A lot of atmosphere!

Chris had a couple of days working near the Suffolk coast, so I tagged along too - the prospect of two days wandering the coastline with my camera was just the refresher I needed. We arrived in glorious sunshine, but by the time I arrived at Dunwich Heath, where the contrast between the golden bracken and gently fading heather was stunning (see extra), the clouds were already gathering. Undeterred, I set off for a walk round the heath, and fortunately encountered my first hefty shower conveniently close to a sheltering oak. 

That one didn't last long and the rest of my stroll was punctuated with periods of warm sunshine, which brought out hundreds of common darters, as well as the occasional small copper, nectaring on ragwort. I was nearly back at the car park before I heard the first roll of thunder, and stood near the top of the cliffs watching a series of hefty storms passing over Southwold (see extra). I felt the wind pick up and headed back to the car before the first really intense cloudburst - Chris wasn't so lucky and just had to sit it out in the middle of his field.

I then drove down to the beach car park, and took several short forays out onto the shingle to capture the amazing light and atmosphere, including a beautiful rainbow and some seriously grey clouds over Sizewell. I always made it back to the car before the next bout of rain, some of which was so intense that the car almost rocked. 

I picked Chris up from his site about six, driving through shallowly flooded roads to get there. We then headed to Thurston's Farm, to our eco-campsite (five pitches in a small woodland with only a compost toilet!). Pitching the tents was a bit of a soggy business, but at least by this time the skies were clearing and we were promised a dry night. After an Indian meal at Saxmundham we returned to the campsite and just spent some time staring up at the Milky way - what a difference properly dark skies make.  We were in our tents  before ten, having given up on the idea of lighting a fire in the fire pit as everything was far too wet!