Some favourites from our trip

 Our time in Scotland this time round has reached its end. As ever it has gifted us so much, so many moments and so much beauty. 

I am thinking I might end up doing a few of these posts as I daresay I will never be able to limit my favourites to a single post!

The scenery is always so very special, the moods and the light and the changing colours, so this is one for the landscape...

The cove in the sunshine. we had so many warm days in the beginning, 27 degrees saw us in t-shirts and wandering the cottage in bare feet - unheard of!

The unusual heat also seemed to make for summer storms - just like in Australia where the build up of heat over the day often breaks in a storm in late afternoon.

Our first month or so the landscape was full of heather. The hills were purplish pink and on a warm afternoon, we stepped out of the car and could simply smell honey. It was divine.

We experienced some fabulous low tides, which created a beach for us at the cove for the first time! They also meant we could wander out and through gaps in the cliffs to other beaches and coves. This sea pool with its stunning green rocks in the sunshine...

Another really warm day (26 degrees) and we headed to one of our favourite places Forsinard in the Flow Country. The home of the blanket bog, which stretches across the north of Scotland, is also seeking approval as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is utterly magnificent. This time the bog was lower and drier, but I imagine it has filled up in recent days with the weather that has been had!

I love the many and varied fencelines in the north and along the coast. This set are at Forsinard as well, stumbling their way cross the landscape.

The Autumn skies can be sublime in their colouring (when they aren't leaden grey and bearing rain). A glorious sunrise with the fishing net poles.

I also like the grey skies - it is a colour I associate with Scotland - and as the season has turned chillier, so too have the hills lost the purple of the heather and the green of the bracken. The russet of the bracken is now strong and I love these colours together.

We visited a small Clearance village along the Strathnaver called Achanlochy. The weather was atrocious but the wee loch it stood by shimmered in the low light.

And the weekend before we left the winds blew at what we would describe sub-cyclonic levels (about 85-90km/hour). The cove had really large waves crashing over and over again.

Did I mention the weather towards the end? This is looking up the Kyle of Tongue with Ben Loyal dipping in and out of mist and clouds. The tide was out but a channel was still running. I love this muted palette.

So that's the landscape for now. We were fortunate to observe so many changes in the colours and light given the length of our stay this time. Precious. We will carry it with us in our hearts as we go, and look forward to a return. As the locals would say Haste Ye Back.