Tuesday June 4th 2013 - Mallaig and a heron

It was another gloriously sunny morning and after a dog walk along the beach I opened up the front of the tent so I could gaze at the view while I was having breakfast and thinking about where to go later on. I needed to get one or two provisions and though there was a Spar shop in the village I didn't think it would have exactly what I wanted so I decided to drive the eight miles up the road to Mallaig. It was so peaceful on the site though and looking at the view I felt very reluctant to go anywhere, so it was lunch time before I finally put the dogs in the van and set off.

Mallaig itself is only a small town - a blink-and-you-miss-it type of a place with a fishing and ferry port, and it's literally the end of the road; you can't go anywhere from there unless you get the ferry over to Skye. There was a large and full-looking pay-and-display car park on the seaward side of the approach to the town but having looked on Google street view before the start of the holiday I knew that there were plenty of parking spaces along the sea front road at the far side of the harbour, so that's where I headed for and I had no trouble finding a vacant space - and best of all it was free.

With the dogs on their leads I set out to explore, though with just a handful of gift shops and cafes, a bank, a small Co-op supermarket, a Spar shop, a couple of fish and chip places and the rail station it didn't take long to look round. There was nothing much on the south side of the harbour other than business premises so after a quick visit to the Co-op for the things I wanted I went back to where I'd left the van and concentrated my photography in that area. Unfortunately while I'd been wandering round the sky had clouded over somewhat but the sun was still shining through so I managed to get a handful of reasonable photos before I called it a day and headed back towards Arisaig.

A couple of miles out of Mallaig the cloud lessened and by the time I got back to the camp site there was hardly any of it left; it never ceases to surprise me how much difference just a few miles can make. The rest of my afternoon was spent sitting outside the tent with the dogs in their bed nearby and it was as the tide retreated from the estuary that I spotted a heron among the weed-covered rocks. At first I wasn't sure if it really was a heron or if I was seeing things as it was so still for so long, but then it moved and with a lightning strike it plunged its head into the water and came up with a fish in its beak, then seconds later it took flight and moved further up the estuary.

After making a brew and a sandwich I continued to sit outside the tent with my book, then as the sun went down beyond the islands I took Sophie and Sugar for their last walk of the day. With their bed back in the tent I closed the door, put the blind down over the window then retreated to my own bed, where I just about managed to get through another couple of chapters of my book before sleep finally overtook me.