Project 52: Week 33 - Pebbly Beach

Yesterday there were two runs which went through the Estate, a 10K and a 5K, which I was out covering First Aid for (luckily we weren't needed so I'd say it was a successful day). I'd taken my camera with me, but there wasn't really any chance to take any photos and the areas we were stationed were places I've photographed with my little compact fairly recently. So this morning I knew I had to get out for a walk someplace different.

After bit of negotiating with Mr Click we settled on a trip to the very end of Kilchatten Bay where there is the entrance to the 'West Island Way'. I did the walk twice, once with Tara on the extendable lead, and once with my camera.

The first walk was kind of crazy. We travelled at approximately fifty miles an hour (with occasional pauses to sniff interesting bushes). Negotiated such obstacles as muddy paths, kissing gates (Tara could not figure this out at all; on the first attempt she tried to go under it, on the second attempt she just jumped up at me in complete confusion), and large groups of students who had apparently been camping somewhere along the West Island Way.

The main reason I wanted to head out here is because there's a little spot that way back in 1994 I christened 'Pebbly Beach'. On maps it does have a proper name, but I've always preferred my name for it. It's a fairly self-explanatory name, it's a beach which is covered in pebbles. I first fell in love with it when I was eight when we came here on holiday (well, not to the beach, to the island) and I'm always surprised by how small it is now. It seemed so much bigger when I was small and I remember spending hours amusing ourselves there.

I used to love 'mountaineering' up that bit of rock on the left hand side of the photo above. It always felt like I was up so high (though I never figured out how to get across onto the rock in the middle - the tide never went out far enough to try from the other side).

My little brother and I used to collect 'seal eggs' here. Those were stones that were perfectly round or egg shaped. My favourites were ones with spots on. When we came back again when I was fourteen and he was seven he was convinced that they actually were seal eggs and we found him sleeping with a bunch under his pillow trying to hatch them! We also found a perfect doorstop stone here as well, though I think we left it behind rather than lug a great bit piece of rock all the way home with us.

 

Aside from seeming smaller now, Pebbly Beach hasn't really changed much. The whole place is exactly as I remember it. It's so peaceful and quiet because the walkway isn't used by a huge number of people (I think during our walk today I saw more people following the track than I've ever seen before). One day I will actually carry on and follow the path right the way round the tip of the island, but for now I'm happy to keep on stopping here and remembering how much tinier I used to be.