Ardtoe (Day 2)

Not a bad view to wake up to, hey Marge? The water calm, John took out his packraft.

Away from the shore he spotted some seals resting on the rocks. Meanwhile, Angela, feeling a little tired from the last two days of stressful driving, took a walk over the rocks. In the distance the Cuillin mountains dominated the view, a band of cloud obscured their peaks. The jewelled white sand in the small coves, now fully exposed from the receeding tide gave way to a shallow blue green sea. We had decided we would stay in this little cove another night. At £5.00 a night, it was well worth it for the view, peacefulness and rest. The couple next to us were from Dunoon, and they’d been here for three days.

After a light rain shower passed over at lunchtime, we walked out up the road to see if we could obtain a phone signal, but to no avail. Most of the places we have travelled through whilst being in Scotland have traditional red telephone boxes, complete with payphone. We have had evenings before with no signal, but we have now been out of touch for two nights, and it felt a little strange to know that nobody knew exactly where we were. Back at the beach, the tide was still out, and we walked to the waters edge.

Mussels and limpets clung to the exposed rocks, feeling totally exposed. In the small rock pools, sea anenomes hoped we hadn’t spotted them. Later on when the tide had turned we went back out on to the rocks by the beach, where John fished for a while.

Midges were evident, but did not really bother us, not even the largest one! By six o’ clock, the cold of the evening became noticeable and we returned to Marge who we had moved in to poll position, claiming the best view from the parking area.

Tomorrow Marge will be on the road again, heading towards Mallaig, then we will turn once again back towards Fort William. We know Marge, we’re going around in circles, but only because other people keep telling us about areas we must see.