Grebe Cottage, Ellenabeich

16/06/2024

The foxgloves are giving a good display in Ellenabeich at the moment. It is a dull showery morning up here today but the foxgloves certainly brighten things up and are still attracting the bees even in the rain.

15/06/2024

Ellenabeich is known for its amazing sunsets but tonight’s has to be one of the best!! The advantage is you can see the sky colour up from the lounge at Grebe Cottage and if it’s looking good it’s a 5 minute walk (or a quicker run) down to the harbour for the best view!

29/05/2024

An hour to the south of Ellenabeich is the area of Knapdale - where beavers have been released and have made their home. There are 3 lovely walks here and also the Argyll Beaver Centre - www.argyllbeavercentre.co.uk
The Beaver Centre arranges evening walks on Wednesdays between May and August where there is a high change (not guaranteed) of seeing the beavers in their natural setting. They also arrange other nature walks throughout the season and have a hide where you have a chance of seeing red squirrels, pine marten and various woodland birds.
Back in March we did the walk walk round Loch Coille-Bharr and Loch Dubh. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/loch-coille-bharr.shtml
The walk passes through the abandoned village of Kilmory Orb before heading round the loch past moss covered abandoned sheep pens. There are many woodland birds in the trees - we spent time watching 4 bull finches in the willow trees. The other side of the loch is where you can see a lot of beaver activity - tracks through the bracken and felled trees. It is a great place to walk, relax and soak up the surrounding nature.

16/05/2024

Wild About Argyll have a sunset trail - best places to catch a sunset in Argyll. Ellenabeich is on the list - I agree - there are some amazing sunsets from the village!

Looking for some of the best sunsets in Scotland? Head to Argyll & the Isles! 🌅🙌

📍Duntrune Castle, Mid Argyll
📷 Stunning photo by Marc Pickering Photography

To make your planning easier, we've created a Sunset Trail with some of the best spots to catch one of our iconic sunsets 👇
https://hubs.li/Q02sF-qT0

Heart of Argyll

06/05/2024

Happy May Day Bank Holiday! I think Scotland is getting the best of the weather for today - a good day to go for a walk. Just an hour south of Grebe Cottage is Crinan, a really beautiful spot where one end of the Crinan canal emerges into the sea. From Crinan Harbour there is a spectacular walk to Castle Dounie, the remains of an Iron Age Hill Fort. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/dounie-castle.shtml
The walk starts at Crinan Harbour then skirts the shoreline before heading up through a moss covered woodland. When the path emerges onto the forestry road there are great views over the sea towards the islands of Argyll. As the path climbs further up to Castle Dounie the views get even better and at the top you can see a panorama of islands including Islay, Jura, Scarba, the Slate Islands, Mull and Luing. There are a few well positioned picnic tables along the way to stop and admire the views. We were also joined on our latest trip by a white tailed sea eagle soaring above us. Back in Crinan, if you head up from the harbour and along to the canal basin, there are refreshments at the Crinan coffee shop and Crinan Hotel. The canal basin is also very picturesque and in the summer months is a hive of activity with yachts using the canal.
Wishing you all a great Bank Holiday from Grebe Cottage

25/04/2024

Mull is a great island to visit when staying at Grebe Cottage. We headed over there in March. It was a fantastic day for it - beautiful sunny weather. We caught the early boat out of Oban which meant a very early start (6.15am leave the cottage). I thought we were mad, but once we were on the boat we concluded it was worth it - a fabulous clear morning with great views across the Firth of Lorn. Once on Mull we headed up to Tobermory. There were 2 walks from Tobermory that we wanted to do - both along the shoreline. In the morning we headed east from Tobermory to Aros Park. Great views back to Tobermory and Aros Park has a couple of good waterfalls and a loch to walk around. If you take your frisbee there is a frisbee golf course. The path to and from Tobermory goes through mixed woodland and hugs the shoreline all the way. After some lunch and shopping in Tobermory (there are some really good gift shops, the book shop is excellent as is the chocolate shop and I can recommend the gin from Tobermory distillery) we headed off on our second walk to the lighthouse, Rubha Nan Gall, west along the shoreline from Tobermory. Again a beautiful walk out there - the woodland was full of wild garlic and the gorse was starting to flower. The lighthouse has a spectacular position with views out across Ardnamurchan. We ended the day with a meal at Macgochans (although in season we would have opted for fish and chips, especially from Fisherman's Pier) then headed back to Craignure to catch the ferry home, watching the sunset whilst waiting for the ferry. Both the walks we did are detailed on www.walkhighlands.com and we can highly recommend both of them.

04/04/2024

Having posted about Arduaine Garden yesterday, Wild About Argyll have also posted about gardens in Argyll - having visited all 7 gardens on their blog I can vouch that they are all well worth visiting and are looking at their very best in April and May!

Argyll & the Isles is home to some magical gardens. Explore 7 Argyll gardens and wander amid wonderful woodland grounds this spirng.

03/04/2024

We hope everyone had a good Easter. Last week we were up at Grebe Cottage and had a great time. The weather was cold but mostly dry with some sunshine - just perfect for walking. I will share with you some of our walks over the next few weeks. The winter hadn't been too cold and there were a few Rhododendrons out, so we headed to Arduaine Garden https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/arduaine-garden expecting to see a few blooms. We were instead blown away by the number of Magnolias, Camelias and Rhododendrons in flower.
Last time I visited the garden was back in June, when I left nearly in tears. Arduaine was hit by 2 disasters in quick succession. Firstly the larch trees that made up the shelter belt were diseased and had to be felled and secondly Storm Arwen hit and caused more damage. In June the garden looked in a sorry state. However, some more clearing has been carried out over the winter and clearly the flowers are loving the additional light they now have. There were many flowers in bloom and because all of the vistas are now opened up as the trees are no longer there, the garden looked a riot of colour. Such a different experience to the one I had in June. There will be more Rhododendrons flowering over the next couple of months so a great time to visit if you are staying at Grebe Cottage.

15/03/2024

Happy Friday! Only a week tomorrow and we are heading up to Grebe Cottage for the first time in 2024 - can't wait. It seems to have been a long and wet winter, but there are lots of signs that Spring is just around the corner. It is the first day of Spring next week and not long until Easter and the clocks spring forward for lighter evenings. There is a lot to look forward to!
We have a list of days out we want to do from the cottage this year - there is so much to do in the area - and so much variety. We will be sharing these days out with you throughout the year. And this year we will have with us Isla, our new rescue dog. We got her at the beginning of November - she was an untrained nervous wreck! Over the winter we have been training her. She is doing exceptionally well with the training and has turned into a beautiful and lovable dog with a great character. Walks are now taking longer because everyone we see wants to meet her!
For anyone planning their stay at Grebe Cottage, we recommend 2 websites. Walk Highlands - www.walkhighlands.co.uk is the most brilliant website for walking routes around the whole of Scotland. They also publish books of walks to cover each area of the country. We have the local ones available in the cottage for guests to use. www.oban.org.uk is another great website with ideas for days out, places to eat, things to do, events, etc. in the local area.
We wish everyone heading up to Grebe Cottage this year a fantastic holiday in a most beautiful location!

31/01/2024

It is the end of January and our first guests of 2024 are currently enjoying a week in Grebe Cottage. We wish them and all of our guests of 2024 a lovely stay. I can't believe it but we are now fully booked until the third week in September!! The area surrounding Ellenabeich is just amazing - there is so much to see and do, some great walking, island hopping, wild life spotting, eating - something for everyone. Now that the daylight hours are starting to get a bit longer we can all look forward to making some great memories in 2024. Attached are some of the photos taken around Argyll in 2023.......

03/01/2024

Wishing everyone a slightly belated Happy New Year and all our very best wishes for 2024 from Grebe Cottage Ellenabeich.

28/12/2023

Day 2 of storm Gerrit today - the weather in Ellenabeich is wild! The sea and sky are full of stormy winter colour, there are white horses, plenty of wave action and the wind is pretty strong in places. Hoping for some winter sunshine tomorrow to end the week - here’s hoping the weather forecast is right 🤞

26/12/2023

We arrived in Ellenabeich tonight for a few days post Christmas. After dinner headed out for a dog walk around the village and spotted the full moon has a halo tonight - stunning!

25/12/2023

Thank you to everyone who stayed at Grebe Cottage this year and to everyone who has booked so far for next year. We wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and all of our best wishes for 2024. We hope that many happy holiday memories continue to be made at Grebe Cottage in the forthcoming year.

30/11/2023

I entered a magical winter wonderland yesterday in Glen Nant. It was beautiful - but very very cold!

28/11/2023

This time of year is a great time to visit the west coast of Scotland so long as the weather is good. I happen for once to have chosen a great week of weather. Blue sky, sunshine, sunrises and sunsets. Attached are some pictures of the sunset from Easdale yesterday and today from various places on the drive back from Oban. The sun sets towards the south at this time of year so great for viewing from the village.

27/11/2023

Lovely early morning dog walk this morning in Ellenabeich - full moon setting over Mull to the west and sun starting to rise over the mainland to the east.

26/11/2023

Happy Sunday! I headed up to Grebe Cottage yesterday to spend a week up here with our new dog, Isla. She has had a good look and sniff around the cottage and seems to approve!! She is a rescue dog and doesn’t seem to have had much exposure to the outside world. She is going to love it here in Ellenabeich! As we arrived last night I had a red aurora alert on my phone (download Autorawatch uk app to get these). I looked northwards and could see it was light in the sky but couldn’t make out colours. But through the camera on my phone could see the northern lights! There was an almost full moon shining brightly in the sky so I think this prevented the human eye from making out too much of the aurora but I got some decent pictures from right outside the cottage! It’s going to be clear a fair bit this week so we will see what the rest of the week brings.

20/09/2023

This weekend, 23rd and 24th September, sees the first Argyll Food Festival at the Corran Halls in Oban. Oban is of course the Seafood Capital of Scotland - and for good reason as there are some really good eateries in and around Oban - and not just for seafood lovers.

Some of our favourites are:
The Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Ellenabeich - of course it's our local - an easy amble from Grebe Cottage - but also serves great local homemade food
The Tigh an Truish at Clachan Bridge - our next nearest local - an AA rosette restaurant and winner of Argyll & Bute Pub & Bar of the Year 2023, as well as winner of a host of other awards
Ee-usk in Oban - always popular so make sure you book a table - great seafood on the menu, simply cooked, well presented and very tasty
Cuan Mor in Oban - again a very popular restaurant with a wide ranging menu to suit all tastes - great food and atmosphere right in the heart of Oban
The Waterfront Fishouse in Oban - situated near to the ferry teminal - a great menu of well prepared tasty dishes
Oban Seafood Hut (the Green Shack) right by the ferry terminal serves great, fresh seafood. Always popular so be prepared to queue in summer, but the food is definitely worth it, made even better by eating it outside right by the trawlers that will have landed some of it.

If it's just fish and chips you are after, you can't go wrong there either in Oban - Norries, Oban Fish & Chips and George Street Fish Restaurant & Chip Shop will all serve you top quality fish and chips. If it's a nice day, head up Pulpit Hill with your fish and chips and eat them whilst admiring the great view (much quieter than eating them along the esplanade in town)

And for an afternoon treat, the chocolates at the Oban Chocolate Company are the best! Or if you fancy ice cream, the homemade artisan ice creams from the Pokey Hat are superb - love the Turkish Delight ice cream!

The list above has certainly got my mouth watering for the rest of the day. There are plenty of other great restaurants in Oban, so if not mentioned here it is probably just because we haven't got round to eating there yet! I am not great at taking photos of my plates of food, so the photos to accompany this post are of post-meal sunsets!

04/09/2023

This week has seen the re-opening of the newly extended and refurbished Kilmartin Museum. I can't wait to visit in November when I am next up at Grebe Cottage! There are very few museums with such high quality exhibits where you can look out of the window and see the cairn in which the object was found. The landscape around Kilmartin is rich in archeology and history. Just before you enter the village heading south, Carnasserie Castle sits proudly on a hill to the right. In Kilmartin itself is the museum, chambered cairns and a churchyard with some magnificent carved gravestones. Heading south from the village towards Lochgilphead you can find standing stones, stone circles, rock art and more cairns. And then there is the magnificent Dunadd Hill Fort. There is a guide book to the area, "In the footsteps of Kings", a copy of which is on the book shelf at Grebe Cottage. The website for the Kilmartin Museum also gives some self guided trails of the area. It is a fascinating place and highly recommended for a visit from Grebe Cottage (approx 45 min drive).

16/08/2023

We visited the island of Kerrera on Monday - what a beautiful place to be. The day started off cloudy then turned into an amazing summers day. The island has such a good feel to it as well as boasting great scenery and walking. Attached is a video of some of our day.

12/08/2023

We are back in Ellenabeich - it is great to be back. Some threatening but interesting skies this evening……forecast is for rain overnight but the sun did make a bit of an effort whilst setting!

05/08/2023

Explore Oban at your own pace and leisure with our walking trail podcast! 🏞️Follow along with our audio guide and tick off the main attractions as you go! Listen here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3rzW936

02/08/2023

The Lismore lighthouse sits on Eilean Musdile, an island just off the south tip of the Isle of Lismore. The lighthouse sits at the entrance to Loch Linnhe in the Firth of Lorn. It is a magnificent lighthouse, probably best seen from the Calmac ferry on the way to or from the Isle of Mull (a great day trip from Grebe Cottage). If walking on Easdale Island, if you look up the Firth of Lorn in the direction of Oban, in good visibility you can see the lighthouse in the distance. It looks fabulous in the evening light with the setting sun shining on it. I have just booked the Calmac ferry for when we are next up in Ellenabeich in a couple of week's time, so hope to get some more good photos then, but in the meantime attached are some photos taken in June when the light on the way back from Mull was superb.

28/07/2023

Happy Friday - end of the week! I was looking through my photos of my last visit to Ellenabeich back in June to work out which to post. The photos of Lismore lighthouse, Gylen Castle, the Highland cows in Glen Lonan and the island of Iona all stand out - watch out for these in the coming days. But today, it has to be the seals. These photos were taken when on the Oban Sea Tours boat trip from Oban - they were on a small island just off Kerrera - harbour (or common) seals. It was baby seal time! There was a pup which looked like it was just hours old, a few more independent ones and others that were being taught how to swim by their mothers. Common seals give birth in late June/early July and the pups are able to swim very quickly. This is in contrast to the grey seals also found around the coast - they give birth in October but the pups can't enter the water for about 4 weeks after birth. The grey seal pups are then very vulnerable to predators and being washed away in the storms that can happen at that time of year. You will likely see seals from any of the boat trips available around Ellenabeich. If you are walking anywhere near the coastline you are also likely to spot seals as they come up for breath whilst swimming. Check their noses to spot the difference between the common and grey seals - the grey seals have a much longer snout than the common or harbour seals.

22/06/2023

A great view of Oban from Pulpit Hill with the Isle of Mull coming into berth

22/06/2023

It’s a beautiful day in Oban today

19/06/2023

I am up at Grebe Cottage with a really good friend I was at school with (a long time ago.....!!) It is lovely showing someone else around the area. We spent yesterday very local - Ellenabeich and Easdale. Started at An Cala garden where the roses were looking very colourful and fragrant. Then a look around the Slate Heritage museum - lots of information about Ellenabeich and slate mining - well worth a visit - it was very interesting. I picked up some trail leaflets for the village, Easdale and Luing which will be left in the cottage for future guests. Lunch was a plate of langoustines at The Oyster followed by their home made sticky toffee pudding (the best!) Then a trip to Easdale. I have been across to Easdale so many times, but every time I see something different and take different photos - it is the light, conditions and time of year - it is forever changing. Yesterday the old slate quarries had great reflections in them - not a breath of wind so the water was still and reflective - never seen it like that before (it is normally blowing a gale!) Enjoy the photos.......more later this week of our exploits.

29/05/2023

Less than 3 weeks now until I head up to Ellenabeich again - it's been too long! This time will be heading up with a friend and really looking forward to showing her around the area. I have been looking over some of the photos I took on our last visit and thought I'd share with you some photos of my favourite bridge. It is known as the fairy bridge and is accessed from a walk down Glen Creran https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/fas-na-cloiche.shtml It has to be one of the most picturesque bridges anywhere.
I have also added to the post a photo taken of a dramatic sunset from the pier at Ellenabeich. The weather this week is due to be glorious, but the photos on this post were all taken on days with awful weather so it just shows that the weather doesn't have to be brilliant to get out and enjoy the scenery. If anything, bad weather makes the landscape seem more dramatic! There's a silver lining to every cloud!

10/05/2023

One of our go to day's out from Ellenabeich is south to the Crinan Canal. It is a very pretty area to visit and during the summer months there are always boats to watch going through the locks. There are also some great walks in the area. Two of them in particular are rewarding in that they have great views over the sea towards all the islands that are scattered across that part of Argyll. The first is Dunardry Hill where you can walk the longer route from the forestry car park just opposite the canal or head up Letter Daill to the car park further up the hill for a shorter walk to the top. The view from the top on a clear day takes in the Paps of Jura, across to Crinan, Luing and Mull then further inland towards the mountains in Glen Etive and Ben Cruachan. Keep an eye out for the Crossbills that eat the seeds of the pine cones at the tops of the pine trees - very colourful birds with a crossed bill that earns them their name.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/dunardry.shtml
The second walk is accessed from Crinan Harbour where there is a beautiful circular walk to Castle Dounie, again with great coastal views. During the late spring and summer there are lovely wild flowers along the route together with dragonflies and many different types of butterfly.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/argyll/dounie-castle.shtml