gate into a field, walking up a hill among some sheep and Highland cattle. There was suppose to be a path, but all I found was solid fence and a bunch of sheep bah-bah-bahing at me. So I went back to the little map outside the gate, and decided to walk down the hill to see if I could find the path. I met a lady who was also looking for the path, so we headed out together. We found the gate this time and walked down a lovely woodland trail with a endless carpet of bluebells on both sides of the trail. It smelled wonderful. Lakshme lives in Seattle and had been visited friends in Glasgow, decided to visit Mull before going home. She hadn't visited Tobermory yet and has one more day on the island, so I told her to take the bus tomorrow and come explore, despite the possible motion sickness on the crazy bus ride up here (windy single land road and fast bus drivers). So maybe I will see her around town tomorrow. So I got on the bus back to Tobermory, after a lovely afternoon walk. I am now relaxing back in my room and I am ready for a good nights rest. I am finally on local time, my internal clock adjusting to the 6 hour difference. The weather tomorrow is suppose to be quite foul, with rain and high winds, so I might see if I can help out in the Hwdt office with anything that I might be able to do without to much explanation. If it is decent enough or if I dress warmly enough, I think I will take a walk along the coast to the lighthouse. I will also need to pack for my trip aboard Silurian, that starts Sunday morning. So now that I have finished this long entry on my cell phone keyboard, I think I will get ready for bed!
Good night!
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