A Cold and Long Night

So i was talking to  bloke who was taking pics after the sunset at the Standing Stones….he reckoned that he was going to stay there all night to take pics of the stars and the sunrise.
The upshot is….we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours and took care of a few things…….mainly catching up on blip and downloading pics from camera and that sort of stuff …had a nice hot cup of tea and at 1.30am choofed on back to the Stones. It was my dream to take the milky way over the Callanish Standing stones…..I was excited.
It was still light when we got there….I didnt even need to use my head torch……and…..it never got dark enough for the stars to show themselves…..well I got a few….jeez! what is it with this Northern Hemisphere light…the sun never quite going to bed…I thought we might at least get an hour or two…but no.

For an an hour or two I was really happy taking LE it had been a while….enough light being able to see just enough not to trip arse over breakfast…then it started to get cold…really cold…my feet were like icicles and it had set into my bones…besides what made it worse I needed to go to the toilet. I wanted to crawl under the nice warm doona …..to get cozy and sleep…..but I really didn’t want to miss sunrise either….we waited. Which I am glad we did. 
It was probably the most unassuming sunrise I have ever seen but the beautiful pink light that happened in the sky and the subtle pinkish light that lit up the stones was just so exquisite……besides who gets to have the Standing Stones of Callanish all to ones self except for another photographer all night…we were just so lucky the evening before also…everyone left after sunset and we virtually had the place to ourselves then for an hour or two.
A few times when we have been back just for a look (as the weather has changed) it has been absolutely teeming with people……and looking a bit flat with the greyness of the day…….we definitely were blessed with the best.

We got back to the hotel around 5.30 and fell into bed….I warmed up quick and fell asleep. 8.30 was the bell for breakfast……….rat faced in the cornflakes Mr Ants in his Pants said where do you want to go today?  ……..Are you serious?….I did have to put my foot down and just got back into bed and slept.

We took off around 2pm up the road to check out Broch Dun Carloway a most lovely shaped ruin with stairs still in tact….the way in was the height for midgets…which those folk back then may of been but more likely it was so bloody cold the less opening the better…….and it was good defence …if you topped someone in that entrance it would be either blocked up so the enemy couldn’t get in or you could just pick them off one by one as they appeared the other side.……I took a whole heap of pics until I realised I hadn’t put the SD card in the camera ….DUH! 
it was fabulous being up on the hill though watching the weather come in and the clouds roil and boil in the sky…we got back to the car just a little damp before it p****d down.

It was then onto Gearrannan Blackhouse Village…which was just fantastic…..I don’t think I could of lived there though with the peat fires burning and smoking up the rooms as we walked through them…I nearly choked……and I reckon those ceramic hot water bottles would of been a bit uncomfortable but when you weigh it up…warmth or comfort hmmmm! I know what I would choose…. there was tea and scones at the tea house then of to Stornaway for some dinner.

I have noticed that I have mentioned food quite a bit in this write up …reminds me of an Enid Blyton adventure story.

We decided to check out the stones before going back to the hotel…just in case…however we took a wrong turn and ended up down the bottom of the island….the views were breathtaking with the clouds spilling over the mountains…. i am glad that it was quite some time before P realised he had missed a turn off…..I got some really lovely pics…I am hoping to put in as extras…..the wifi is so crappy though…... its touch and go on weather I can or not.

I was happy that the stones were not calling us to take pics…that meant that we could go home and pack our bags check the pics and have an early night…HA! we didn’t get home till 9pm anyway…by the time all was done it was 1am……again.

AN: By the way Jaiya…if you read this Ive paid the rent and bills.