From Ardlamont Point we paddled across the mouth of Loch Fyne in...
,,,glassy calm conditions.
The only thing that threatened our equilibrium was this fast speed boat which came weaving down the loch at high speed towards us. Ian hailed it three times on the VHF. There was no answer but to the helmsman's credit he dropped the boat off the plane and passed well clear of us.
It was getting hotter as we approached Kintyre but we spotted the white shingle beach of...
...
Croit Bagh. It was such a relief to hear the crunch of shingle on the keel and get my stiff and sore knees out for a stretch!
It was time for first luncheon which was washed down with some of Ian's 15 year old Dalwhinnie.
After lunch I went for a short walk. The bed rocks which plunged into the sea on either side of the beach were composed of...
contorted schist. Above the rocks, the hillside was a beautiful...
...mixed deciduous woodland. Birch, alder oak and willow were all bursting into bud and the air was filled with the song of chiff-chaffs, willow warblers and a solitary cuckoo.
Beneath the burgeoning canopy primroses had burst into flower. Althougth at first glance all primroses look the same there are actually two subtypes called pin and thrum. These are pin. All primroses have both male and female flower parts but they are arranged differently. In the pin form the stigma is at the mouth of the flower tube and in the thrum form the anther is at the mouth of the flower tube. As primroses are insect pollinated, this ensures that pin pollen tends to fertilize thrum flowers and vice versa.
Behind the beach this delightful stream emerged from the woodland behind the beach. I filled my flask but I always boil such water and never drink it directly.
