13th April

I will start with a camera update (for you technocrats out there). My lovely and precious Bronica film camera is royally *ucked! I cleaned it up so nicely. Damn, the thing looks brand new. I put film in, focussed the lens (sounded like someone biting in to a piece of burned toast) and voila! The shutter did not work. It's an electronic shutter and water probably doesn't agree with it - especially salt water to boot. Still have not tried to dry it out with a hair dryer but I promise to get right on that. On the bright side I reset my digital camera to take RAW images so at least I have some quality in the pipeline for today. Now, if I was a religious chap (which I am not) I could say that HE of the mighty hand has been testing me. I presume I have been found wanting which would be no surprise at all. Carol admitted under duress to being unsurprised at my clutsiness with the camera. When I think back on things I should not be surprised either. When I was in Iceland I managed to get my filters smashed. I was kinda miffed at the time (someone threw their tripod on top of my camera which had the filter attached to it) but the more I thought about it the more I came to realize that you DO NOT PUT YOUR CAMERA AND FILTERS IN THE BACK OF A TRUCK WITH 8 OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS GEAR! Duh. I hope I apologised to the people concerned but if I somehow failed to do that, let it be on record that I am doing so now - sincerely.

Losing one of my cameras has been a blow but to put things in perspective I still have 1 camera, and it's working fine. Now losing both cameras plus one arm and part of a leg - well, THAT would be a blow. So maybe, just maybe, HE of the mighty hand does not have it in for me after all.

The weather today was, once again, fantastic and I am still in shock. At dinner people were complaining that they got caught out in a hail shower. That shower lasted all of 2 minutes. Some people are so spoiled it makes me sick! I am beginning to realize that I should have brought some suntan lotion. Of course, if I had, it would have snowed or rained all week long. I was so warm at lunchtime today I had to dispense with yet another of my vaunted layers. I was down to a base layer and a microlight down jacket and even that combo was a bit toasty. By 5 pm however, the coastal breezes came up and I was very glad to have the Latok Alpine shell with me as well as the microlight. I was nice and warm in the wind but my hands and nose were freezing, the former because I forgot to bring gloves on my short walk around Clachtoll Bay.

My hike to Sandwood Bay was about 11 miles in total with some of that in sand (just ask my camera, he'll confirm that!) and the rest along a fairly muddy trail with lots of standing water that needed to be circumvented. Although this was just an afternoon stroll by British standards, for me it was a test of my mortality. By the end I was really dragging. My walking poles really helped however. While they are kind of a pain to carry - I can't carry my camera and have to put it in my backpack, they really help to keep up a good steady pace and take some of the work away from the legs. By the time I reached the hotel last night around 9 pm my back had pretty much seized up and my hips felt like some evil devil had filled the bones with sharp needles. Additionally my shoulders were cramping during the night because I had used them to 'push off' the poles and keep me moving right along. Even my bones were hurting - in fact things were hurting that I didn't know could hurt. I have come to the conclusion that getting old is slowly killing me (ha ha). I knew that the next day (today) would have to be an easy day. So much for endurance. Ideally I need a total spine/hip replacement. Hope the medics are working on that one.

So today, in bright sunshine I decided to visit nearby Achmelvich Bay/Beach and neighbouring Clachtoll. Total hiking was about 3- miles but at the speed I was going it felt more like 300 miles. Now I have to say that Achmelvich is the closest thing to paradise/heaven/nirvana, call it what you will that I have yet found on this earth. You can keep Bora Bora, Hawaii, Barbados and all those other fancy schmancy places. I'll take Achmelvich on a sunny day ANY day. This place is a happy nexus of nature at its finest with rocks everywhere, tight, short grass that looks like it is perpetually mowed, a lovely sandy beach and quietness to boot. Getting there is not so easy however. The narrow one lane roads are the width of a car, have passing places every 100 yards, and twist and turn like a Cobra that's been poked with a hot stick. Driving along this particular road is like walking on a tightrope between high buildings. Five miles can take half an hour but you do meet some polite people along the way. The walk at Achmelvich is along nice firm pathways that wind over the rocky low hills. After 30 minutes of easy strolling I came to a ruined 17th century flour mill and just beyond that a perfect tiny, sandy bay with a collection of beach rocks consisting of Lewisian gneiss mixed with Torridonian sandstone (I told one of my Eastbourne followers that I would wow him with my detailed knowledge of the local geology and there it is!). More geology to come but I need to read my newly purchased geology book first. I was also blessed with the presence of highland horses along the route.

Clachtoll is certainly less grand than Achmelvich but is still worth a visit nonetheless. Another great little sandy beach and, of course the dubiously famous Clachtoll split rock which was once a sea arch that has now collapsed, probably from the weight of all the tourists who like to sit atop it during the short summer months.

Here are a few photographs from the day. These are JPEGS. I'm keeping the RAW files to myself, so there.

Lewisian Gneiss boulders - Achmelvich

Sandy cove near Achmelvich

Just an average Scottish house around here - really! Must be money from the south pouring in.

Clachtoll Beach

Another view of the bay at Lochinver

Such a nice day even mighty Suilven is free of cloud

Roadblock -  Achmelvich road.

Two horses grazing at Achmelvich