To get anywhere from Gigha, it has to start with the ferry. It is, however, a more pleasurable journey when the sun is shining rather than catching that occasional squall:

On the mainland, turn left and the road flows down the coast with breathtaking views of manicured farmland & neat fields to the left and ribs of land, nibbled by Atlantic surf to create sandy bays separated by racks of rock & stone on the right. The occasional bungalow or cluster of mobile homes nab good positions overlooking a patch of sand or easy access to the ocean.

26 miles, on the other side of Cambletown, is the Mull of Kintyre. This is the southwesternmost tip of the Kintyre peninsula, marked by the village of Southend. The local store is a quirky place selling a traditional menu of popular dishes like sausage, beans & chips, alongside a selection of fairground toys and a range of household basics- toilet rolls, butter, cans of soup, surrounded by shelves of 1940s household artefacts. It is also a bakery on a Weds & Fridays selling huge great slabs of delicious cakes & meringues. Just past the line of houses a cluster of mobile homes marks the curve of Dunerverty Bay.

St Columba’s Footsteps mark the spot where said saint first landed on mainland Britain to begin the conversion process. Kiel Cemetary is alongside.

And then on to the beach itself – flat, golden sand stretched out like dough around the bay. A few visitors scatter themselves around the empty surface, marked only with their footprints and a line of tangled flotsam.

Two houses mark the merging of rocks into beach-perfect sand at the top end.

At the far end nearest the faded silhouette of the nearby island of Ireland, a collection of whitewashed houses hides behind the arriving stream and the grass-sprung dunes and a small, renovated ex-terrace, now a single home, stands proud, only disturbed by a chaotic flourish of a flock of party gulls, disturbed by our approach.

Clumps of whispy-cotton cloud, layer upon layer, line up to approach and pass overhead sucked along by a refreshing, wild breeze. The sun shines raising spirits, lifting the mood, bringing joy and light to soul & heart.