Bike day 5 was our first rainy day of the trip. Because of the rain we waved off the side trip (10 miles round trip) to the brilliant white beach of Calgary Bay and continued directly back to Tobermory. The Flying Dutchman made the short trip in the morning to drop us off at the Salen Pier to start our ride. The buildings on the pier had recently been refurbished to be rented as the only “accomodation on a pier in the UK.” (http://www.salenpier.co.uk/)
The Flying Dutchman on Salen Pier
With the adjustment to leave out the beach visit, the total ride was just over 20 miles (33 km). After leaving Salen, we wound around the edge of the Sound of Mull for a few miles and had a great view across the Sound back to Salen.
Derelict boats near Salen
After leaving the coast we started climbing up a long hill to one of the higher points on Mull and had great views of the island.
Climbing up the hills of Mull
Shortly thereafter we stopped at a small memorial on the top of one of the hills that remembered Brian Molyneux, founder of the Tour of Mull Car Rally. There was a great view of the village of Dervaig and Loch a’ Chumhainn from the site of the memorial.
Brian Molyneux memorial cairn (founder of the Tour of Mull Rally)
Our ride ended in Tobermory where we had the evening to enjoy the town. Tobermory was the most scenic town we saw on the whole trip, and had a line of buildings all along the waterfront in different colors that made a great backdrop for all our pictures and activities.
Tobermory, Island of Mull
The tide was out while we were in town, so most of the boats in the harbour were grounded. It was also quite a climb down to our boat from the dock.
Tobermory fishing boats
Tobermory is also home to one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. Home of Ledaig (prounounced ‘Letch-ick’), a heavily peated single malt Scotch, Tobermory is also one of the most picturesque distilleries we saw on the trip.
Tobermory Distillery
We also had a great meal and a couple of pints at the Mishnish, Tobermory’s signature pub (https://www.themishnish.co.uk/). The Mishnish has been in operation since 1869, and featured a nice fireplace and outstanding fish and chips.
