August 1st, Saturday. Sailing to Isle of Eigg

The itinerary said that I was meant to take the ferry over to Eigg today at 2:15. Whenever I am supposed to be somewhere at a certain time I get nervous about missing the connection. Which is quite silly as the b&b was an 8-minute walk from the ferry terminal; I watched the ferries go in and out every morning. And the ferry was only leaving at 2:15 so it wasn't like I had to be up at the crack of dawn. Still, that sailing time meant that, being the nervous nellie that I am and also given my propensity for getting lost, I couldn't go too far from the town. I decided I wouldn't rush out of my b&b, just take my time, leave my bags at the b&b and just stroll around the perimeter of Mallaig.

As I walked up the hill past my b&b I looked back and saw Eigg (on the left) and Rum, shadowy in the early morning sunshine. They'd been two shadows in the distance for the three days I'd been here and soon I'd get to see them closer.

I'd taken a photo of Skye a few days ago but this was a different view of it, further along its coastline. I did wonder whether I ought to have gone over to Skye. I know that it's beautiful and there is much to see there but, well, I wanted to do something a little offbeat on this holiday. Dougie at Make Tracks had said that Skye is the island that most people want to go to and I was also intrigued by the idea of the "small isles" of Eigg and Rum. I only had so much money so I chose Eigg as Dougie also said that Eigg was the more interesting of the two. So I only saw the others in the distance and maybe some day I'll be back.

I admired the wildflowers growing by the road.

And stopped to watch a fisherman repainting his boat in the harbour. I'd never thought about it before but there are a lot of blue boats. Guess it goes well with the water??

Here's a dog who appeared to be waiting for the postman. The sight tickled my funnybone. I had

n't noticed the dog at first until he popped his head round. He didn't bark or anything. Just looked at me and I thought "Hmmm. Wonder if he and the postman are friends?"

I had a huge lunch at a restaurant called The Cabin. I'd gone in early and good thing too because very soon it filled up and people were turned away. I enjoyed every bit of lunch and was surprised to hear American accents at the table next to mine. I hadn't seen any Americans since my first night there when I saw those two couples in Highland gear. These Americans were dressed in trendy outdoor gear and the one woman among them looked very bored. The men seemed to be comparing the various places they'd been to. I tried to strike up a bit of a conversation with them about where they were going but they answered in monosyllables. Ah well, I've found plenty of Scots, English and Europeans who love to chat. And as I waited for the ferry to load, I struck up a conversation with a young English couple who were also going to Eigg with their dog. They were renting one of the simple cottages on the island for a week and planned to do some walking.

This statue on the pier at Mallaig had intrigued me. I hadn't been able to get very close to it as it's in an area that's blocked off so I snapped it as we moved past it on the ferry. The two figures are looking across to Skye but I don't know any more than that about it. I didn't find any literature on it and I forgot to ask Ian in the shop. At least I know it's not Bonnie Prince Charlie :)

The sky was very grey and so was the water as we made the 1.5 hour journey over to Eigg. We passed Rum (pictured). It often has that cloud cap hanging over it even when there's sun on the other islands. Someone on Eigg told me that Tolkien supposedly had Rum in mind when he created Mordor in his book. I checked it out on google and several other websites also mentiion the Tolkien/Rum connection. So either it's true or the other folks ran into the same fellow I did.

As we approached Eigg, I took a photo of a white farmhouse perched on a hill. I didn't realize it then but that would be my b&b for the next three nights, Kildonan Farm. We docked at high tide and getting off the boat was a bit tricky. We walked down part of the ramp and then we had to watch for the waves to draw back and rush across the end of the ramp before the water surged back and swamped us. And it was, of course, pouring rain.

I felt a bit uneasy when I first arrived. Eigg IS a very small isle and everyone seemed to know one another and where they were going. As I've said before, I may give the appearance of being an intrepid traveler but on the inside I'm often feeling quite timid. There was no real reception area at the dock, just a road leading up to building that was called the cafe. Even my English friends had each other and were met by someone who said they'd show them their cottage. So I stood there for a moment until a man asked me did I know where I was going? When I said no, that I was going to Kildonan, he said, ah they were here a few moments ago, just go on up to the cafe. So I did. There were about 25 people all chatting away and I asked again if anyone knew the folks from Kildonan. They pointed to a woman in a purple sweater who turned and said, ah you must be Valerie. She said it would be awhile before she would be leaving--she was part of a group having a good chat--and to wander around the building. There was a tiny grocery store, a craft shop, a series of posters on the walls describing the history of Eigg, how the islanders had bought the island from their landlord in the early 1990s and how they are trying to create a green community and there was, as well, the cafe. So I sat down with a piece of fruit loaf and waited for Mairi Carr. And wondered if I was going to enjoy this. I felt lonely and foreign.

But after about 20 minutes Mairi came and got me and once we were in her jeep bumping along the very narrow road to the farm, her warm manner made me feel a whole lot better. She said there were four other guests at the farmhouse--a couple from France and a couple from the Netherlands. We bumped along the road to the farmhouse and when we arrived she helped me lug my suitcase up to the attic.

Yep, three flights of stairs. I had this bedroom to myself and decided on the bed on the left but I'd be sharing two bathrooms with the other guests. Still they were big bathrooms--they even had window seats in them--with real bath tubs.

And there was an inviting guest lounge on the second floor with a blessedly warm fire in the stove, comfy leather couches and chairs and a huge centre table piled high with interesting books and magazines. Mairi told me to settle myself in, offered me coffee or tea (I told her I'd brought my own) and brought me up a plate of gingerbread. I unpacked my bags and settled myself down on the couch in the lounge with a history of Eigg. About an hour later, the couple from the Netherlands arrived back from their hike and we soon were talking about the hiking on Eigg and on Mallaig--they were signed up with Make Tracks as well. And in another hour, the French couple--who were actually from Geneva--arrived back and we enjoyed the warmth of the fire in the lounge until dinner was announced.

Because there is no hotel/restaurant on the island, I had full board at Kildonan. And was the food ever good! That first night we were served a delicious soup and then lasagne and then a fruit meringue dessert. Mairi put out a notebook for us to indicate what we wanted for breakfast (egg, sausage, bacon, etc.) and whether we also wanted a packed lunch the next day.

The only small problem was that just as we were finishing dinner, the woman helping Mairi told us that the cold water had gone off. Hmmm--well, if the cold water is off, it won't be long before the hot is off as well. And, sure enough, as we were settled in the lounge dozing in front of the fire, we found out that the cold water was now used up as well and the toilets had stopped flushing. Hmmm. So I went to bed without brushing my teeth and hoping that there would be running water tomorrow.