Yesterday I drove south from Strathcarron to Callander which is a beautiful, indeed spectacular at times, journey. Apart from the 15 or so miles out of Strathcarron from the main Skye to Fort William road, it's a journey I do fairly frequently. Of course as the driver one misses out on a great deal of the scenery whilst concentrating on the road but yesterday I stopped quite a lot and savoured the experience despite the rather inclement weather.
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| Pleasure cruiser on Loch Linnhe near Fort William |
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| Fishing vessel sailing up the loch |
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| Just 'cos I liked the picture |
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| The glowering mountains overlooking Rannoch Moor and the entrance to Glen Coe (off pic to the right) |
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| The mists and clouds over the mountains to Ben Nevis |
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| A slight detour to Killin and a look at the Falls of Dochart |
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| And all of a sudden I was taken back to Northland with Pauline looking at old churches made of wrinkly tin (corrugated iron) |
Lovely photos. Love the boats and the reflections. Scotland looks breathtakingly beautiful this time of year. Glen Coe, such a sad atmospheric place. My sister-in-law said the very stones seem imbued with sadness at times. xoxox
ReplyDeleteCarol Scotland can be breathtakingly beautiful at any time of year - even in the pouring rain if you are in the right place! I think your sister-in-law is correct. It's a very sombre place and I always feel that the mountains are looking down disapprovingly at our intrusion even on the sunniest of days.
DeleteSome spectacular views indeed. I love the ones with the clouds hanging down over the mountains - enhancing the impression of "highlands" :) Lovely color contrasts too, in the Rannoch Moor one especially.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite difficult, Monica, to get all the colours in on a photo when the light is so dark and overcast but it is there nonetheless.
DeleteI did that journey when I was 9 and although unaware of the history, I was very impressed with the scenery Here in NZ we often acknowledge the Maori concept of where is your mountain, or where is your water? For me the water is in the peaceful lochs of Scotland - particularly Loch Faskelly in Pitlochry, but I have a similar love for tumbling Scottish burns, and later the seas of Northland, NZ. My mountain - Ben Vrackie from climbing it in childhood, and later Mt Manaia in Whangarei heads.
ReplyDeleteSo your post reminded me of much of this!
thank you ;)
Fiona Loch Faskelly always looks deep and still as if the wind can never touch it. I know Ben Vrackie (though I have never climbed it) and, presumably, I have been around Mt Manaia although I will have to look that one up. I'm glad that I reminded you of your Scotland experience.
DeleteAh! so... Scottish. It's a while since I have been there and the image of the clouds between the mountains somehow took me back. And I could imagine the peacefulness of the boats on the loch.
ReplyDeleteJenny haste ye back in the flesh! It's a wonderful country.
DeleteNice tour. Beautiful scenery. sometimes we never stop when we should stop and look at something carefully.
ReplyDeleteThat's true Red. I've posted on W H Davies' poem 'Leisure' on several occasions: What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stop and stare?
DeleteI'd forgotten about Killin. I must stop there again.
ReplyDeleteA grand set of pictures.
Adrian Killin is rather easy to forget in that it's a bit off the beaten track.
DeleteI love boats and sailing and open air spaces, so this wa a wonderful post to start my Sunday morning off.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear that Virginia.
DeleteBeautiful photos, Graham. Dor you print them off, or store them electronically? You must have thousands!
ReplyDeleteFrances all my photos in the digital era (since 2003 for me) have been stored electronically and I have also digitised some of the many thousands of prints I have taken since I was six. I have well over 100,000 images on my computers. I can even find some of them when I need them!
DeleteThat Rannoch Moor one is stunning. I remember being there. Even 5 generations and half a world removed, I am thinking ver much of Scotland these days. Jean
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear that Jean. Rannoch Moor is a truly incredible place whatever the time of year or the weather it has a different face for each.
DeleteWhat a great road trip, Graham. I love the mist and the mountains and, of course, always love water. And then, the little church reminiscent of St Marys at Motuti (although that had blue trim). I saw lots of little old churches in Queensland but none of them had the charm of some of those little Northland churches. I'm now going to enjoy reading back on your doings for the past 5 weeks.
ReplyDeletePauline as soon as I saw the church I was transported back to our explorations.
DeleteI haven't been to Killin since we both went with 'Uncle' Phil and the caravan and I fished in the river. A shame that the photos he took of that day never came our way.
ReplyDeleteCJ I have been back to Killin but I don't really recall my recent visits anywhere nearly as well as the one to which you refer and of which I do have some photos.
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