Before going to bed last night we received an email from one of the
alternative boat trip operators to let us know that they were also not running
any trips on Tuesday due to the forecasted weather, so we decided to go with
plan Z and hope that the kids would not be too upset with a day on Skye purely
on terrafirma. But before even reaching the western isle, we had a
couple of things planned on the mainland.
So after a decent night's sleep the Paloma "is it morning?" alarm woke us up
around 7.45am and instead of having breakfast, we prepared the kids and the
van for departure. We were slightly worried about the logistics of
leaving the Wee Campsite due to the very wee spaces, but luckily we had no van
next to us on one side and we were able to manoeuvre out without any
difficulties, so it was onwards to another wee destination, Manuela’s Wee
Bakery.
On the site of the Fairy Tale Distillery, the bakery is the brainchild of a
German family who’ve brought their home nation’s love for fairytales to
Scotland in the form of a German style bakery. You can read an article
about the bakery from the Highlands Press and Journal here. There was a
wide selection of breads and pastries, Forrest went for a Wee Loaf, myself and
Amber an Apple and Cinnamon Cookie and Paloma a Cheese Bun. It was a little
damp, so we decided to jump back in the van and head to our first viewpoint of
Eilean Donan Castle, less than a mile away, and have our breakfast on board in
the dry.
I then made the mistake of trying to find the second view point of the castle
without using Google Maps so instead of a two minute drive, we went on a 15
minute trip a few miles alongside Loch Duich and then back down a single track
lane to our intended destination. At least I was then facing the correct
way and didn't have to work out where to do a 3-point turn as we set off for
Skye.
Tomorrow we'll be taking the ferry back to Mallaig on the mainland, but today
it was the simple task of driving over the Skye Bridge just west of Kyle of
Lochalsh. Our first destination was Portree, where we had hoped to go on
our original boat trip before it was cancelled, but the company had provided
details of a circular costal walk called the Scorrybreac Circuit that had
potential of seeing the local Sea Eagles. It started a little out of
town and we were thankfully able to find a pullover without a "No Motorhomes"
sign very close to the start.
The walk was initially a nice even path, but quickly became quite rough and
rugged along the coast. It provided lovely views across the bay of
Portree town and harbour, and the small island of Raasay sitting between Skye
and Applecross on the mainland. Just after I had had a bit of a stumble
where the grass had grown over the top of a big hole, we saw a bird of prey
hovering in the gusty breeze. We immediately hoped it was a Sea Eagle,
however we didn't think it seemed big enough and now believe it was the smaller Buzzard, but it was still great to
watch and attempt to take photos of.
The path now started to head inland, up high over the cliffs and back towards
the starting point. Paloma was complaining more and more about her
desperate need for food, so we stopped at a bench beside the path for a brief
picnic before returning to the van. It was now just after 2pm so we
decided there was time to head to the Fairy Pools. We had heard a number
of horror stories about the roads on Skye and the last few miles to the
carpark for the Fairy Pools was single track and quite stop-start, but
compared to some of what we'd seen earlier on the NC500 in the far north west,
the roads today were not too bad at all. Some of the driving by others
left a little to be desired, but you can get that anywhere.
So back to the Fairy Pools. These are a series of small waterfalls and
pools that form part of the tributaries of the River Brittle that runs towards
Glenbrittle. The water runs down the from Cuillin Mountains and with the
current weather being relatively dry for Scotland, the waterfalls were
probably not as impressive as they can be with more flowing water, but they
were still very picturesque and the photos we've taken really do not do them
justice. After all the walking Paloma was starting to get tired so whilst her and myself enjoyed a quick sit and a snack, Amber and Forrest explored a little further up the pools.
It was now gone 5pm so it was time to head to this evening's resting place at
Camping Skye in the small town of Broadford. This was all retracing
steps from earlier in the day and leaves us with a relatively short drive in
the morning to Armadale for our ferry. By now the skies on Skye were
clear and despite being a little chilly we decided to have a small BBQ with
sausages and steak.
We finished the day watching a stream of Norwich vs Huddersfield, a typical
Norwich performance but at least tonight they managed to hold on for a
win.
Blogged by Matt.
