Castle Tioram

During our stay at Acharacle we had to fit in some sea kayaking days for Mr.and Miss S. So Sunday was spent around Castle Tioram. The idea was that I would enjoy quiet relaxing days pottering around the coast taking photos and looking after our dog, having waved off the kayakers. You know what people say about great plans...

We arrived at the castle car park which was already filling up with cars, not what I wanted to see, call me naive if you like, but when I go to quiet remote areas of Scotland at the end of October I don't expect to share beaches with other people! and dogs!!!

So having put our dog on a lead we left the kayakers to get sorted and I walked out of car park to photograph views across the bay.

All of a sudden I was pulled around and dragged across the path. My dog had spotted another dog off the lead and decided to go and say hello, as I had been in the middle of taking a photograph I was not prepared for this, it wasn't long before I was being dragged along the grass, on the other side of the path, on my stomach. When I finally came to a halt, the family of the other dog had got to me with the woman offering to help me up. I very ungraciously chose to remain sat firmly on the grass, and tried to staighten my hat, which had fallen across my face, declaring that I was ok, just extremely cross.

I had in fact been very fortunate as there was only a thin strip of grass on either side of a gravelled path, so my slightly bruised chin and muddied camera could have been a lot worse off!
It wasn't the ideal start to the day and then after composing myself I put my camera safely away in my rucksack and marched my dog into the centre of the beach and sat perched on a small boulder as far away from everyone else and their dogs as I could get! There I remained for a good hour after the kayakers had paddled off for the day.
It turned out to be a very noisy place to sit as people discovered that the hills which framed the whole bay echoed their screams, so for most of the day children and the occasional adult would, on reaching the shoreline, turn to face the hills and then they would scream or shout or whoop and wait for the returning echo.
Eventually I decided to allow my dog some freedom and we walked to the shoreline where I let her off so she could enjoy the sea!
We then walked back up the beach with the intention of walking along a small path along the coast, but as my confidence had taken a huge battering earlier on the day I only walked a few metres along the wooded path before deciding it would be best if I stayed around the castle, so I found a large fallen log with lots of branches onto which I could slip the lead, I chose to sit there and eat my lunch, and then when it quietened down I ventured up to the castle and waited for the return of the sea kayakers.
On their return they made my day complete by enthusing about the fantastic view they had enjoyed of a sea eagle mobbing a gull, which in turn was being mobbed back by another gull, all this happening directly above their heads!
Once the kayaks had been carried back to the car, I handed our dog over to my two intrepid explorers and took my camera for a walk along the beach, it was much quieter by now, although there still were a few people enjoying the views.

Well we had been there all day, it seemed only right that we should stay to watch the sun set!