Bob, Mull is a delightful place, and Ledaig whisky is a very pleasant
tipple. Mull also gives ready access to Iona with the early Christian Abbey,
and Staff, with Fingal's cave (cue Mendelssohn!). But Mull is an island,
connected to the mainland by ferries which severely limits your ability to
travel around. Allow 1.5 hours for the ferry from Craignure to Oban (the
other ferries either take longer, or go to places which are even more
isolated than Mull!). The last ferry back to Mull leaves Oban at 6pm most
days.
The best neolithic-ish (Iron Age, not Stone Age) sites on the mainland are,
to my mind, just south of Oban - Google Dunadd, there is plenty more nearby
- and just south of Kyle of Lochalsh - Google Dun Telve, there are two more
nearby . But for spectacle, you'll have to go over to Lewis to see Callanish
standing stones (qv you know where). The photos do not do it justice, and a
visit in May would be very moving. There's a broch similar to Dun Telve
nearby (Dun Carloway). There is lots lots more all over the Highlands, but
it helps to know where to look, as much of it is not on the main roads, and
very little has any tourism infrastructure - you don't want gift shops, do
you?
The downside to Lewis is that it too is dependent on ferries - allow three
hours from Ullapool to Stornoway, two sailing a day. Or fly from Inverness.
Island hopping could be a way to do it - take a look at
http://www.calmac.co.uk for all the possibilities, but keep in mind that
Skye is now connected by bridge, which makes it much easier (an easy day
trip from here, for example).
The best geology is further north, although much much older than neolithic -
as I have just mentioned to AndrewF. And with evidence of neolithic human
presence at Inchnadamph http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchnadamph it would
seem to tick your boxes :-)
I'll get some photos posted to give you a flavour (but the Callanish photos
are 30+ years old, and not scanned, so you'll have to make do with
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=callanish
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Whitmire [mailto:bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 26 March 2013 12:56
To: Olympus Camera Discussion
Subject: Re: [OM] (OT) The Road Ahead
--snip (a big one!)
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