I’ve been living in Scotland for a good few years now and probably haven’t explored the country as much as I should have done.  This weekend, however, we got organised and headed over to Arran.  It’s a great destination for a weekend away because it’s not too long a journey from Edinburgh, but the Ferry across makes it feel like a real adventure.

I’ve just treated myself to a new Nikon lens (thanks to a donation from my dad – thanks dad!) – a Micro 40mm f/2.8 – which I was keen to start testing out.  It is quite different to my other lens, which is a 18-105mm, so it took me a little time to get used to what type of shots to use it for.  Overall I’m pretty happy with the shots that I got over the weekend, both with the 40mm and the 18-105 mm lens.

Our first stop was Ardrossan where we caught get the ferry over to Brodick, Arran.  We had a little time before the ferry so picked up a fish supper, parked up by the beach, and planned what to do with our weekend.

On Saturday morning we headed off for a jam-packed day of driving right around the island.

The first stop was Lamlash where I loved this row of cottages:

Being on an island meant there were lots of beaches to explore:

The weather wasn’t great in the morning and we got drenched so we stopped off at the Arran Distillery for a warm drink and a bite to eat:

Once dry we carried on to Lochranza where we had a look around the castle ruins:

This boat really caught my eye:

One of our next stops was at the Standing Stones at Machrie Moor.  The stones were very impressive against the otherwise simple landscape here:

On Sunday, we had time to visit Brodick Castle before it was time to get the ferry back over to the mainland:

It was a great weekend.  I’d like to go back and explore the island more -maybe even by bike.  I’m now even more eager to go and visit more of Scotland’s fantastic islands!