Islands...

Off the islands now, and spending the night in Dunoon - really to take the ferry to Gourock tomorrow. Heavy rain all day, which made the rivers into torrents and created little flash floods along the roads. The gloomy weather makes my days on the islands - Arran, Skye, Mull and an afternoon on Iona - seem like hallucinations, the light was so clear and bright.

Lots of images… Curlews calling as they glided down onto the saltmarsh… Skylarks singing… A male stonechat looking unfeasibly colourful, almost tropical… Oystercatchers everywhere… Herons blown about in the wind like broken umbrellas… Storm clouds combined with patches of sunlight: very photogenic… Hills wearing clouds like capes or shawls… Cumulous clouds stacked up like scatter cushions…

Waiting for ferries to arrive (always on time)… Driving along single-track roads (giving a little wave of thanks when people pulled into a passing place, and getting a wave back. People must think the drivers of motorhome are doddery old geezers, and who’s to say they’re wrong?)… Being lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves…

Mull...