Tuesday 1st
July DRUMBUIE - PLOCKTON
– SKYE
Robyn
writes: Today dawned cloudy but fine, and we were lucky to have beautiful
weather all day.
Lex started by going for a walk, while I finally got a huge load of washing done and hung out, and fought with the dryer. (It’s a washer/dryer, and the most irritating machine ever made. I do hate front loaders!) I chatted to Cait, Mikeal and Danny, then Sandy, washed my hair and was just hanging out the last of the washing when Lex arrived home. He’d been to Plocton, a nearby harbour town.
After morning tea, we headed for the Isle of Skye. The sun was shining, and everything was picture postcard perfect. Tourists were out in their thousands – there was a constant stream of cars at times. We headed to the north, drove around Loch Sligachan, and (apart from the normal oooh and aaah photo stops), our first stop was Glen Sligachan, where there were already heaps of tourists swarming around. I know I’ve said it all before, and I feel like I’m running out of superlatives, but the Cuillin Mountains were awe-inspiring. Lots of people were setting out on walks, as it is a recognised trekking area. There was an excellent statue memorial to the two men who did most in the late 1800s and early 1900s to map and name the area, John Mackenzie and Norman Collie.
After gazing at the mountains, we adjourned to the nearby Sligachan Hotel for lunch. We both had soup: I had the carrot soup, and Lex the Cullen Skink. I know it sounds like soup of lizard, but it’s a traditional Scottish seafood soup, and he reported it to be delicious.
From here, we drove to Tallisker to have a look at the distillery, on the harbour. We did have a look in the gift shop, but had heart failure at the prices, so kept on going. Here the GPS pulled one of its cunning tricks on us: we set it for Dunvegan Castle, but thought we’d have a quick look at the end of the harbour before setting out. It readjusted (as they do) and charted what we thought was another way out of town to the castle. It wasn’t for another 15 minutes or so that we realised it was taking us to the very end of the loch we were on, where it wanted us to turn around and go all the way back. No U turns for you! Needless to say, we did turn around and retrace our steps, but had lost the urge to go the castle, which is right over on the western side of the island.
Instead, we
drove to Portree, the main city. Lex dropped me off there while he went off to
do a walk – unfortunately, when he arrived, there was not a parking spot to be
had within cooee, so he ended up photographing some of the other landforms:
I had a lovely couple of hours wandering around Portree. It’s not very big, but there were some lovely shops to look at, and I had afternoon tea in a Highland Cow themed café!
Lex picked me up about 4, and it was about an hour’s drive home. He then went for a walk down to the local loch’s beach, and saw either an otter or seal, and a deer. He arrived home at 7.15 more than ready for a big tea!
