Today is the first day of walking, rather than travelling to get here. After a very good breakfast, off we went. The first part of this walk, which is actually the third stage of the Kintyre Way, starts off with mixture of road and beach walking before heading a little inland. Then back towards the beach, where I was able to demonstrate my acrobatic skills to the world. Stepping down a small, muddy, slope to the path on the beach, I somehow managed a somersault turning 180o in two dimensions, landing (inevitably in the sole patch of stinging nettles around) facing where I had been 0.1 second before, flat on my back. Onward to a long beach walk, mainly pebble, but with some sand. Whichever we were walking on proved to be hard work, but more than compensated for by the glorious views of the bays we followed. We did pass the lowest trig point in existence - marking a huge altitude of two metres above sea level.Although old hat to my companions, I was fascinated by the oystercatchers along this stretch. We did see a substantial variety of wildlife en-route: a fox on the beach; oystercatchers; a lizard on the side of a small plank bridge; herons; and a variety of other birds. My ancient method of classifying birds, into chaffinches and web-footed chaffinches seemed to strike a chord with Ani Sherab, though of less interest to Phen, who is rather more knowledgeable about birds than me.
We finished at Tayinloan, after a reasonable stage, which was ideal in easing us into walking, about 5 1/2 hours after starting, about 20% slower than the walkhighlands route map suggested.