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This was a breezy day and we took a bit of time to get started
- John went off first with Amy, D-J, John Donaldson and Robin
and got onto a hill at Smirisary where we used the telescope
to try to see whales. We didn't see any whales or dolphins,
the visibility was not great and the sea was not calm enough,
but we did see groups of gulls feeding where there were concentrations
of fish and several fishing boats. After a short time, John
MacMillan turned up with Jack and Lucy and we started the
expedition.
We went down the valley from the car park, over the clapper
bridge and past the houses. Finally we got down the slope
and reached the little settlement at the shore where we looked
at a cave which had a wall in front of it and some stones
to sit on. When we had got our breath back we set out along
the shore towards old Smirisary village. The explorers found
a rather smelly dead seal on the beach. It had a rope round
it and had obviously been dragged ashore. We moved well away
from the smell to find a place for a break by the sea.
After our rest we went to the back of the old storm beach
and found several caves: the first one went right through
the cliff and came out at the other side, the second one was
pretty big and Lucy took the torch and got right to the back
of it, which was full of round beach stones. There were several
big spiders in the top of the cave, with round white bundles
of eggs hanging down. The third cave was very narrow and nobody
went in.
Then we got to the main village and looked at several of the
old houses and borrowed the use of a swing set up on a small
tree before starting the big climb to the top of the hill
and the walk back to the cars.
We returned to the Centre to draw pictures and then to the
Pantry for some warming lunch.
John
Dye
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