After the holiday I want to keep up the walking, so today I decided to walk to the local woods and see what I could see. There were snowdrops out, but ultimately it was this reflection on the still part of the river that caught my eye.
Today I set my alarm for 645, and decided I would set off early, but not at sunrise. 
This decision was made on the basis that I wouldn’t be able to see sunrise because of the mountains anyway. When I woke up the sky was a lovely shade of purple/pink, so I was a bit annoyed! Never the less I set off whilst the sun was just below the mountain line and headed for Buttermere; the plan being I would shoot the trees as the sun hit them over the mountain, then walk to Scale Force waterfall.
When I got to Buttermere there were quite a few other photographers there. I set up shop and ended up being there for about an hour. The sun looked promising as it peaked above the mountain, but the higher it got it ended up being hidden behind cloud. 
At 9am I decided to move on and do the walk to Scale Force. I would rate this walk as “too much bog for the waterfall”. The waterfall itself was a bit disappointing, especially when considering how mucky I got walking to it.
I think the most disappointing part of the walk, was the bit where I went up to see the top part of the waterfall. Loads of steep steps, and not a lot there when I got there. However the views over the lake from here were spot on. 
It was a nice walk (apart from the mud/boggy parts), just not a great waterfall.
By this point, I’d walked 40k odd steps and up 300 flights of stairs, and I was getting a bit tired. I stopped it at a cafe at the start/end of the walk and bought a ham and tomato baguette. I’m not sure if I was just mega hungry, or if it genuinely was the best baguette ever, but I really enjoyed it. 
I came back to the cottage for an hour and a half, and then went back out to see if I could get on the jetty that I couldn’t get on yesterday.
When I first got there there were loads of photographers around it, so I went off and did my own thing. On my way back there were only 2 photographers left so I joined them and got my shots. 
One of the photographers who was there was local and said that the jetty on the other side of the lake is much better, so I’ve had a look and it’s a 20 minute walk from where I am staying so I’ve added that to tomorrows agenda.
Not sure what to do tomorrow, as the weather looks a bit pants on the forecast, but then didn’t look that bad on the BBC forecast on the TV so I guess I will go to the jetty in the morning and play the afternoon by ear. I was supposed to go to Helvellyn, but I don’t much fancy that if it’s chucking it down. I’ve also not managed to get to Ullswater yet either, so I have options. 
After being on holiday for two weeks at the end of July / start of August, and taking a lot of landscape shots, I think I landscaped myself out.
Both holiday locations (Wales and Norway) were beautiful, but I was compelled to shoot and edit and I think it all got a bit too much. So much so, that it wasn’t until this afternoon that I put the Wales shots on my PC from the external hard drive.
I had another pass through them, and found some more shots that I took in Norway that I liked but hadn’t edited.
Today begins our week long trip to Norway. Norway has long been on my bucket list. Fjords, mountains, black metal, vikings. Perfect!
We had a long day yesterday as we had to drive to the airport, which was about 3 and a half hours. We finally checked into the hotel at the airport just after midnight.
This morning we had a casual 5 minute stroll to the check in desk, before having a relaxing few hours in the airport. Once we were in Norway I started with “oooh will you look at that” (The only correct response for cloud topped mountains), before the weather changed and Thor welcomed us with a thunderstorm. 
Once we were in the hotel and unpacked it blew over, and the rest of the evening has been warm and pleasant. Now, as I type this we are sat on the balcony at the back of the hotel. kB is drinking his £14 beer (!!!!) and we’re looking out at the various islands and mountains and watching the sun dip lower in the sky. It’s still light though, and it’s almost 10 o’clock.
Tomorrow we are going to go and get some bits from a supermarket, and explore the city. Apparently we can go on the Ålesund city tour for free, and I want to walk up to the Sukkertoppen and explore the area around there.
We were up with the larks this morning; we were at the breakfast bar in the hotel for when it opened (at 730), in fact we were so on time there that the chef was still putting the food out!
We set off at about 8, and it took us ages to get to Eilean Donan castle. This was 100% my fault because it was so bloomin’ pretty I kept pulling over every 15 minutes to take photos.
We finally got onto Skye and into our hotel by about 230 ish. We dumped the stuff in our room then went for a stroll around Portree. I knew that it was going to be pretty much closed up for the winter season, and it was. There are a few cafes and restaurants open, but all of the restaurants seem to be attached to hotels.
After that we drove to Sligachan Bridge and the Cullins and took some photos before going back to the hotel room and having tea.
Super tired yet again!
02 // 52
We (kB and I) have decided that as part of my Project 52 we will go on a walk once a month (at least) to a different place each time and then go for a pub lunch.
Even though last weekend we went out for photo number 1 in the series, we decided to go out again this weekend. Mainly because I was going to go out anyway, and I think kB wanted a pub lunch. Besides we didn’t go out after we’d shot last weeks photo as we were a bit damp so we just came straight home.
The pub we went to is called The Norfolk Arms, and I think we got there at just about the right time as people couldn’t get a seat about 10 minutes after we had ordered. We’ve driven past this pub loads of times, but it was the first time we’ve been inside it.
kB ordered a New York Deli burger and I have a mushroom thing, as the soup of the day was Carrot and Coriander, and I don’t like coriander.
Anywhoo it was very nice and as I pointed out to kB on the way home this time next week the walk and pub location will be in Loch Lomond as we’ll be half way to Skye!
340 // 365
This was one of the weirdest experiences. I’d got waders on, but I’ve never worn them before. The places where the water was touching them felt colder than the rest of me, but it was that kind of colder where you’re not sure if it’s cold or wet. So I did spend some time wondering if they had a slow leak.
Anyway, this went off without incident, and also without an audience. Except for kB who was shouting things like “Be careful of rat piss” (He’s obsessed with rat wee), “This is a fishing lake I think, be careful of pike they’ll eat you”, “If it is a fishing lake then it’ll just drop off at some point, I’m not coming in to help unless it’s an emergency”. Feel the love ❤
305 // 365
After a rather disappointing week last week (weather wise), today it was glorious! Back to work tomorrow though 😦
037 // 365
Another super quick Friday shot!
216 // 365
Today was mine and my mums last summer outing before we end up back at school (conflicting holidays for us means we wont get another day trip out!). We ended up going off the beaten track somewhat and getting lost in ferns – mainly because a couple of the mini tracks we were following ended up at dead ends.
We arrived back on the main track safe and sound though! Even though this is a nice flat walk for the most part I over did it with my legs and the second half of the walk back wasn’t pleasant.
Manadh Photography 