The best holiday for years!! PART 1.
By geraniumdad
33 comments
WARNING!!
THIS IS A LONG BLOG WITH LOADS OF PHOTOS SO IT IS IN 2 PARTS.
My family and I have recently returned home from having the best holiday for many years.
We stayed on the Island of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, off the West coast of Scotland.
It was a long journey, broken up by us staying in a caravan in Ullswater (lake district) on the Friday night.
Scotland is a beautiful country and travelling to the Isle of Skye to get the ferry was arduous but the stunning scenery more than made up for it.
This is a cloud topped mountain in the GlenCoe area on the way to Skye.
Here is the ferry coming to collect us: I am getting nervous at this point as I don’t like water, can’t swim and don’t like boats of any sort……..
Safely on board and looking at our destination from the viewing deck on top of the ferry. Thank goodness the sea was calm!
This is the view from the holiday house of the sandy bay across the road. Even on this miserable day, you can see that the water is a lovely turquoise colour.
One of the many wonderful memories we have of the holiday is the spectacular scenery. Just going for a day trip to Stornaway meant driving through the mountains.
It was quite surreal to see a bus shelter half way up the mountain!
One of our other trips out (other than going to the beach) was to the Callanaish standing stones.
The view from the main road was amazing! It is suprising how the landscape changes the further north you travel on the island.
Right, some beach shots coming up next. Please note that the sea and the sand really are the colours that are shown! Even on miserable days, the water is still clear and blue!!
This is one of the beaches we went to (can’t remember the name). To get to it, we had to walk through a field of red clover which had the most wonderful, almost overpowering scent. Bees were everywhere: it was just fantastic seeing them and hearing them at work.
They looked and sounded so happy which is not suprising really as the island seemed to have that effect on everything and everybody.
As you can see, the beach was really busy……
Me and the twins having a lovely time on the beach.
I am the one not wearing blue.
Seilebost beach is one lots of people have heard about.
We spent about 5 hours on this fantastic beach a couple of days before we were due to leave.
Once again, we were hemmed in by all the holidaymakers on the beach……
The twins and my 15 year old having a splash.
The tide came in very fast to a depth of about 3 inches, stayed in for around 10 minutes, and within half an hour had gone back out again! Very weird indeed!! We didn’t need to move from our spot at all.
This is a photo of Seilebost beach I took from a parking spot on the main road at about 9.30pm one night.
Even with night closing in, the sea and the beach are just beautiful……
Part 2 of the blog has some of the flora and fauna we saw and some photos I took my wife reckons are good enough to sell! She is biased I suppose…..
Happy gardening!
27 Aug, 2011
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Comments
GD you lucky lucky thing ~ its soooooooooo beautiful, thank you for these gorgeous pictures ~ i wish i was there.
27 Aug, 2011
cant wait for part 2!!!
been looking out for this one!! ~ thank you for putting it on.
27 Aug, 2011
Look forward to the next blog. Love Scotland and the Isles.
27 Aug, 2011
me too grannyb
27 Aug, 2011
We have such great taste, Sticki
27 Aug, 2011
well i do in places to visit ~ oh and in eating but i dont always get everything else right!!!
27 Aug, 2011
my goodness, what a fantastic holiday you had, your photo's are beautiful, roll on part two,
27 Aug, 2011
nice to see you popping up yorkshire!!
did you take the new avatar photo on holiday GD?
27 Aug, 2011
Beautiful, Beautiful photos, what a lovely place to spend a holiday. Thanks for showing those.
27 Aug, 2011
Fantastic, it looks and sounds amazing, its really good when the crowds don`t bother you and I would have been in seventh heaven.
Smashing photo`s Gd, eagerly awaiting part two...
27 Aug, 2011
oh geraniumdad you brought out my scottish pride with this blog :o)) beautiful scenery and photography.
27 Aug, 2011
It looks really wonderful. When you get the weather in Scotland it is very difficult to beat. Trouble is.......
We have had summer holidays in the north, when my sons were young, that they remember as being at Christmas. Cold weather and log fires. Like Helen I am very proud of Scotland. :o)))
27 Aug, 2011
Glad you all like the photos so far: there's lots more to come! The new avatar photo is one I took on holiday. The bigger version is on part 2 of the blog.
27 Aug, 2011
We also love Scotland, it is a truly beautiful place and these pics. reflect that beauty. Thanks G.dad.
27 Aug, 2011
Thanks so much geraniumdad . . . what bliss to have such beautiful beaches all to yourselves. Lovely photos, and I bet the happy bees were humming to themselves as they worked?!
27 Aug, 2011
What a GORGEOUS place. I always pictured Scotland as moors, fog and rain. Never would have thought it had such gorgeous beaches! I also look forward to part II.
27 Aug, 2011
Photos surely good enough to sell. Everything looks so pure. How I wish I were there. Thank You Geraniumdad.
27 Aug, 2011
tranquil, what a lovely experience. -I shall have to visit, thanks for the photos/blog
27 Aug, 2011
I would urge people to visit the Outer Hebrides: it is clean, friendly, beautiful, tranquil, peaceful... I could go on. If you want lots of noise and amusements then don't go. My children just loved the peace and quiet, sandy beaches, and scenery.
27 Aug, 2011
i will second that ~ its the best place ever!!!
27 Aug, 2011
Just stunning - I loved your blog off to read part 2 now.
28 Aug, 2011
Ge-dad - it does sound wonderful, but my OH won't go because he thinks he'll be eaten by midges! Did you escape them??
28 Aug, 2011
Thank you all for the lovely comments. We only encountered midges once on one of the beaches but they weren't really a problem.
We are going to South Uist next year which is even quieter and just as scenic.
28 Aug, 2011
Never had midges Sheila!
28 Aug, 2011
Thanks GD and Sticki - I'll have to persuade him one day!
28 Aug, 2011
Absolutely stunning...I shall have to go one day. Sadly, I am just like you with boats and the sea crossing Gdad....but needs must.
1 Sep, 2011
It really was worth all my worry about the crossing being rough. We are all still missing being there but looking forward to South Uist for next years holiday.
Thank you all for the lovely comments!
1 Sep, 2011
my son is touring scotland on his bike this week and has just landed in south uist. he says its out of this world.
2 Sep, 2011
oh tulsalady dont make me sad ~ i would so love to be there.
did you watch island parish?
karen ~ you know you can fly onto many of the islands?
2 Sep, 2011
I really enjoyed Island Parish and would love to go there. The castle in the bay is beautiful as was the scenery,and wouldn,t it be great to go into the church and meet all the characters that were filmed for the programme.
2 Sep, 2011
i was hooked with those programs ~ and Father Roddy and was it Father Mark?? the one who couldnt cook and then there was the chicken competition!!!
but the scenery ~ im lost for words!!! it surely has to be the most beautiful part of britain!
2 Sep, 2011
Regarding the bus shelter half way up a mountain. In Scotland never get upset if the bus is late. It will always turn up. I have waited 40 mins, started walking and it caught me up ! The same applies to the small ferries. They load up and go when they are ready.
Those lovely beaches are composed of ground up sea shells, not sand.
A wonderful contribution to GoY Gallery.
4 Sep, 2011
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28 Feb, 2011
what a wonderful place is scotland. I had a holiday there 3 yrs ago and it was the best one of my life.you have got some fantastic photos as a reminder. :o))
27 Aug, 2011