Scottish Highlands 2012, Day 03

Day 03 – A Good Tour of Much of the Isle of Skye

Between catching up on e-mails, and planning for the day, we didn’t get a particularly early start.

We made up for it at the other end of the day, though, by returning to the hotel close to 10:00, just in time for a wee dram, some soup, and a plate of local cheeses. The latter two were thanks to Richard, the owner, as they stop serving dinner at 9:00.

He said, “And I thought I worked long hours!” Little does he know about our hours when we’re on our workshops! It’s fun, though, and we would not have it any other way, as our alumni/ae well know.

We started out by exploring a loop in the Sleat area. Sheep greeted us as we photographed the moors and mountains, the sea shining beyond, and the mountains on the mainland looking misty and mysterious.

Then, we headed up to the Trotternish Peninsula in the north. One cannot come to this area and not check out The Storr, one of the iconic features of the Isle. It was foggy, adding to the other-worldliness of this craggy area.

We made numerous stops as we meandered up the coast, checking out different views and walking along the cliff edges.

Late in the afternoon, we stopped for tea and a very tasty Coconut-and-Tamarind soup at a lovely tea house in a small little village. With the stomach growls held at bay, we continued around

Scottish Highlands 2012, Day 02

Day 02 – Loch Ness, a Famous Castle, and to the Isle of Skye

After a long day yesterday with not exactly the maximum of sleep, we didn’t get up too early.  Still, we were on the road at a decent hour and drove down to a famous castle on Loch Ness, one that we’ll revisit with the group later in the week.

One of the things that struck me is the plethora of Gorse.  It is everywhere, and seems more so than last time, but then, it is in bloom, covering the hillsides, lining roadways, and even clinging to steep mountainsides. As I looked out one of the castle windows, this was the scene that greeted me.

We looked for Nessie, as we traveled down the northerly side of Loch Ness, but only the various tour boats were plying the waters.

In final scouting, we always try for new areas. There was an enticing road up over the mountains to one of the ferries. It was, indeed, dramatic, but it didn’t produce the quite the photo opportunities that we were seeking, although I did get what I think will be a nice panorama. Since it was a dead-end, we turned around at the ferry stop, HAL still insisting that we get on the ferry. Silly HAL. I wish he’d listen to what Arnie and I say to each other!

We drove past high moors and saw some pretty impressive scenery that we had enjoyed on our last trip. Our next scheduled stop was the castle just before the Skye Bridge. Being later in the day, there were hoards of people.

Still, patience always wins out, and Arnie and I got some shots that pleased us. There was so much to photograph, and the setting is pretty impressive. We enjoyed the afternoon sun as we waited out this shot and that.

We have long noticed a phenomenon when we photograph. We always seek a different viewpoint, a more-unusual view. When we find one, invariably, the ants appear,

Scottish Highlands 2012, Day 01

Day 01 – Landing in Glasgow and Scouting to Inverness

After the day from hell trying to get Hal updated and trying to upgrade our seats, Saturday (yesterday) went smoothly. Even more so, because ultimately I succeeded with the seats, in spite of an airlines website freeze-up. A trip to the airport and a nice meeting with the ever-so-helpful Sherry Rose got it all straightened out. Then, we found out that in my hours and hours of battles with Garmin and Hal, I actually won, and the new European maps showed up. Could not see them from the US side of the pond.

Because of weather, we took off a little late from the States, but the pilot made up most of the time. As we approached the outer islands of Scotland, I was kicking myself that the camera was so buried in the overhead that there was no way I was going to get it out without disturbing still-sleeping passengers. Arnie had the same scenario.

The fog and mists over the islands, wafting in and out, cradling the peaks, was gorgeous. Ah well, that will be a great memory that we are not likely to forget!

Customs was a breeze in Glasgow. No other international flights in yet. Our checked bags came off quickly, and we packed up the rental and took off, happy to have discovered that Hal knew what to do with the new European maps. Yippeee!

Usually, Arnie drives, and I navigate, but since I have driven a lot more often in places like the UK, Oz, and the land of the Kiwi, I am used to driving on the “wrong” side of the road and looking right-left-right. We made some stops along our route to our first hotel in Inverness, but the time of day was really not good for photography. Still, we found some new spots we liked, and noted them in Hal for our return trip with the participants several days hence.

After checking into our hotel in Inverness, we walked into town, a mere five or so minutes away. We looked at