Walrus

There was enough of a thought in the back of my mind that we might be treated to a glimpse of the Northern Lights to bring my tripod. But, with the stormy weather, it was highly unlikely. My sister texted yesterday to say the prediction was quite high but for us, there was cloud forecast when we last looked. Never mind - it had still been probably the best day of the trip so far.

As the evening last night progressed, I looked behind the curtains to find the cloud breaking up. At about 9.30pm, there seemed to be a little light in the sky. But then there was last night and that turned out to be white light when I took a long exposure. Tonight, I tested out the light from the doorstep (the 50-60mph gusts weren't so inviting). With glee, I looked at my 30 second blurred photo. 

Green! Green! Green!

It's the first time in years I've stayed up until midnight but it was too magical a night to even consider going to bed. My head was buzzing.

Rich is under the weather so I was under strict instructions to wake him up if anything more than a glow happened. The cloud came over for a while but, at about 11.30pm we had our lucky moment.

I delivered the last cup of tea for 2015 at 11.45pm to wake Rich up and the first for 2016 this morning which I'm hoping makes up, in part at least, for the hundreds that have arrived at 7.24am this year. 

As more clear sky came through, a huge lightly dancing arc stretched across Staffin Bay in front of our eyes. Nature's own firework display pulsated in front of us from the comfort of our living room as the clock clicked over to 2016. What a truly incredible way to end 2015 and start the new year. 

I stayed up for a while longer and ventured out as the gales had subsided considerably. The bright arc had faded but some pretty pink hues had replaced the light show.

And that's all before daytime! 

We've had a really fabulous walk on Waternish today to Greshornish Point. Our book said the loch we were walking down had, in its time, seen icebergs, walruses and sharks. The coastline on the northwest side was stunning with shapely black cliffs, hidden bays, clear jade seas and numerous inquisitive seals popping up. We could see out to the Outer Hebrides and watched plenty of bird life too. 

Rich began his usual competition for nature spots (once he'd seen a buzzard and an owl pellet). 

I was hoping for a walrus. 

There was a possibility of a sea eagle and after my spot of the first good handful of seals, making a draw, Rich got windy and said the winner would be the person who spotted a sea eagle. Or a walrus. 

Needless to say, it remained a draw.

It was an energy generating walk and we both felt utterly content exploring the headland alone.

Dinner is now ready. Sherlock awaits.