Naturally the plane was delayed (due to snow in Inverness,) but as we waited the sun came out and the day turned into yet another gorgeous day.
Once she'd been called for her flight, I headed out to meet a student for a lesson. On the way, I couldn't let the beauty pass unnoticed, so I stopped at the isthmus of land just across from the airport that connects the Eye peninsula to Stornoway. The water here was a brilliant blue, and I walked along the shore for a short while before heading in to meet my student.
My student was meeting with various folks, and it took a while for the lesson to start, but even after the lesson was over, the day was still beautiful. I had planned to go back to my cottage and catch up on some sleep after the active weekend, but I just couldn't let the stunning day go to waste. I decided to grab a sandwich at a bakery and take it with me as I drove up to the northern beaches. This time I passed the ones Cheyenne and I had visited and went further north. I'd remembered that I was really taken with the beaches at the northern end of this road.
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I stopped first at Traigh Mhor, a very long sandy beach with tall cliffs along
the edge. It was glistening from the sun, a brilliant gem of blue, and
absolutely no one at all in sight for the more than a mile of beachfront. I
walked the whole length, from end to end, enjoying the solitude and the
beautiful views, although it felt particularly lonely because I'd just had
two days exploring with someone else, and because I kept remembering the time
Wayne and I had walked there and put our feet into the cold ocean water to
wade. There weren't even many birds here, although I did get to see a few
gulls at one point, and saw the distinct size difference between a Common
Gull and a Herring Gull. I don't think I'd ever seen them side-by-side
before.
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After walking this beach, I got back in the car and went just a bit further
down the road, to the road's end. This is Port Geiraha, another sandy beach
area, with tall standing sea stacks on the beach itself. It also has a
fascinating cave. I wandered about this area all by myself as well, except
this time I had a large flock of oystercatchers for company on the far end
of the beach. After exploring the rock formations thoroughly, I wandered
over to photograph the napping oystercatchers, who were quite cooperative.
They seemed tired from their long day, and didn't want to move. As I
approached, they would hop slowly away, sometimes not even bothering to lower
their second leg as they hopped. There was a river running across the sandy
beach separating me from them, and I think they figured I wasn't going to
walk through the rushing water to get to them, which was correct.
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Instead, I went up the beach to the bridge, and walked across to their side
that way. I approached again and got fairly close before they decided I was
a threat and flew away. I followed, finding the beach stretched around a
rocky corner and continued for a bit. I walked part of this section, but
didn't want to make the oystercatchers move again, so I headed on back to the
car at this point. (The tide was also coming in, so I would have had to be
careful not to get trapped on this side of the rocks -- it was already hitting
up against the rocks from time to time.)
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I came home, cooked up some salmon, and relaxed after another wonderful day. The day ended with another harp lesson, some phone calls to catch up, and then to bed.
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