Midge avoidance at Inninmore

South of Glensanda superquarry the scenery returned to "normal" as we paddled steadily towards Rubha an Ridire (Knight's point), the southernmost tip of the Morvern peninusla and the turn from the Lynn of Morvern into the Sound of Mull.

The water here was thick with Moon Jellies (Aurelia aurita) to the point where it was difficult to paddle without striking them.

Around the point, a little way into the Sound of Mull we headed inshore towards the welcome sight of Inninmore.  A privately owned property, Inninmore is left open by Ardtornish Estate.  One of the more enlightened rural landowners, Ardtornish has an arrangement with the Mountain Bothies Association who maintain bothies on the estate - but Inninmore isn't one of them.  A notice inside the bothy asks visitors to abide by a few simple principles - essentially the Bothy Code.  We met our friend Ronnie on the beach (along with about a million midges) and since we were a party of seven, most of us camped outside to allow any other potential visitors space, though in the event nobody else turned up.

Inninmore is a fine building in a super position on a wide bay with views up the Sound of Mull.  The bothy is in the main building, the smaller building to the right is an estate store.

Propped against the outside wall was an interesting agricultural artefact, a Coulter (plough) which would have been pulled by horse with the ploughman following behind.  Items such as this really do give a view of what life was like here - this isn't just a random building in a remote location; it was home to generations of folk.

The main room of Inninmore is small but perfectly formed.  We cooked outside, protected by midge hoods and jackets, and ate inside - later we lit a most effective fire and sat chatting long into the summer night.  A simple shelter, good food and the company of like-minded friends - it really was a pleasant evening and a huge relief to be able to retreat inside and avoid the midge swarms.

One of the pieces of furniture at Inninmore is this chest of drawers made from old fish boxes.  It must have some age because all modern fishboxes are made from plastic. As a piece of "statement furniture", it's a gem.

I slept very well in my tent outside Inninmore, waking to a quiet morning.  The midges were just as bad as the the forecast wind had failed to materialise by the time we completed packing our boats.  It was about this time that we noticed......

...that all six kayaks were by a single manufacturer - P&H should have had their publicity department on hand!  We tried hard (unsuccessfully) not to admire Ronnie's new boat too much - a Quest with a black deck and carbon hull set off with red trim.  There were several "ooohhh!" noises heard......

We left Inninmore just as the slightest of breezes began to stir, heading up the Sound of Mull towards a second breakfast.....