Who'd of thought Scotland had a sun?

Well, this report has been a long time coming; mainly because I have had to pluck up the courage to say out loud that Scotland had some good whether. This was confirmed with the many sightings of photographers taking pictures of sunny Scotland commissioned by the local tourist boards throughout our holiday!

As you can see it was quite a picture, this was the local beach...in Scotland, well actually the Isle of Mull. We stayed in a Mhairi's cousins cottage on the island and this is the beach that was a few hundred metres down the road. Absolutely spectacular. I got sun burnt up north.

We were in the middle of nowhere. The main road was a single lane with occasional passing places. Once you had confidence that the likelihood of passing another vehicle was pretty minimal you were able to cross the island in a reasonable time. Otherwise the 20 mile trip takes over an hour. As you can imagine the roads are a bit windy.

The beach was the place to be. It was surrounded by hills which sheltered us from the breeze. The sand was so good there was a sign as you pulled up to remind everyone that excavation of the sand broke the local bye-laws. There were only 5 people in visible range other than us. The only issue I had was that was no warning sign that told you that you entered the sea at your own peril, I can not tell you how cold it was. Mhairi will persist that she remained in there the longest and managed to swim a couple of strokes but I have the medal for full immersion.

The scenery on this island was amazing. I had never spent any time in the western part of Scotland (by choice - as an Englishman - its not my first port of call). But I can reluctantly recommend a visit.

This is echoed by Russell and Helen who joined us for the week. And without their company how parents would have remained sane is beyond me on an island that has no supermarket, swimming pool or any form of release. So thanks guys.