Shooting Dolphins
OK, so this little snapshot is unlikely to impress the 大象传媒's Natural History Unit, but at least I can now boast that I've seen the with my very own eyes. All thanks to a last-minute family decision to drive across the Kessock Bridge this morning and explore the coastline of the Black Isle.
This photograph was taken at Chanonry Point at Fortrose where we jostled with other dolphin watchers. Some people obviously take this pursuit very seriously. There were guys with telescopic lenses so big that, had they been pointing in the right direction, they would be able peer into the window of our house in Inverness and tell me where I'd left my binoculars. There were lots of families on the shoreline too, but you kind of sense that dolphins in their natural habitat don't hold the same appeal for children as those you see cooped up in one of those marine life centres. These dolphins were content to leap about in the water looking for fish. Had they come swimming past backwards with a plastic hoop on their nose we would have applauded. That's showbiz.
After that we headed toward Dingwall for lunch, but were diverted by a huge sign on the A9 directing us to the San Francisco Music Box coffee house. We turned off the main dual carriageway and, two miles later, were we driving up a single-track road towards some farm buildings. Then, as is almost inevitable on a Sunday in Scotland, we came to a big, black wrought iron gate and could go no further. It turns out, in any case, this is the franchise of some big American company that sells such essentials as "glitter-filled water globes" and reproduction Faberge eggs. All we wanted was a cuppa and a scone.
Back to Dingwall then where it was so quiet that we found ourselves wandering around a branch of Woolworths as the only customers in the shop. It was like we had won some kind of prize. We had the eyes of every shop assistant upon us. One girl, keenly aware that this wasn't the biggest branch of Woolies in the world, came to tell us that if we couldn't find what we were looking for she would gladly order it for us. How nice is that? Alas the customer service only went so far and we weren't able to help ourselves to as much pic 'n' mix sweets as we could carry, although the Zedettes cleary thought this was the case.
