Skye at night

Despite our abysmal night's sleep, and starting the day with a truly undrinkable cup of coffee, we made good time again today and arrived with my parents in time for a late lunch - just over 24 hours after leaving home. The little Gs behaved impeccably for the journey, and enjoyed seeing the landscapes change outside our windows - another advantage of travelling by day.

One of the joys of being this far north is the chance for seeing some properly starry skies. The added attraction this weekend was the prospect of witnessing the aurora borealis. We couldn't see any spectacular colours or light effects, but there was a distinct glow on the horizon and some streaks of white in the sky that probably weren't just clouds. And there was a lovely sickle moon and lots of stars to admire. This was just a point-and-click shot from my parents' driveway, using the self-timer to avoid too much blurriness. (those white blobs in the sky are stars, not just a dirty camera lens!)