Friday, September 17, 2010

A feast on Gigha.


Once we had got our tents up it was time to start unloading the boats for our evening meal. We had chicken tikka bhuna, parathas, two mackerel and some beef burgers to prepare.


The evening ferry to Port Ellen was the MV Isle of Arran. I did think of the fish and chips or chicken curry that Phil and I enjoyed on our last trip to Islay as she steamed past Gigha. On that occasion I had pointed out this very beach to Phil.


The sun now began to set...


..and this mayweed (thanks Vince!) looked lovely in the low saturated light. I thought to myself, "how wonderful nature is" until...


..I noticed Phil. To the uninitiated, it may look as though he has pulled a woman's stocking over his head as a disguise, while robbing the island's only shop of a pack of super noodles. However, look more closely...


...and you will see that Phil is a victim of an appallingly ferocious attack by some of nature's most efficient predators... the Scottish midge!

In Scotland, humans are not top of the food chain and a midge hood is a necessity.