After we finished at the distillery we headed south, this time the other side of the loch. We had a short stop in Bowmore for coffee and cake before heading to Port Ellen. A short walk in the harbour.

Back in the car we took the road to the Mull of Oa. Not far outside of Port Ellen we parked by a cemetery and started to walk towards the beach. We were not disappointed when we reached the dunes, we had a great view of Carraig Fhada lighthouse.

The lighthouse was commissioned in 1832 by Walter Frederick Campbell in memory of his wife Lady Eleanor Campbell. It is a very characteristic lighthouse with two square towers connected to each other.

We sat for a while watching the word go by in Kilnaughton bay.

We could have sat for hours but we had to head back up to Bowmore as we had booked a table at The Lochside Hotel.

After dinner we headed over to Machir bay. Before we went to the beach we visited Kilchoman church.

The church was built in 1827 after the medieval church was declared unsafe. Nothing remains of the medieval church, but the surrounding churchyard still has a wealth of evidence of its presence. Most striking is the Kilchoman Cross. The cross stands some 2.57m high and was carved in a style known as the “Iona School” at some time in the 1300s or 1400s. The carving on the cross is magnificent, and remains remarkably crisp despite the efforts of the local lichen population. More information can be found here.

It was then on to the beach at Machir Bay. We had been told that this was the place to see the sunset. We weren’t disappointed.

It started to rain so it was back to the car and back to our hotel for the evening.