The Early Days

August 28, 2025

These were taken around late April, just after we arrived to our new caravan spot on Skye, and were settling in. I spent a lot of time wandering down to the beach opposite with a flask of coffee, not believing my luck, then heading back down again hours and hours later when the sun was going down, to see it in that golden hour light.

After spending winter at a temporary spot on a campsite where I didn’t really have any outside space, it was an absolute joy to be able to potter around outside again. Salvaging pallets to use as a deck, and creating a little patio for myself outside. I live to potter. It’s the main thing I missed about living on the road in a van, where we were moving daily and existing in public car parks. You can’t just potter around outside, fixing things and making things look pretty and rearranging things. It’s the unwritten rule to not allow your living situation to spill over into the outside world unless you’re at an official campsite, and even then, there’s only so much you can really do without looking insane, so being on our own private pitch, man, I am spilling out everywhere.

Also, being late April, it was pre-midge season. Glorious.

Early Mornings on a Bike

August 22, 2025

Back when we were staying in the Cairngorms, I really discovered the joy of cycling. I explored plenty of the local forest and gravel tracks, and found my feet in the pedals pretty much every single day, even if it were just for a short power ride.

When we left that area, we spent a summer back on the road in a luton van, and then a winter in the tiny caravan up on the North East coast, in Findhorn. I did eventually pull my bike out of storage, and got in a few morning coffee rides to the beach before we left for Skye.

After a few months settling in here, I’ve truly got the itch back to be out and about on my bike. In fact, I just took advantage of Steven being off work for a week and being able to babysit the dog, that I’m sat here writing this truly aching from head to toe. I totally overdid it. BUT, on this morning’s village loop, which I finish at the beach for a coffee and breakfast, I spotted a guy camping in a tiny tent, with his bike next to him. What a spot. Such a simple set up, and obviously allows him to stop and camp pretty much anywhere, cycling away in the morning.

Obviously I’m aware of bike packing, and it’s played on my mind before, but after seeing that tent this morning…. Well, let’s just say I’ve written a quick list of everything I would need for a simple overnight camp ride. It’s something I’m thinking about aiming for, for next spring or summer. Or you never know, sooner.

Anyways, these shots have been taken on my recent rides. Super early mornings around the local village, and a few slightly further afield, while out searching for good routes on the island that avoid roads (I’m still not overly keen on riding on roads, especially not during tourist season on Skye). As they were back in the Cairngorms, early mornings are my favourite. It’s a different type of quiet, and it feels like you have the world to yourself. Another reason why I feel like waking up in a tent with my bike beside me would be something I’d love.

A Coastal Bothy

August 10, 2025

Is there anything better than a wander along a quiet stretch of coastline, stopping at a beautifully located photogenic bothy? Quite literally my ideal walk, and this is one I’d be wanting to do for a while. I’m hesitant to drive north on Skye during the busy season… the roads are wild with rental cars (there’s currently one in a ditch outside the gates of where we stay, he drifted off the road because he was jet lagged, and that’s just one example of many incidents we’ve seen recently) and nearly every place to walk is incredibly busy. But, we risked it, and I think a particularly windy day meant the numbers of visitors were kept to a minimum.

This bothy is known as something else, but, and I know it’ll have a tiny impact (if any at all) I’ve been making a point recently to not ever give exact locations or names of the places I visit and photograph. I really don’t mean to gatekeep, that’s not the aim, I just really want to urge people to wander and find their own spots and their own places to go. I’m not a fan of this ‘tell me where to visit, tell me what to photograph’ mentality that social media is made up of these days. You see it a lot here… on Skye, the place being treat like a checklist of things to stop off at quickly and photograph and then go to the next place on the list. Nobody seems to want to wander and stumble upon things anymore.

I didn’t mean to go on a rant there, and to be honest, this bothy in particular is pretty well known so it’ll be no bother for you if you want to find it yourself BUT I’ll still do my tiny part to not add to the problem of over-visiting and lazy tourism.

Anyways, this coastal bothy is a corker. It’s rustic and wooden inside, with huge windows at the front, looking over the water. The light in that front room is incredible, and if I had the balls I’d love to be in there over a stormy night and watch the sea. I can imagine sitting on that stool with a flask of coffee and some binoculars and having the time of my life.

I love that people have started a collection of bones and shells, probably gathered on their walks, and set on the windowsill like trophies.