Scotland untamed - part 2

Continuing across the dynamic landscapes of Scotland, after exploring the Highlands we set off the the Isle of Skye. A visit to the famous Eilean Donan Castle wasn't to be missed, and we also stopped off at the breathtaking Mealt Falls plunging off Kilt Rock. The only negative was that the trip through Scotland was too short.

Scotland untamed - part 1

After a couple of days exploring Edinburgh I set out on a road trip across Scotland. The weather started of miserable with a lot of rain, although that is almost to be expected in Scotland in November. It made for some beautiful moody skies as we went through the highlands. Luckily it didn't take long to clear, showing off the scenery of wild Scotland in its full splendor. 

Hairy coo

Exploring Edinburgh

After living many years in Dunedin, which is dubbed the "Edinburgh of the South", I have always wanted to visit the true Edinburgh in Scotland. After a trip to England I finally had the chance. Edinburgh is a city full of history, and parts of it certainly reminded me of Dunedin on the other side of the world.

Enjoying a late summer in England

In 2012 I paid my first visit to the UK. I started off in Brighton where I attended a Whalefest. A few days later I was in sunny London. I've been told I was particularly lucky with the weather while I was there. It was October, so it seems that summer stayed in London long enough for me to enjoy it during my visit.

London Bridge

One of the many red double-decker buses in London

The Big Ben

The London eye

The majestic gates to Buckingham palace

Pigeon in the park

St James's Park

Sunset over the ocean

Today my mind is cast back to watching the sunset over the ocean horizon in the Azores, this month 8 years ago...

Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) at sunset

Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) at sunset

 The view out of the cabin window

Sperm whale calf breaching!

Getting a close-up photo of a sperm whale breaching was on my list for several years before I finally got lucky with a calf that breached many times in a row. This young whale was most likely signalling to the diving adults below, because not long after the breaching display an adult appeared from the depths and joined the calf at the surface.

Sperm whale calf breaching

This whale had a very pale head, and you can see its bellybutton

Dolphins running

Dolphins "running" is them leaping out of the water at top speed, which creates a lot of splashing. It's really impressive to see them doing this in large pods while coordinating their movements. I've seen several dolphins species running, although in the Azores the striped dolphins seem to be the masters of this type of behaviour.

Common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) running

Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) running

Watching a huge pod of running Atlantic spotted dolphins

Striped spotted dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) running

Colour in nature

Colour is everywhere you look in nature. Although the Azores are dominated by green and blue, changing seasons bring out an array of colours. The islands are particularly known for the range of flowers, most of which are introduced species that have naturalised.