Day 5 of Pauline and my Lewis and Harris Safari was spent travelling over to the far West of Lewis. It was the least clement of the days we were on Safari and although it didn't rain there was a strong wind and relatively little sun.
At Breanish Pauline braved the wind to photograph the Information Stones. I was sure that I'd blogged about them but couldn't find a post. I'm sure that in the next few of Pauline's posts you will see their contents.
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| Information Stones at Breanish |
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| It might be as remote as it gets on Lewis but it certainly isn't a blackhouse! |
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| The cattle are pretty laid back over that side of the Island |
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| The Uig welcoming party |
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| Pauline taking photos of sand |
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| Pauline marching off into the distance |
I don't like to complain but can't resist saying that I don't find the first picture very informative... ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing both the cattle and the beaches may have seemed a bit like "home" to Pauline?
Hi Monica, We don't have highland cattle around here, and the ones we saw that day were extremely quiet and accustomed to traffic - quite unlike our cattle. As for the beaches, I've never seen two that are the same and I don't think I've ever seen one I didn't like! Any holiday with churches and beaches will keep me happy.
DeleteMonica the first picture was a taster. I'm sure that Pauline will post an explanation. I thought I had done a post on them a few years ago but I couldn't find it.
DeleteSorry Pauline - I remember now that it was Graham who had highland cattle as neighbours in NZ as well (right?). Yours aren't the hippie kind :) - As for the beaches, the resemblance for me is the lack of people on them (on the photos I've seen... perhaps primarily on Graham's blogs as well...)
DeleteI can imagine you shouting from the dunes - "PAULINE! COME BACK!"
ReplyDeleteThen Pauline shouts back, "NO WAY GRAHAM! YOU DRIVE LIKE A MANIAC! I AM WALKING BACK TO EAGLETON!"
Nothing could be further from the truth, YP. Graham is a very steady driver and, to be honest, I'd rather not be driving on some of those island roads. I was marching off to get a shot of those stormy looking clouds from a different angle. Graham is such a good tour guide he doesn't mind at all if I just wander off.
DeleteThank you Pauline. As for you YP a man criticising another man's driving: naughty!
DeleteI stand corrected and humbly apologise for any offence caused.
DeleteApologies accepted YP. Anything else...but my driving??!!
DeleteANYTHING else? Now that is like a red rag to a bull! Let's start with personal hygiene.
DeleteOkay. I asked for that YP.
DeleteFirstly my apologies for not commenting on Safari No. 4...I've been very remiss, but I'll make up for my tardiness now. St. Clements is a wonderful old church; and, my goodness, old it is! Stunning! I hope someone planted some orange and lemon trees nearby! But I guess the words in the rhyme don't apply to this particular Church of St. Clements...or do they?
ReplyDeleteYou really are able to capture the atmosphere in your photos...they are truly wonderful and I feel as if I'm there, experiencing the surroundings in person.
Thank you Lee. No apologies ever needed for failing to comment on this blog. As for planting trees: any would struggle to survive and oranges and lemons certainly wouldn't (in fact I don't even recall seeing them in England never mind Scotland).
DeleteThat's one helluva beach! Don't you miss trees? I live in a heavily wooded area, and I'd feel naked without trees everywhere.
ReplyDeleteCro we have some very large beaches here on Lewis and Harris. As for trees I miss them very much indeed but that's just the nature of things. Coniferous forests are being planted in many places on the Island now though and there are trees in Stornoway planted by the Mathesons who built Lews Castle with money from the opium trade.
DeleteGraham, I think perhaps I should have made room in my suitcase for one other jacket. And I've also resolved to be more careful with my posture when I'm taking photos.
ReplyDeletePauline I think it was a splendid jacket for highlighting you in the various photographs.
DeletePlenty of space still. Just as well with houses like that being built. It is a little incongruous.
ReplyDeleteThere's plenty of incongruity on the Islands Adrian - especially when it comes to houses.
DeleteHow cold was it? Of course, with strong winds, the mere number doesn't really say how cold it feels, does it! In any case, all those wide open spaces are awe-inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThe new house must be very light inside with so many windows. I hope they have good insulation in such a windswept part of the world.
Meike the ambient temperature was a balmy 12ºC or thereabouts but the wind was very strong and very cold!
DeleteI absolutely love those sweeping views of the ocean as a backdrop. A very fascinating place. The moody clouds in the last shot are wonderful (but I guess not so fun in real life)!
ReplyDeleteMersad
Mersad Donko Photography
You are correct Mersad. In real life the clouds were not so much fun but, fortunately, we escaped any rain they may have caused.
DeleteWow The Information Stones....very interesting. I'm off to Mr.Google.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about your other readers' feelings but I'm sure glad that Pauline and CJ have visited your part of the world and have been writing some fascinating facts about the places they have visited....thank goodness....I am learning a lot from them too.
Hopefully, Virginia, I'll eventually get around to some more factual posts about the Islands for readers of this blog who have not been around in early days when I might have written such posts.
DeletePauline's red jacket really makes the pictures in which she features! And I just LOVE highland cattle. They're so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteFrances Highland Cattle are both beautiful and, on the whole, gentle.
DeleteThe weather does what it wants and we have to make the best of it. We get a different view of our home turf when we are showing others around.
ReplyDeleteOh how true that is Red. The weather will be what it will be regardless of our hopes.
DeleteI'm really enjoying yours and Pauline's posts showing two different perspectives of the same trip. I'm loving all your images too, Graham. I love your perspectives of Pauline exploring in the distance. I'd hate to mess with the cattle!
ReplyDeleteThe Highland Cattle are very gentle as a rule Liz.
DeleteLovely! You have not written about any information stones, as far as I know. When I saw the welcoming party I was reminded of this village in Japan which has become very depopulated and one of the residents has made dolls representing all the people who used to be there, and put them in the buildings where the people used to live. I'd quite like to go there and see it for myself. I'm puzzling over exactly how it is done. Surely the homes are not left just as they were, empty? And if there are people living in them still, do they mind sharing their living quarters with giant dolls? Still, obviously such problems do not worry the cheerful welcoming party! Hopefully someone brings them in at night.
ReplyDeleteJenny I must revisit my photo collection or, better still, take new ones when I next go to Uig (which probably means when I next have visitors who want a day out). I think I need to renew or, indeed, do for the first time some more Outer Hebridean fact posts.
DeleteThe cattle there are quite different from ours in the U.S. The grass is such a lush green; ours is brown from lack of rain. Our poor country has a four-year drought in Californai. Then when they have rain, there's nothing left to hold it so there's also flooding in too many of our states. Apparently we're in for a hard winter.
ReplyDeleteNorma these are Highland Cattle and they are found in small numbers in many countries where enthusiasts have Highland Cattle Societies. We have lots and lots of rain here and not enough sun. It would be nice if things were shared out a bit more evenly!
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