Day 7 (September 20, 2025): Inner Hebrides

 A Trip to the Inner Hebrides

(by Irma, Josephine, Luzie)

Today we woke up at 5:45 in the morning. Not by accident, but because of our alarms. You might ask yourself why we would do that? The answer lies in the weather: the plan was to go on a boat tour to three different islands. Unfortunately, the tour was cancelled because of the stormy weather. Okay, it wasn‘t totally cancelled, it was just set three hours earlier than planned, which would be the explanation for our early rising.

So, we rose and got dressed. We were told to wrap up warm because we were getting ready for 60km/h of north wind. And by wrapping up, we are talking tights, socks, wooly socks, leg warmers, pants, rain pants, thermos, woolen sweater, fleece, rain jacket, scarf, hat, gloves and of course don‘t forget the wellies (rain boots).

Then we walked to the ferry in the dark like little penguins. First, we were on the big ferry for forty-five minutes and everybody ate the breakfast they had with them and the ocean shook us while the sun was rising. Some even slept. As a little treat, we got ourselves a hot chocolate or a cappuccino which was indeed really hot, it burned our tongues so much it is still hurting right now. We cooled it down while walking to the bus station at the first island which is called Mull, where the grumpy bus driver told us we had to finish our drinks in twenty minutes. But two minutes later he told us to throw them in the bin because we already had to get on the bus. And because of the heat of the drinks, we couldn‘t just throw them away. That was really sad.

During the bus ride, which lasted about one and a half hours, we slept once again and woke up to the highland cows right next to the bus window.

Upon arrival, we entered another boat, but this time a really small one. We surfed on the waves and at first, we really enjoyed it, but then we got soaked and it wasn‘t so funny for everyone anymore. Even less funny was the fact that two cameras got a little wet and didn‘t function anymore as they were supposed to. Also, it was so cold on that boat, the wind really was icy. We were happy to wear so many layers but still wished to have worn even more.

Then we arrived at the little island which is called Staffa, which is known for its basalt columns that look actually really fascinating. Sadly, there weren‘t any puffins anymore, they had already left for Iceland. We only saw some seals and birds.

After an hour on this small island, we took the same boat to Iona, an island right next to Mull. It‘s bigger than Staffa and there are even about 180 inhabitants living there. We had three hours to explore the wildlife, walk to the other side of the island, look at the oldest stones in Europe (Lewisian Gneiss) and say hello to all the sheep and cows. We really enjoyed Iona and its nature.

 

The boat ride back to Mull on the medium sized ferry took only about eight minutes. From Mull we took the same way back to the port of Oban. During the bus ride, most of us slept or looked sleepily out of the window. During the ferry ride, we explored the ship (we did not go into the restricted areas) and looked into the ocean.

 

Back at the port we were all tired from the long day and happy to finally get warm in our beds. We made ourselves a warm dinner, some cooked nice meals while others made ramen instant noodles which were also nice. Some did their laundry. 

Although it was an exhausting day, it was really amazing and lovely and fun. Thanks to our teachers for planning  this trip.