Sunrise over Pointy Mountain & Dinosaur Prints at Staffin 7th Feb

As my leg was sore from yesterday Vince thought we should put off Rhuba Hunish until it felt better as it is a 5-6 mile round trip.

Instead, we were up early and off to catch the pre dawn over Pointy Mountain (back of the Quiraing) which was spectacular and Vince got the drone up. Then we called past Lochan nan Donan and took some more shots as the sun came up. Unfortunately, Vince slipped on some wet grass and fell down on his back. Thankfully he was not seriously injured but just jarred some muscles and ached a bit, not to mention covered in thick mud (he had to strip off to get back into the car) - much washing went on when we got home.

After a rest, I made him a “Photographer’s Breakfast” of bacon, poached eggs, tomatoes and cheese with baked beans. I pottered around the house whilst he downloaded his images

Then we were off to find some more dinosaurs - at Staffin. On the way down we stopped briefly so I could get a shot of what we call Sting-Ray Island (Flodigarry Island)

The beach at An Corran, Staffin, is famous for its remarkable dinosaur footprints. They were left by a family of dinosaurs that walked across the sand some 165 million years ago. Very ancient when you consider that the Gabbro Rocks of the Cuillin were only formed 60 million years ago, and they were carved by the glaciers of the last ice age on Skye just 11,000 years ago. So these are very, very old footprints. To be able to see and touch them in-situ would be an amazing experience and having a sense of connection with these beings from an unimaginable distance in time would be a privilege indeed.

The prints were made by Ornithopods, herbivorous creatures who walked on two legs. They, along with the carnivorous Megalosaurus and the omnivorous Cetiosaurus and Stegosaurus, contribute to Skye's reputation as the 'dinosaur isle’.

The information Morag (our Heilan Coo Mascot) found on the internet describes a cluster of footprints on a bed of standstone on the beach. They are covered at high tide, and sometimes by sand in the Summer so they say the best time in after a Winter storm when the sea sweeps away the sand. They are supposed to be close to the community ramp running down to the beach.

We spent a good two hours or more, we thought there might be something (see below) but couldn’t actually find them - disappointed, we will try again another day.

Vince took a YaYa Vlog of our defeat for the morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XY015EEdWM

As we got back to the car, two cars pulled up and 6 men (in their 20’s I guess) got out. They spoke with foreign accents (Dutch I think) and two of them had hand tools (a pick at one end and a hammer at the other). This alarmed me and we hung around up top taking photos from above. I was horrified when I saw them start to attack the rocks and break parts off and then throw them away again. They said the word “Dinosaur” and had been looking at the information sign up top - so I knew they were search for them. I wanted to stop them and so did Vince, but given there were only two of us and six of them (two armed with pick/axes) we thought it better to get some photographic evidence and report it to the Portree Police. Vince got their rego numbers and we took photos showing them vandalising the rocks. I know this area is protected and it can be up to 40,000 GBP fine. It really distressed me to watch the damage and see such disregard for this ancient area. I was absolutely horrified at their behaviour - it completely ruined my day and made me feel sick in the stomach!

Vince gave the Police the information over the phone and they said they would send someone out - I hope they did and I hope they catch them.

On our drive back we met a couple of friendly cows by the roadside.

Back at Staffin, we called into the Columbia 1400 Centre for the first time, but the Cafe was closed, so I just used the toilet instead, and we will come back when it’s open. We then stopped into the shop and I got some liquorice and bird food (as I want to try to feed the birds).

Then we just headed back home for the day but as we passed the field where "Billie and Willie" live (the black Highland Cows) we noticed they were gone and in their place were the three ginger baby Highlanders we call "Huey, Dewey and Louie". This worried me as our crofter friend Alan, told us they were one day destined for the freezer!.

We saw Alan on the way down the hill so invited him in for a cuppa - which of course turned into a dram or two! I asked him about Billie and Willie and he confirmed the worst - its not been a great day for me emotionally I have to day - first the dinosaurs getting defaced now this! I guess that’s farm life for you.

After Alan left, I went to soak in a bath and whilst I was there Canina (the Postmistress) came to the door with a parcel for me to sign, so Vince signed instead. It turned out to be our new “Exploding Kittens” card game I only ordered from eBay yesterday and wasn’t due until 11th Feb - WOW Royal Mail really does get through!

I just made an easy dinner of sausages, baked potatoes and veggies with a brown onion gravy for tea.

I spent the night catching up on my blogs and photos, and Vince did some uploading of videos to YouTube. All in all a quiet night as we both needed some rest due to our little mishaps. Night Night!