Summer at Findhorn

Findhorn Bay

Sometimes the sea attracts. With a promise of sunshine and thoughts of the freshness of sea air and the spaciousness of a seascape we headed for Findhorn to walk along the beach and round to the bay.

The ebbing tide

The tide had just turned as we arrived and the shingle was two-tone - dark with wetness below the tide line, light and sundried above. The sea was tri-coloured - brown where it ran thinly over the stones, then turquoise, then deep blue. Still sinking down the steeper part of the beach it pounded the pebbles with big waves. Soon it would quieten as it reached the flatter shore before quickly running into the distance, leaving vast expanses of wet sand on which gulls and waders would prospect for food. As sand banks far out in the water started to surface seals appeared, clambering out of the waves to bask in the sunshine.

Culbin Forest reaches the sea

At the narrow inlet where Findhorn Bay pours out into the North Sea the water was racing and surging, rushing fast towards the freedom of the vast ocean. Across the deep channel the edge of  dark Culbin Forest rose along the top of steep dunes, their slopes scattered with fallen trees, brought down by the sea eating into the sand.

A tour boat sped past, fresh from seal watching. Soon Findhorn village came into view and a mass of boats and people around the marina. Here the fresh tide line was green and wet with just above it the last higher one, now dry and dusty. Ephemeral parallel lines, soon to be washed away.

The Captain's Table cafe at Findhorn Marina provided welcome refreshments before we crossed the flower-strewn dunes back to the beach.