Highland Perceptions

One of the advantages of touring the Scottish Highlands away from the main tourist season is that although the daylight hours are limited, the sun is low in the sky...resulting in amazing sunsets! 😊

Beautiful temperature inversions from the Trotternish peninsula on Skye last week...😊

The Calanais Standing Stones are one of the most popular places to visit on the Isle of Lewis....and rightly so. At 5000 years old, they pre-date Stonehenge and occupy a position with a commanding view, and have a number of other megalithic structures around them, including stone circles.

The stones themselves are composed of Lewisian gneiss, at around 3 billion years old, and some of the oldest rock on the planet. So a visit to Calanais isn't just to look at some standing stones...it's the ability to stand and marvel at the silent beauty of this place, and to be able to see them in a landscape which has remained largely unchanged since the stones were first erected.

At the north western tip of Europe, there are some very gneiss rocks exposed at the Butt of Lewis....😉

Anyone who has travelled along the beautiful coastal route from Dervaig to Ulva Ferry on Mull will recognise this waterfall, which falls directly into the sea.... I won't name it, hopefully it might encourage people to get out of their vehicles and remind themselves of the beauty and advantages of looking at and understanding a 1:25000 OS map.
A polite request for the people who "wild camped" at the top of the falls and who left the remains of their camp fire with the obligatory hole burnt into the otherwise pristine turf.....please don't! If you need an explanation, then perhaps you shouldn't be there....

Every time I take clients to the Outer Hebrides, I hope that the weather will be good so that I don’t have to describe the incredible beaches and landscapes which they can’t see….last week I could just allow them to bear witness to the real thing….This is what Harris is like in 27* Celsius and perfect visibility!😎

Bla Bheinn on Skye is only just a Munro at 3050 feet, but is definitely one of the most spectacular hills in Scotland.
Viewed here from Loch Slapin, it presents itself as an impenetratable wall of gabbro rising sheer from the sea. 😊

Lunga, largest of the Treshnish Isles, supports a huge population of nesting Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills and Shags at this time of year....amongst others! 😊

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Anyone who has travelled from Invergarry to Skye along the A87 will pass the Glengarry "view"point....where there is no view at all! It always makes me laugh, and provides some entertainment for my clients, when we pass the layby, with lots of people trying to get a glimpse through the big stand of Sitka Spruce which has grown up to obscure the view!
This shot is from a wee bit further down the road, and provides a glorious vista of the Knoydart hills.😊

If anyone is in doubt about visiting the Isle of Barra...I think it's fair to say that only the greatest of philistines will be disappointed.
The scenery is magical, the beaches are beyond belief, the sea is turquoise...and when you add in factors like amazingly good food and exceptionally friendly locals...we are intending to go back at some point this year, regardless of whether I get a booking with clients!

Perthshire...Scotland's very own New England...

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