Exploring a waterfall

Sunday 30 July

A dramatic improvement to the weather must be capitalized on in this part of the world, so out came sticks and rucksacks, and on went walking boots. Setting off on their hike, the crew passed local trip boats, loading with passengers eager to put their long-lensed cameras to capturing seals, puffins and Fingal’s Cave on nearby Staffa.  My people had the beautiful views up Loch Tuath towards the Treshnish Isles to themselves, enjoying along the way encounters with geese and grey wagtails, buzzards, harebells (Scottish bluebells) and ragged robin, the fragrance of wet bracken and meadowsweet, black goats and a majestic horned ram.

They followed the river a little way up and down its course, marveling at the mesmerizing power of the peaty water, forming pools that would make wonderful wild swimming on a hot day, between a chain of waterfalls that finally fall over the cliff to the sea below.

On their return, they immediately disappeared in the tender, over to the Boathouse for a late lunch of local seafood and Colonsay beer, and when they finally rolled home obviously felt a bit guilty at neglecting me, as all was washed and watered inside and out. Keen to avoid another night’s expense for very little at Ulva Ferry, we set off carefully through Ulva Sound, spotting two gorgeous Atlantic seal pups basking in the low evening sun. We found a comfortable anchorage off Ardalun House in Soriby Bay, under a spectacular sunset at the end of a beautiful day.