Scotland Holiday Oct 2020 pt7 Drumlanrig castle

 

Today is our last day in Scotland before travelling  back home ,  We are going to Drumlanrig Castle which is about half hour drive from our campsite.  The house itself is closed due to coronavirus but the grounds and trails are open.  Having parked up after a lovely drive through the huge estate we found there are numerous colour coded walking trails .  We have walked one of the shorter distance trails through the woods and out onto the fellside  with the Terrible Twosome. Awesome views across the estate into the distance.

Long lens picks up the interesting parts. 

                                                I have no idea what the dome is up on the top! 

I have now come out on my own to walk the longest trail, which goes up to the highest point of the estate high above the House in the forest,  if I can find a clearing to fly should get some good images. 

Up near the high point now and the trees are thinning out.

I am at the top now, at a nice clearing with a stone seat looking out over to the House , but there is very little sun at the moment.

9 frame panorama p4p drone 

After about 10 minutes a brief break in the cloud is approaching , so I put the drone up again to catch the sun as it break through and lights up the house.  9 frames p4p drone.

Phone shot as I wait for the sun.

I cannot see any more breaks coming so continue on the trail down through the forest , a diversion on the path takes me down towards the Arboretum and a nice clearing .  Time to get the drone up again to see if I  can get any images of the trees.

                                                  Topdown over the trees in the gardens.

Shooting a series of manually exposed frames to stitch into 6 and 7  frame Vertoramas

I do wonder what was on the lawn originally , as the patterns radiating outwards show clearly something used to be there.  May have been box hedging or planted borders at some point in the past.

Back on with my walk now , down to the fields and the car park. 

                                  There is a playground inside the gardens , which are closed.

                                          Past the house and back to the van for a rest.

Time for one last walk with Jan and the Terrible Twosome, down the long tree lined road and around to the river.

A long exposure taken from the stone road bridge , pity there is no sun!

The end of our Scotland Holiday ,  cant wait for the next one. But no idea when that will be !

Update on Ozzy , went to vets and antibiotics cleared his fast breathing in a couple of days, must have been an infection from Clatteringshaws Loch he swam in, even though Chester went in also. 
 

Scotland Holiday Oct 2020 pt 2 Cannich

It is  Day 2 of our short holiday touring Scotland  , we have driven all the way up to Loch Lomond and it is WET!    A short stop here for lunch before we carry on up towards our next overnight spot.

The Terrible Twosome don't look impressed with the weather   haha

 

Anyhow, after a short journey up to Tyndrum we have parked up in the "By the Way" campsite. there is no point going anywhere further today with the current forecast.

Nestled in the trees , with camping pods it is a really nice stop over.

The rain has been heavy all afternoon, evening and its not too good here tomorrow , so we have decided that tomorrow morning we should drive all the way up through Glencoe , Fort William, Loch Ness up to Cannich. The forecast is looking good up in that area for a couple days so booked in for a couple of nights at the Woodland campsite. There seems to be plenty of spaces available in most of the campsites now after the short summer period after Lockdown when they were all full .

The next morning we stop off at a few places along the A82   to take a few images.

5dsr 100-40L   

The Three Sisters , Glencoe.  multi frame panorama 

Long lens image in the Three Sisters 

Misty waterfall.

After a long journey we have finally arrived in Cannich , and the blue sky has welcomed us :)

The Glen Affric trail is only a few minutes walk from the campsite , so time to take a short walk with the Spanners as it will be getting dark very soon. 

The next morning it is sunny with blue sky , so we are going to walk part of the Glen Affric trail

Its still a bit too early for the best autumn colours but the trees and bracken are turning nicely.

2 frames merged 5dsr  17-40L f6.3  iso 800

Coming to a clearing not far from the Clan Chisholm society memorial cairn, I have taken the drone up for a quick look around , this is a 9 frame panorama 

5dsr  17-40L f6.3 iso 800

We have come to a turning , the forest path goes left which we will take , but first a view across to the mountains with the last of the blue sky as thick cloud and rain looks like its approaching from behind us!

9 frames phantom 4 pro drone

This is the track we are following through the woods. The cloud has built up quickly now, I think it will be raining very shortly.  So much for the sunny day that was forecast!

After about twenty minutes we have come out at a high point with the trees having been felled to form a good clearing.

 A short walk to a viewpoint looking across the valley and down towards Glen Affric in the distance.   The rain is heading this way , the clouds are dark and threatening.

Time to get the drone up quickly before the rain starts.

5 frames merged 

It has started raining almost immediately , landed the drone quickly and then get the long lens out as the light across the valley is very nice.

Sun lit pylons across the valley.

5dsr  100-400L 

A patch of sunlight 

It has started raining heavier now, so we have walked back the way we have come and found this large truck . The rain didn't last long but I guess it will be on/off all afternoon .

.

Another colorful bracken image 

Teapots all along the wall

Back at the van now and Ozzy sits on Chester  

Over the last couple of days we have noticed that Ozzy has been breathing faster than normal while resting  , need to keep an eye on him closely.

Later this afternoon I have gone for a walk on my own while Jan looks after the Spanners .    Walking down the main road and across the river to climb up the hillside overlooking Cannich 

                                                        Panorama looking towards Balmore 

          A lovely stand of trees , momentarily lit up by the low sun , 6 frames merged   p4p drone 

While I have been out , Jan has taken Wildaxe Willy and his mates for a photoshoot in the mushrooms  hahaha

                                                  The end of a great day in the Highlands.