An art challenge

 

Fiona came across a Facebook post that referenced the existence of poetry lines carved into the rocks on a beach just over an hour's drive from the cottage. It seemed like a good idea yesterday to jump in the van and head to Sannick Beach and discover these carved words - simple right? It turned out quite a few things proved a challenge. 

The beach is not well known; but a google map search showed approximately where it was. We had to time our arrival to be at the beach at dead-low tide as the carved stones are under water when the tide is in. We did find the beach - a local dog walker confirmed we had reached the starting point to walk to the beach; and from the photo above you can see we went searching amongst the rocks on the beach and the tide was out - a couple of wins there.

A few of the challenges included: the signal on our phone was not strong enough to show us the way until we got close to the area; the beach was signposted by a small weathered sign at the front of a sheep paddock gate; the parking area and gateway was a bog so we had to clamber over a side fence; as soon a I stepped out of the van to direct parking I was attacked by the thickest swarm of midges I ever encountered - and I mean ever; I immediately jumped back into the van warning Fiona not to go out until we slathered ourselves in midge repellant; after donning rain coats and bog boots - did I mention it was raining lightly by this stage - we headed in the direction of the beach - photos below.

The only instructions Fiona had for finding the carved rocks was to walk the beach towards the John o' Groats. The following photos are of us scrambling and hunting - talk about find a particular rock in a rock pile. We did ask the local guy when we we on the beach did he know about the carved rocks - he replied he never heard of them; and then said we had picked a particularly bad day to spend any time on the beach.

For almost an hour we had walked the beach as far as we could go - slipping and sliding as we went - and no sight of the carved rocks. So despondently we headed back down the beach scanning and scrambling. About half way down Fiona let out a call that she thought she had found some of the carvings at least. 

And so against all odds, and still in the rain and midges, we revelled in finding carved rocks as depicted in photos below - a mix of Fiona's and mine - though the first one is Fiona's showing the start of this particular piece of poetry rising out of the sea and the rain drops.

It is amazing how one forgets the challenges when the delightful outcome is achieved. After getting back to the van and stripping off the wet weather gear we went to John o' Groats for a warming coffee and apple-cinnamon bun - a grand way to share photos and round off a great art experience. 

No doubt Fiona will share more about the poetry and content later - for now I just wanted to share the tough but delightful art experience.