Beached

Beached, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

For these poor rocks there life of fun being thrown about in the sea off the coast of Mol Foirsgeo Beach on the Isle of Lewis has ended.

They now have to live out the rest of their lives lying stranded on the beach and hope that some tourist will take the time to lift them from the sand, carry them to the water and once again set them free.

Stand Tall

Stand Tall, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

On the Isle of Lewis when you are hunting for some standing stones the obvious place to visit is the more well known site at Calanais (Calanish) which always seems to draw a crowd come hail or shine, but if you drive up the North-West of the island towards Port Nis (Port Ness) you will find another set of standing stones known as Steinacleit.

They may not have the same impact to the eye that the Standing Stones of Calanish have, but when you take some time to look at just how large the stone circles are at Steincleit you get the impression that this is infact was the larger set of standing stones / stone circles on the island, but over the years has been pumelled by the weather and many of the stones have gave in along the way.

The Long And Winding Road

The Long And Winding Road, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

One of the main highlights for myself and Mireille during our summer holidays has been that we do the entire trip in "the big chap", which is code for my 5.7 litre V8 engined Monaro.

Normal life in Germany sees Mireille driving her Corolla and me with either a company car or my 1.2 litre Corsa, so when it comes summer holiday time we like to have the little bit of extra comfort the Monaro provides.

Obviously it's great having that huge engine under the bonnet/lid too, but with us liking the highlands and islands for our normal holiday destinations there aint much point in even trying to open her up properly as there's more twists and turns than you'll find at a Friday night dance class.

I love this particular shot as you can see the road running off into the distance with the Monaro sitting there idling, just begging me to get back behind the wheel and see us disappear over the horizon in no time at all.

One other funny note is the comment that Mireille says every time she sits in the Monaro these days - "ok, so where are we going on holiday this time", it's always great fun being behind the wheel of the car and for now it remains as being the "fun" car while the others deal with the daily grind.

Ditch of Blood

Ditch of Blood, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

After visiting the ruined remains of the Trinity Temple on North Uist we started to make our way back to the car.

This shot was taken about half way back towards the main road (just before crossing the wooden ramp which lets you cross the Ditch of Blood) and is a perfect example of why you shouldn't only shoot pictures in the particular direction you first look - the return over the path which had been trampled into the grassy hill looked simply stunning with the blue sky and fluffy clouds overhead.

One of my favourite photographs taken on North Uist.

The Marker Posts

The Marker Posts, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

After arriving on North Uist from either of it's seaports you have two options for navigating your way South once you reach the outskirts of Lochmaddy, one road takes an almost direct route to the Benbecula Causeway and the other will swing you around the West Coast of the Island - choosing the more direct option will take you past Barpa Langass Memorial Cairn.

As you pull off of the main road into the small carpark you will find these awesome marker posts defining some of the parking spaces, they give you a feeling as though you're stepping out of the car and instantly being transported back several hundred years.

A short walk up the nearby hill (don't worry, there's a path to this one) will bring you to the chambered cairn itself. The cairn measures approx 72 feet in diameter and is just under 20 feet tall. It has been dated back to the Neolithic age, and it's roof is constructed of two huge slabs with a third slab added on top of these - it may look like it's been made entirely of small stones, but these are only to cover the slabs etc in line with a normal looking cairn.

There is one single entrance to the cairn which is found on the East side, and surprisingly you can still enter one of the chambers even though the structure has partially collapsed over the years.

Home of The Fairy

Home of The Fairy, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

Even before I processed this image it was one of my favourite shots from the Isle of Skye where we spent a little over three days during our 2 week trip to the Western Isles.

The crag (rock) itself was a sight to behold - seemingly having been thrust through the ground which lay beneath it with extreme force, the landscape which surrounded the entire location and that awesome little path which will have seen hundreds or even thousands of shoes pass over it's dirt and stones each and every day during the summer months.

The area is known as Fairy Glen, but it's somewhere you have to visit for yourself to fully feel the magic that seems to eminate from every part of this famous spot.

Nature Will Always Find A Way

Nature Will Always Find A Way, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

When you first look at this picture you're no doubt seeing a random twig with some leaves, but in reality this small tree is growing out the side of a cliff face, where you wouldn't expect the tree to grow - it's the sort of location where you will normally find moss and such plantlife, but not a tree - it's definitely one of those times where nature managed to find a way to make something happen that you normally wouldn't believe possible.

Yours Truly

Yours Truly, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

It's not all that often that you'll find me uploading pictures of myself, after all I'm normally to be found behind the camera rather than in front of it, but I took this shot of myself after climbing to the very top of the hills which surround Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye (I would have asked Mireille to take one but she was off exploring another part of this amazing location which is often referred to as "the highlands in miniature").

Road Through Nature

Road Through Nature, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

Deep in the heart of the Isle of Skye lays a road which winds its way through the amazing landscape from the Port of Uig on the West coast of the Trotternish peninsula all the way to Staffin on the East coast, with the Eastward bound skyline being dominated by the mighty cliffs of the Quiraing.

The Ascent

The Ascent, originally uploaded by www.bazpics.com.

While taking the ferry from Uig on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Lewis it gave us plenty of time to explore the small ferry and shoot some random pics (not always easy to get a nice clean shot without any people standing in the frame), but patience was the key most of the time as after a few minutes you would normally get a window of a few seconds to shoot the shot you wanted.