Mallaig to Eigg to Mallaig to Gretna

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21st Jan 2022

Mallaig to Eigg to Gretna

Today was supposed to be a travelling day as Googley Maps said it was 4 hours and 47 minutes to Gretna. We’re only staying in Gretna to break up the journey home and, with the problems with getting to any of the Small Islands, we decided to fill the day by taking the opportunity to get to Eigg. Muck will just have to wait!

We had to be at the ferry port by 09:50 and get everything packed up and in the car beforehand too, so we had an early start. It was a bit misty as we left our super home for the last three nights, so we stopped on the way to Mallaig to take some moody loch shots. They’re quite a niche field of photography but possibly something I would like to specialise in. There hasn’t been much call for my previous speciality which was Highland Wildlife Photography from a Moving Vehicle on this holiday but I’ll be looking to get back into that in the future. I’m quite surprised it never caught on obviously.

Anyway, we parked on our usual car park and were at the ferry port in plenty of time. The ferry was a bit bigger than yesterdays as it fitted about 6 vehicles on it as well, whilst also having lots of indoor and outdoor seating. It was also a lot slower than yesterday’s.

Just as we left the dock I had a text from the ferry company saying today’s sailings may be cancelled due to lack of visibility. Yep, even the ferry back which is very helpful when you’ve just set off! And it was pretty clear by now and remained so all day but there was always the chance that we wouldn’t male it back. And even if there was a bit of mist, come on guys, put some effort in, it’s not like you’re avoiding icebergs now is it!

One of our reasons for wanting to go to Eigg were the Singing Sands which do exactly what that says when you jump on them. Not sure they sing an actual song and, knowing my luck, it would be some awful dirge like Adele but it was worth trying to find out. And at only £8.50 each return it was worth the risk. (Unless we didn’t make it back of course)

There were very few passengers so I kind of think the half-arsed attitude to doing the trips is that they don’t make any money. They do however deliver the post and some workmen needed to be brought back for the weekend so, again, put some effort in!

The trip over took about 80 minutes and we were met by Charlie. Claire had phoned Charlie yesterday as he is the taxi driver on Eigg. Out of a population of about 110, at least one must surely be a taxi driver. Charlie was very stereotypically Scottish with a Scotland hat, big boots, a camouflage jacket on and a bushy beard, although he assured us it had been recently shorn. Not surprisingly he also spoke very broad Scottish of which I only stumbled on a couple of words.

Booking him was a great idea by Claire (two good ideas in one lifetime….I’ve told her to lie down!) as Charlie was happy to talk about life on Eigg and here are a few nuggets:

If you’re going to get ill, do it on a Wednesday, as that’s when the doctor comes.
He has Netflix and Prime Video.
There is one shop on the island.
The pub is currently closed.
A ceilidh there can last for 12 hours and they have crash mats for people to take power naps on.
Some of the programme Outlander was filmed there.
Tolkien did some of his writing there and the misty mountains over Rum possibly gave him the idea for Mordor.
There are no police on the island. This gives rise to a scant regard for not drink-driving…..
There are roads but only residents can have cars there.
There are otters, eagles and rabbits but no foxes, deer or squirrels.
The island was bought out by its residents in 2007 so the other islands call Eigg, The People’s Republic of Eigg.
Only about 30% of the people who live there are Scottish with about 40% being English trying to get as far away from Boris Johnson as possible.
Amazon do not offer free next day delivery here.

It was a fascinating place and Claire has her eye on retiring there which I’m not going to disagree with. I may even go with her… House prices are above Stoke’s but well below London’s and they have risen since the island became a Republic and mains electricity was put in. I guess we’ll see eh.

So we were advised that it was a waste of time going to the Singing Sands as they were only playing Everything I Do by Bryan Adams at this time of year and no-one wants to ever hear that drivel again. Or Charlie could have said that it was too wet and they don’t sing at all at this time of year, plus it was a really boggy walk down to it. So he took us to another beach as well. We didn’t have much time as the ferry out took longer than we thought it would and the ferry back was earlier than it said on the timetable. If it went at all of course.

We only had about 35 minutes to walk down to the beach, wander round, for me to take some award-winning photos and for Claire to get her feet soaked but we managed it. Charlie took us back to the port and the ferry did leave….hooray…..although it was 8 minutes earlier than it said on the timetable so maybe some people do miss it sometimes.

We had a 4 3/4 hour drive to look forward to now but we were soon stopping to take some photos of a misty lake. A bit further on I was looking for a signposted monument when I noticed the Harry Potter railway bridge in the distance. Claire turned round so we could get some photos of it, sadly without the Hogwart’s Express going over it. It wasn’t signposted which you would expect as there was a cafe and stuff there, so I’m glad I just happened to notice it as it was far from the road.

After a stop for petrol where we bought some reduced M&S food for tea we made it to our last hotel of the holiday at about 20:30. We’re in a Days Inn on the services at Gretna and are a tad worn out after a long day. We made it to Eigg though. But now we want to go back. And to Much and Rum of course. Laters.

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