Our first stop was the beach, which was sandy and very pleasant. We had a paddle in the sea, looked in the rock pools, and bemoaned what we didn't have with us such as a bucket and spade, snorkels, wetsuits, bodyboards etc. Rosie took the opportunity to build a sandcastle, which I augmented with a moat bridge and gatehouse before leaving her to it and going to find a shop from which to buy lunch.
After lunch we decided we'd go and take a look at Smoo cave. From the road this was actually quite nondescript, but following a path down into the inlet it was at the end of yielded the gaping mouth of an impressively large cave. Inside we found a note saying that if we wanted the tour it'd be £3 each, and to find Colin who would be sitting outside.
Colin turned out to be a quietly eccentric Scottish fella who'd probably spent too long alone in dark caves, but he was very friendly and, producing a rubber boat from under a viewing platform, proceeded to row us around inside the small flooded inner chamber of the cave. He explained that the outer cave was a sea cave, but the inner cave was made by fresh water; he also showed us the "Scottish Piranhas" (freshwater brown trout) in the inner cave by throwing breadcrumbs into the water so we could see the fish jump for them.
After this we returned to the beach for a few hours until, for the first time in a week, it started to rain.
Today has been a nice break from cycling. The wonderful thing about this remote corner of country has been that it is so quiet. The beach was beautiful but almost comletly empty, and looking around the cave it was just the two of us and the tour guide.
All in all a fun day.
No comments:
Post a Comment