We paddled north across the expanse of
Camas Cuil an t-Saimh on the west coast of Iona. This is commonly translated as "bay (or beach) at the back of the ocean" which sounds delightfully romantic and tourist guides love it. However, Roddy (who was the last native Gaelic speaker in our family) said it was much more likely to be "bay with a stink at its back". He said the Gaels were not known for using much romance or imagination in naming places. The word "saimh" is much more often used to mean "stink" than "sea" which is an unusual use of the word. Roddy also said if it was used to mean sea it would be used to describe a fishy smelling sea. Given the huge piles of rotting seaweed at the back of the bays I have a feeling Roddy is right.
We all spotted the splash of white sand at
Port Pollarain (Port of the Dunlin) and it looked a great place to stop for luncheon, indeed I had stopped here for such in 2007. However, based on past experience, I had other ideas. I thought I could do better.
So I led the way through a maze of skerries to the...
...simply stunning Port Ban (white port). Despite the beauty of the surroundings, I was initially somewhat disappointed. On my last visit...
...this is what we found. Our caddies had travelled ahead, by a variety of means, and assembled our social and refreshment tents prior to our arrival on this pristine cockleshell sand beach. Why, they had even scoured far and wide for some small pieces of driftwood just so that we might enjoy a little late night incendiary activity.
On this day our support team had badly let us down and as we paddled one by...
...one over crystal clear turquoise water we had to content ourselves not with tents of...
...pleasure but with a totally...
...empty beach!!! Oh the hardship!
At first we wandered about somewhat lost but we soon settled down to enjoy a view of...
...unparalleled beauty. As the others tucked into their sandwiches (rather than the hoped for canapes) I even went for a short swim. No wonder St Columba chose Iona, this really is Heaven on Earth.
PS Note the crescent of stinky seaweed at the back of the bay!
