After a long, rocky sail we finally reached solid ground – Stornoway , Scotland
The streets of Stornoway are lined with small shops and modest homes with brightly coloured front doors. One particular shop sold nothing but tweed. The owner was an awesome Scottish man who lectured us about tourist sites and Canadian geography. We experienced sporadic weather of rain, sun, cold and more rain. One afternoon, we trekked up a hill to a dodgy old Scottish castle with huge grounds complete with hundreds of varieties of trees planted by aristocracy years ago. As far as we could see, these were the only trees in Stornoway!
The next day, we went for an out trip. On our bus ride, we drove through the countryside. A landscape of bare rolling hills scattered with sheep could be seen out the window for miles on end. A series of ancient, broken down stone cottages were set in the hills at random intervals. And a winding road led us to a heritage site called the Calanais Stones. These stones were very similar to Stone Henge, but much older. The Stones are quite the mystery – no one knows their exact purpose. It could be a spiritual Celtic site, a burial or an ancient astronomy observatory. We unintentionally slid down a hill through the mud and ended up at a teashop for a hot chocolate and cheese scones. 
Next, we headed to a fortress called a Broch that used to belong to a Celtic clan leader. It was strategically built and positioned to protect the clan from attack. We finished up the day with an epic photo-shoot on the rocks.
On our full day of shore leave, a group of us headed out of town on foot around a beautiful sea wall. It seemed like a great idea until it started to rain. We scampered under the trees. Ten minutes later, we were slightly soaked but in good spirits and ready to carry on with our adventure. After a couple of paces we discovered a small stone hut - perfect shelter from the rain and right around the corner from where we had been huddling under the trees. Unfortunate timing!
We carried on up a mountain, and after an hour of bushwhacking, mud-sludging, walking on roads and hiking through trails, we arrived at a perfect spot at the very top. It was truly breathtaking – a panoramic view of all of Stornoway. Quite the adventure!