Staffa

城市概覽

Some 60 million years ago, a great rift developed in the earth's surface that sundered Europe from America and formed the North Atlantic. Lava gushed up from fissures: it was fluid and spread out into vast fiery lakes, rather than heaping up into volcanoes. The lava cooled into a deep layer of basalt, the Thulian Plateau. The Atlantic widened and fractured the plateau into what is now the Scottish Hebrides, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Greenland and maritime Canada. It's still widening and the lava continues to well up from time to time, most obviously in Iceland.

As the basalt cooled, it contracted slightly and fractured into hexagonal columns. These became buried by later rock strata (mostly amorphous lavas) but outcrop in several places, most spectacularly at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and at Staffa, where Fingal's Cave is the highlight. The Vikings named this island because the columns resembled the staves or support pillars of their buildings. In Celtic legend, Finn the Gael built a causeway so he could cross to Scotland to fight the giant Bellandonner, but then realised how much bigger his opponent was, and fled back to Ireland. There he pulled a trick that made Bellandonner flee in turn and pull up the causeway behind him. The present pattern of islands formed 14,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age, when sea levels rose by 125 m, offset by land rise as the earth rebounded from the weight of ice. A much larger proto-Mull was then inundated to separate Staffa, Iona, Treshnish, Ulva and the rest of the Mull archipelago. Staffa was barely habitable: one family still scratched a living when the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks visited in 1772, and they gave up the struggle a few years later, so thereafter it was only used for summer grazing. Here Banks became infested by lice but his glowing reports brought a stream of celebrity visitors including Queen Victoria; Mendelssohn penned his Hebridean Overture once he finished upchucking from the boat t

如何抵達

Boat trips visit in summer, starting from Tobermory or Fionnphort or Ulva Ferry on Mull, or from Iona, or from Oban on the mainland. You may come in your own boat any time, but be aware that Staffa is exposed to the Atlantic with no sheltered anchorage. There are no entry / landing fees. Boat operators are Staffa Tours, Turus Mara, Alternative Boat Hire and Staffa Trips. No dogs anytime, even on leads, they'll scare the birds and just think of the trip hazard on the paths.

當地交通

1 Boat Jetty is on the southeast of the island. From the jetty, a narrow rough trail skirts the base of the cliffs to enter Fingal's Cave. Another ascends steep uneven stairs up the cliffs onto the top of the island. Great care is needed as the basalt surface is slippery when wet (which it usually is), and in summer the trails can be busy, with people trying to edge past each other above dangerous drops. There have been several serious accidents. If your mobility is limited, stay on the boat, which makes a circuit of the main sights.

順遊推薦

Mull is where the boat trip will probably return you. Highlights are the abbey at Iona, colourful Tobermory, and gnarly Duart Castle. Giant's Causeway on the Antrim coast is easily reached from Belfast - day trips even run from Dublin - so it's very touristy.