Arran and I decided to head back up to Camas for the week before School started again.
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We stopped for lunch at Black Water again, which was a bit fuller this time.
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Stac Pollaidh - look, blue skies!
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On the way over to the house - Arran is pleased to have a load in his rucksack too - he likes helping!
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Once the house was opened up we headed for the beach for some evening sun!
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Digging holes is a serious business.
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We tried to get a nice beach selfie, but we were too busy laughing at each other!
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Sun setting over the bay.
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Misty Mountains. We could see the cloud piled up to the East, but it wasn't getting past the mountains to bother us today.
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Another sunsetty one.
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Sunset glow.
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When I was wee I pretended these rocks in front of the house were a lighthouse and I was the lighthouse keeper. Arran is now doing the same. He's up there with a walkie talkie to communicate with base camp.
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At the "Swimming Pool" - a giant rockpool.
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Oops! Someone wasn't looking where they were going and stepped in a boggy bit. Their welly didn't come out with them...
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Welly-less!
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A rather big beastie hole. I wonder what lives in there... Arran refused to crawl in to find out.
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The old mill at Totaig.
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Eating a picnic lunch in a wee nook.
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Totaig Burn
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Boy & Totaig Burn.
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Out exploring in the boat.
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A wee amateur radio experiement up the hill...
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...for a QSO with a view (via a Repeater in Stornoway).
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Sunset.
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More sunset.
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Out for a morning fish.
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Arran's first catch! A nice mackerel, and an enormous Lithe (Pollack).
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These were duly eaten for lunch, and pronounced delicious.
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Misty patches drifting over the bay.
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More mist.
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The mist didn't stop us going to the beach as it was warm and sunny in between patches.
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Misty beach.
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Jumping over waves.
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Baywatch run.
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Another misty patch.
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Ahhh! Sunshine again.
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Cloud pouring over the mountains.
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Clear skies to the West.
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Blue water.
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So blue today!
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Definitely a day for the beach - Achnahaird this time.
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Ready for Action.
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Beach selfie!
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Tiny puffy clouds.
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Arran quickly found a like-minded child to splash and play with.
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Chasing through the shallows.
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Splash!
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Bye bye Achnahaird.
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We headed back to the house to recover, then got tempted to go out to our own beach again...
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We did a wee bit of swimming, and Arran had a go rowing the boat (under VERY close supervision of course).
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The sign of a good day - swimming things drying in the sun on the washing line.
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Mountains still cloudy!
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Sunset.
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Another sunset. Can you tell I enjoyed the sunsets?
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A slightly duller morning.
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Good visibility out to Lewis, but it was clearly a bit cloudy there!
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The mountains near us had cloud pouring over them again.
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Very dramatic.
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We went exploring at Knockan Crag - the visitor centre for the Geopark.
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Rocky ball.
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Arran with one of the exposed transitions between layers of rock - this place is extraordinary because often you can see older rocks over newer ones - it's one of the places that helped geologists figure out own collisions between tectonic plates can see layers of old rock riding over newer ones.
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Rocky ball again.
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What a view from the top!
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A model of the strata as they are exposed in this area, using the right rock types of course.
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Allt nan Uamh Waterfall.
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A lovely highland stream.
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The stream just appears out of a gravel filled limestone sinkhole - it's quite incredible to watch this water apparently appearing from nowhere.
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Arran in one of the bone caves.
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Bones of arctic fox, wolf, lynx, brown bear and even Polar bear were found here, as were artefacts indicating the presence of Iron Age humans.
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Another cave.
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Boy Observing.
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I'm not sure I fancy sleeping in here...
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The caves are at the top of a steep slope, in the bottom of a rocky crag. The gusty wind made this path quite exciting...
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Even the "Danger, falling rocks" sign has fallen over...
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The caves are just at the foot of the rocky bit.
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You can only just see the entrances from ground level.
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Another limestone sinkhole.
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The Bone Caves from a distance.
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Walker.
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The spring again - it still blows my mind that so much water just appears through the gravel.
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Waterfall on the way back to the car.
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Ardvreck House
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Ardvreck Castle
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Ardvreck Castle
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Ardvreck Castle
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Me with Ardvreck Castle
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Fishing from Badentarbet Pier on the way home. Cyclops got his first cast in the water, and quickly felt a pull so started winding in. We could see a flash of silver coming towards us, which a great skua immediately attacked. Cyclops exclaimed in dismay that a bird was going to get the fish before he did, and wound in faster. Only as it got really close did we realise the flash of silver was the white belly of a guillemot that had taken the lure, and that the skua was trying to steal the guillemots catch! So Cyclops had to haul this distressed and entangled guillemot still being attacked by a skua up the side of the pier, all the while shouting furiously in an attempt to discourage the skua. We had absolutely not a scooby how we would deal with this, but fortunately there was another guy fishing who dashed over and said he would help - it turns out he keeps pigeons so knows how to handle birds. He freed the guillemot which seemed little worse for its ordeal and flew off, managing to avoid the loitering skua. Went fishing, caught a bird. CyclopsJnr thought it was the funniest thing that had ever happened, and suggested that maybe we'd catch a whale or a dolphin next....
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Out in the boat fishing again. More mackerel for lunch!
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Fishing from Black Rocks.
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Me taking a rest while Arran does the hard work.
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A view of the house from Reiff. I never realised you could see it from here.
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Bay in the Sun.
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Farewell View
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It always seems such a shame to leave in the sunshine.
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Arran walking back to the car, with his laden rucksack once again!
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