Ardnamurchan

Photo: The telephone box at Kilmory, Ardnamurchan.

So ignoring the SatNavs advice to take the non-existent Drimnin - Kilchoan ferry I was left with two options in order to get to my job today on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. The first was to drive 11 miles to Lochaline, take the ferry to Fishnish on Mull, drive up to Tobermory and take the ferry to Kilchoan. The alternative was to  ignore the  ferries and drive through Morvern to Strontian and then across Ardnamurchan.   There didn't seem a lot in it especially when you take into account queing up for the ferries so I decided to take the latter option since I'd never been that way before.

The first few miles of the drive from Strontian to Ardnamurchan is spectacularly beautiful and horribly torturous in equal measure. The road passes through some beautiful oak woodland including the RSPB reserve at Glenborrodale and takes in some stunning coastal scenery, but it's a windy single track road with passing places requiring your full attention and allowing very little scope to take in the scenery. It's was only when I arrived at Ardslignish bay that it became a little less difficult and I was able to enjoy the scenery a bit more. On the far side of the bay is the former volcano Ben Hiant.

A few miles later I arrived at my place of work for today, with surely a major contender for the "Best view from the office" award. The islands you can see are Muck, Canna, Rum and Eigg, whilst just to the right and off the photo I could see the Cullins on Skye. Breathtaking!

Just a short distance from where I was working,  this is Port Bàn at Kilmory with the same islands in the background.

There were lots of butterflies in this area including red admirals, speckled wood, Scotch Argus and this rather tatty painted lady. As many will know there has been a painted lady invasion this year with many more predicted to arrive from Europe soon (where have we heard that before, yet in this case no amount of blind optimism from Boris Johnson can hold them back). So I was pleased to see this individual  near the end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula at Kilmory. Ardnamurchan is the furthest point west on the British mainland (yes even further west than Lands End), so it's come a long way.

Ardnamurchan point lighthouse.

The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust conduct regular watches from here and often see some impressive cetaceans. Today all I managed was a handful Manx shearwaters and a few gannets.