Three years with my SO calls for a (government sanctioned) mini-escape to the beach. We headed out towards Dunbar, in East Lothian, to explore the John Muir Country Park.









The country park marks one end of the John Muir Way, which runs across the central belt of Scotland. Perhaps next year we'll walk it!

Once again, another trip to Edinburgh Zoo. February makes for cold shooting but I'm pretty pleased with some of these shots. Always a treat to see the red pandas as well!
Here's v quick post from me, delving into the backlog of photos from the last time I was at Edinburgh Zoo. I'm pretty tempted to get myself an annual pass and start a photo series studying various species... We'll see.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that portraits look far more artistic when they're in black and white.

As I have said before, I'm super lucky that my job sends me off on trips to far flung areas of Scotland. I still can't drive (yes, still! I promise I'll learn soon!) so any trip that takes me off into the wilderness is something I couldn't do on my own and something I'm very grateful for.

This is a quick collection of photos from one of those trips - primarily through the Glencoe Valley and around the Loch Ness area. We were treated to both winter sun and a light dusting of snow.

 
Loch Tay from the coach


Buachaille Etive Mor (more like bae-chaille, amirite... I'm sorry it's my favourite mountain in Scotland, I had to)


From the Glencoe Visitors Centre


Ben Nevis


Eilean Donan Castle


Urquhart Castle


Loch Ness


I've never seen the loch look like this... actually to the point that it didn't look real. Such a treat to see after some truly dodgy weather!


On a completely separate note, I feel like I am perpetually trying to catch up with posts on here. There was a time when I was young where I'd stand puzzled about how adults didn't have time for their hobbies - I totally get it now. My bullet journal is the only thing keeping my life together at the moment, but ever so slowly getting there. Phew. 
There seems to be a tradition in my immediate family of escaping London around Christmas. We select a location around the UK and go exploring. With family dotted all over the country, we have a great excuse to visit beautiful towns and cities like York, Liverpool and Manchester while also seeing relatives. 

This year was Chester's turn. 


I think I was immediately struck by how old Chester is! It seemed like practically everything has its foundations in or inspirations from the Tudor era. An extremely photogenic city, I'm sure you'll agree!

Despite it being Christmas - the one time when shops actually shut in the UK - we did manage to find things to keep us occupied. As with York, Chester is a walled city, so we walked the parapets (both to see the sights and to keep warm). We climbed up to the Eastgate Clock Tower, pictured above, and began our perimeter of the city. 


If there's one way to keep me occupied and happy, it's to suddenly introduce me to an animal. When we approached Chester Cathedral, I spotted a falconry and nature garden in the grounds. I immediately zipped down from the walls and went nosing around. We were too soon to see the birds stretch their wings in flying displays but it's not every Christmas you meet eagles, hawks and falcons...


Inside the cathedral, I was reminded of a mini York Minster. You can tell an insane amount of upkeep goes into the cathedral and all its hand-carved wooden and stone insides.


Back on the walls, we were treated to more views of old and beautifully-kept buildings. Some more stern than others... 


Chester has a lot of pride for its buildings - even down residential streets - which is a thing I feel you don't see all that often. Although it was a very quick break as I had to wend my way back up to Edinburgh, Chester is definitely a very cute city and well worth a weekend break!  

If there's one thing I really can't stress enough about this weekend in the Highlands and Islands (like I didn't mention it enough in my last post...), it was the ridiculously good weather we were having. It was October and while I had come prepared for rain and bitterly cold winds, we had beautiful blue skies. I think most of these pictures speak for themselves in illustrating how gorgeous Skye is so I won't write huge paragraphs like I am sometimes known to do... 


As it was so unseasonably nice out, we decided to walk over the Skye Bridge, which gave me the opportunity to grab some incredible photos - both looking back to the mainland...



...And out to the incredible Cuillin Mountains



Those who know me, know Iceland is at the top of my bucket list. Absolutely, unequivocally number one. Why am I talking about Iceland in a post about Skye? Because the entire island felt like a teaser for the country. Rugged volcanic features, vast open moors. I was struggling to pick my jaw up from off the floor. 



Every bend in the road led to even more impressive landscapes. 


The views from Dun Beag Broch - an ancient iron-age fort - were stunning. It was easy to see why it had been built in at the top of a particular hill; there was a clear view towards the Cuillin Range as well as an excellent scope of the bay. 


We could even see all the way out to the Outer Hebrides. (I think that's South Uist. Probably.) 


Suffice to say, I was enjoying myself.



On the opposite side of the island, we passed the Old Man of Storr - a rock formation that juts out of the Trotternish Peninsula. Storr gets its name from a folktale about two giants who were fleeing human attackers. They made the mistake of looking back to see how much distance they had gained and as they did so, were turned to stone.


I so wish we could have stopped so I could have stormed up there! It looks like such a good hike! Alas, coaches are not meant for such things. (Another point in favour of me getting a car...). Our actual destinations were Mealt Falls...


And Kilt Rock! 


Aptly named, as you can see. Mealt Falls plunge straight into the sea and we had good visibility back to the mainland. 


Skye's largest settlement is Portree and its harbour is iconic. Its name comes from the Gaelic 'Port Rìgh' meaning King's Port, possibly from a visit by King James V in 1540. 


It was fairly busy despite being outside of the tourist season too.


Saying goodbye to Skye was much harder than expected! It had been a whistle-stop tour but I absolutely fell in love with the wild landscapes. I will definitely be back (hopefully with the same wonderful weather and in a vehicle that can get inland!)

On some trips, there are some days where I want to cry over the fact that I don't own a car. Granted, I would need to get my license before I could get a car (on my to do list, don't you worry) and I don't think I could feasibly justify buying a car at the moment considering how excellent Edinburgh and the UK's public transport network is (which also helps save the planet...) but it doesn't stop those days from coming. The days where I want to kick and scream that I can't just pull over anywhere and take photos. Or rather, in this case, the days I can't just grab the wheel to the nine metre long coach I'm in and rip it off the road. Whoops.  

If you've been reading my blog for a while or have seen enough of my photos, you'll have noticed that I am very much into landscape photography. While I love exploring any new place, my heart is drawn to wild and untouched expanses of land (the kind that have been carved by natural elements for millions of years and that sound really corny to write about because they're so insanely indescribable - those ones). If you've seen that one bit in Skyfall, you'll have a taste of what the drive north was like. I so badly wanted to demand we pull over but alas, we had an itinerary to stick to.


Glencoe wasn't half bad though.


Half good, some might say.


The highlands are known for being atmospheric and dramatic which roughly translates as "bad weather" and "even more bad weather" so I was low-key anxious that the skies would open and drown all of the north.

But after the long drive from Edinburgh to Inverness, Urquhart Castle couldn't have looked better!


I have to admit, the weather was incredible for this entire trip.


So incredible that there was a RAINBOW!


Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous...


Urquhart Castle (that's pronounced ur-kut) is such an interesting place too. It was hugely important in controlling access to the highland lochs and waterways (the best and easiest way to travel because of all the mountains). It passed from clan to clan but eventually was blown up by William of Orange's soldiers in 1690 who wanted to prevent the castle from becoming a Jacobite stronghold. All that history to rubble...

The visitor's centre does a fantastic job of explaining the castle's history and I love that you can just roam the ruins.


Loch Ness was looking splendid as well. I learned on this trip that at its deepest point (239.5m) the loch is deeper than the North Sea and contains more freshwater than all the lakes in England and Wales combined. Insane.


It had been over a decade since I'd been to Loch Ness so it was great to be back on the shoreline and keep an eye out for Nessie!

The Highlands | Skye