Framedlight

We had another good night on Zuza. If anyone suffers from insomnia I can greatly recommend living on a yacht. Masses of fresh air and the gentle rocking motion certainly worked for me. Although I am not sure that any weather but the windless heat wave we were experiencing would have had the same effect. We had noticed a tern colony on an island opposite the bay where we were moored. In the morning Neil took a few of us in the tender over for a closer look. We could not really get as close as I would have liked but here are some tern pictures. I am not sure if they are common or Arctic terns, both species are very similar. They were wheeling over the rocks where there nests must have been but did not seem to find us too threatening, such graceful birds. A rock? pipet An oystercatcher We then went back to the main island and this time walked west from the pier over a headland to try and get a closer look at the caves on the southern coast. Again cliffs stopped us getting down to them but...

The morning of the fifth day meant another early start as we were to walk to an overlook of the lighthouse, Eilean Glas, which lies off Scalpay. The sky became covered a wonderful mackerel cloud formation, but I admit my heart was not really in to photographing the lighthouse. The rocks were too dark in the foreground and the clouds immediately behind were very streaky and defined. I am sure the other workshop participants made a much better job of it than me. On the way back to the car  the morning took on a lovely warm hue.

After the wet day we had had previously, Sunday morning was cloudy but dry. We took the first ferry from Tobermory on the short crossing to Kilchoan the 'capital' of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The clouds were still enveloping the sky and made for some dramatic pictures. On reaching Kilchoan we booked into the Ardnamurchan Campsite, run by Trevor Potts, the first man to single handedly follow Shackleton's heroic rescue journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a replica 22ft open rowing boat. He still travels and lectures on the cruise boats going down to the Antarctic. The campsite has a lovely communal room packed with books on local flora and fauna as well as more southerly tomes. There is limited room for small camper vans but plenty of space for tents and the site runs right down to the water's edge with views across to Mull. We thought we would visit the Ardnamurchan Point lighthouse which figures in the 'shipping forecast' as it ...