Desert Island

OK, not quite, but it has been an adventure. We've been waiting for the low tide times to line up with daylight hours all this week to take a walk across the Sound of Erraid to an island a mile in diameter with just a few inhabitants on it. 

This morning, we were up two hours before dawn (admittedly, that was written to sound more impressive than 7am!) to catch the bare sands a couple of hours before low tide to give us the chance to explore Erraid before it was cut off again. 

It felt quite exciting in the dark, driving down the single track lane (past the coastal campsite I stayed at 18 months ago) and onto an even lesser road to a farm. Here, we found a place to pull up between the farm machinery and headed down to the sea.

With plenty of sand to walk across, we took the longer route to the north-east tip of Erraid before heading upwards to the high point. 

Neither of us were expecting anything particularly special as we headed up over mild bog and heather. Both of us were surprised! Passing the wishing stone near the summit, the views from the top over the archipelago ahead were stunning. 

It was still in half light, with the dawn barely breaking and a very light dampness to the air.  Feeling a sense of peacefulness, we stood and stared for a while before dropping off to a disused observatory, a wonderful creation in itself, used to signal to two lighthouses out to sea. Surprisingly, the door was open and you could venture in. 

We took a path then a track down to the Findhorn community where we walked by a row of delightfully straight and uniform cottages, each with different coloured doors. You could really sense it was a special place to be. Remarkably, there was a post box too!

Thankfully, we'd read the tide times right and still had plenty of sand left to make our journey back across to 'mainland' Mull.

Home past the Spar for lunch and coffee before heading out again to potter a local beach at Ardchiavaig. Another remote beauty.

The light across the bay is fading as I write my journal sitting in front of the window, keeping an eye out for the seals popping up and peering in. 

Time to close the curtains and settle down for the evening. Four episodes of Luther, the DVD series, was a bit if a psychological shock after Paddington 2 so we're trying Black Earth Rising after dinner instead.