Sights and Sounds One hundered and Three

Day 9 and 10.

On Sunday we spent the morning settling in to our new surroundings. Unfortunately the weather was a little dodgy and we couldn’t get out that much but that was okay since most of us were still recovering from the massive journey to get here. I managed to catch up on the blog a little and spend a few minutes editing some photos. I think this one below maybe one of my faves of the trip so far.


I spent the afternoon just wandering around the area closest to the house. I could spend hours just looking at the view. The  landscape is so cool and seems to change along with the weather. 
The water often has a very tropical blue look which is rally strange but i can assure you that’s the only characteristic that is similar to the tropics here. The people who did live on Ronay for a short time many years ago were really up against it. The conditions here change so quickly. The only good thing is you can see the threatening weather approaching which is good for us in our house but maybe still a little rough for the cave dwellers that once inhabited the island.



The evening meal was prepared by Matthew and was absolutely delicious. I think most of it was spa nosh influenced. Along with some baked chicken we had these potato onion dishes that were amazing. He had spent most of the afternoon cooking and the results were pretty awesome.

With Tor and Manny’s pies yesterday and these meal the bar was getting set pretty high. 

After the meal we sat around the dinning table and played liar dice which is a game based on rolling dice and lying about the outcome to the player to your left. It was quite entertaining and Dusti and i did fairly well but made a few rookie mistakes. I’m sure we will have a chance to redeem ourselves later this week. 
With clouds covering the evening sky there was no chance of a sunset this evening
so we headed off to bed.



Monday morning started out like Sunday evening finished. The winds were whipping up and rain was blowing through  the bay towards the house. The winds was quite loud at times. After breakfast i consulted the weather app on my phone and made the bold prediction it would brighten up (no ones weather predictions seem to be accurate out here). I went so far as to predict the time the with would get better and went up stairs to gather my gear to go on a hike. Dusti actually beat me to it and was out of the door by 9:30 when it was still raining. Her and Mak headed straight out the back and over the mountain not to seen again for several hours. At 10 am i walked out and looked to the South West where to my delight i saw the cloud back ending and blue sky breaching the horizon. Finally a day to get out a bit. I have to admit if it rains all week i still have had the best holiday ever. Spending time with mum and dad then We coming up here has been fabulous and to top it off think i may have taken some of my best photos ever on this trip (all those YouTube and lynda.com tutorials are paying off!).


So i ventured out to the West side of the island on my own. I wanted to try a couple of long exposures. One problem i am having is how windy it is. I brought a tripod but it isn’t sturdy enough for some of these gusts and any vibration will ruin a long exposure.  I managed to find one spot fairly shaded with a view back down to the house which worked okay and i also set up the go pro to shoot a time lapse facing out towards North Uist.

I wandered around by myself taking photos of flowers and old ruins and the sun slowly began to peak from behind the clouds. It actually became quite warm. I looked up to the North and saw the silhouettes of Dusti and Mak at the top of the highest peak on the island. I waved but she never saw me. Looking back towards the house i saw Sarah and her dad along with Kate and Frankie also venturing out.

 I was hoping to see some of the deer that roam the island but i all i saw were the occasional tracks and quite a bit of poop! We were told by the locals that the deer actually swim between islands. Who knew deer could swim?

.....Well later that day Tori and Manny said they saw the deer swimming and we have since read in the guest book other visitors have seen them swim too. I'm really hoping to get some nature pics but nothing yet.

Ronay is much larger than we anticipated. There is no way we will explore it all not even between us all. One of the toughest things is the ground is so soggy. Without waterproof walking boots you wouldn’t be able to get around at all. I’m so relieved Dusti bought me some this last christmas. And even with my recently sprained ankle i have managed to get up and about pretty well.

After about two hour on my own i headed back to the house for lunch. Dusti was still not back but as i sat in the sunshine at the front of the house saw her and Mak again this time at the south of the island on the top of another mountain. She is a true hiker!

A couple of hours later she and Mak returned and Dusti described her trek and told us she got lost for a little while after she had run into to Manny and Tor. She managed to managed to make it home and after a shower she joined my at the front of the house to soak up the sun. 

It was at this point Julian headed out with Mak for another trek. This one i wished had gone on as some of the views he got were unreal. I am hoping the weather will pick up so i can do the same trek.

 For dinner Sarah’s parents cooked Chilli and again the food was outrageously  good. The pressure is really building to provide a good meal. We are supposed to be doing shish kabobs on Thursday on the grill (i’ll post a pic of the grill later this week). It going to take a miracle to keep up the standard and if it rains it’s going to be even more challenging.



After dinner i grabbed my gear and headed out again this time with glass of bourbon and coke to keep me company. Make followed along for his fourth or fifth outing of the day. He’s an amazing dog and i think he’s is on his dream holiday. With all this family and a giant island to run around with no leash on what’s not to love if you’re a dog? Or a human for that matter. 

I climbed halfway up the mountain slightly behind the house which would give me a view of the sunset. There was still some clear sky however the forecast was for heavy clouds to move in. I perched my self on a small stone and set up my gear. I had the GoPro on time-lapse and i had my Canon on the tripod. I waited patiently for well over an hour sipping on my cocktail admiring the stunning views.






To my dismay what started out so promising ended up a little disappointing. I did get a couple of sun rays but the clouds moved and the sun disappeared.

I packed dup made my way back down and went to bed!