The colours of a summer evening at Fidden

The skerries and small islands west of Erraid are a compact maze of channels and pools which constantly change with the tide.  We threaded our way through the pink granite rocks in crystal clear water lit by the late afternoon sunshine until we found what we'd been looking for.....

...a tiny tidal beach of white shell sand hidden between two small islands.  We beached our boats and explored this lovely little spot; Allan and Lorna headed up to a small cave surrounded by wildflowers whilst Douglas and I waded across the tidal pool and scrambled up on sun-warmed granite to a spot above the beach.

Donald very sensibly decided not to bring his RIB into this network of shallow water and instead headed out towards Iona before rejoining us later on.

The colours were simply lovely.  Under a blue sky the warm light was showing the pink of the granite to great effect, the crystals of quartz and mica within the rock catching the light.  Primroses (Primula vulgaris) and Thrift (Armeria maritima) jewelled the rocks with their bright colours. 

Thrift is also known as "Sea Pink" and seen against the granite they seemed absolutely in their place - pink on pink.

We lingered at this beach for a while before paddling our way slowly back to the camp at Fidden where we could pull our boats up on the beach just below our camp.

We made dinner and ate al fresco -  venison stew and potatoes accompanied by a Sports Recovery drink of one's choice - food always tastes better this way!  It was at this point we discovered that this was the first evening of the summer as we experienced the attention of the first midges of the season....

After dinner we moved down below the high tide mark where the campsite allows small campfires.  We'd all brought a supply of firewood and soon had a fire lit; small but effective in deterring the early midges.  Out to the west a blush of evening colour in the sky heralded the start.......

....of a glorious sunset beyond the island Iona.....

...rounding off this perfect Hebridean evening.....