Last Day!

The last full day of our holiday was another 'day off' from driving around. We opted once again, for the lovely walk to the Castell de N'Amer and the headland on which it sits. The wind had picked up a bit in the few days since our last walk there and the sea was 'animated' to say the least. The rocky headland - composed of that ancient coral reef - is strewn with strange cairns of loose rocks piled high by previous visitors. We added our stones to the piles, well it was impossible not to.

Breakers rolled in from the sea and crashed onto the rocks, sending spray high into the air and onto our specs.

The area is a nature reserve and with good reason. The flora is quite beautiful, even at this time of year. Among the most numerous flowers to be seen are the Autumn Crocus (Colchicum autumnale) which are poking up through the rocky soil.

These vibrant little flowers are particularly visible as they only send out their blooms after the leaves have withered and died in the heat of the summer. The inner part of the flower contains several bright, yellow stamens, famous as the extraordinarily expensive spice Saffron.

Another small, delicate flower which is in evidence at this time of year is this little, white Narcissus (Narcissus serotinus).

Standing on a stalk no more than 6" high, these tissue-like blooms nod in the breeze dancing like little ballerinas.
On the subject of flora, while we were at the Mirador d'es Colomer, we spotted a rather gorgeous Arum Lilly growing, seemingly out of the bare rock.

Arum pictum is a tuberous perennial with green, arrow-shaped leaves with creamy-white veins appearing over winter. It is the only Arum to flower in autumn, bearing a purple-black spathe. Red berries appear in the summer months.