Today we returned to the Isle of Skye. It was my turn to drive and our itinerary was a little simpler than yesterday. First we would go and have a look at the Fairy Pools of Instagram and then on to Dunvegan Castle. I’d also originally planned to include a visit to the Talisker Whisky (thanks Mike for the educational video informing me that yesterday I got my spelling wrong. No ’e’ in scottish whisky!). However, we’d heard that there was no tour going on at the distillery and we’d had our own tasting at the pub last night, so didn’t think we’d just go to their shop at Carbost. We got in the car and put in the postcode for the fairy pools car park and it said it was going to take two hours. Eek.
The view across our loch wasn’t too bad when we woke up having our breakfast but as we drove down the kyle it got worse and worse, yes lots of rain and mist and Skye nowhere to be seen. However, no sooner had I commented on this and we started crossing the Skye Bridge, it cleared and we had magnificent views of the Cuillins aglow in the morning sun. To start with we followed the same route up towards Portree but at Sligachan Bridge, we’d turn off towards Dunvegan on the A863. I planned to stop at Sligachan to take some photos of the old bridge with the mountains in the background but by now it was pouring again so we didn’t bother to stop.
On we went on a very good, re -tarmacked road and after about an hour and a half we finally joined the single track road down into Glennbrittle. There were lots of very polite drivers on this road carefully using the passing places to get along. The girls in the car were playing ’Only Connect’ to amuse themselves but I was just staring at the incredible scenery looming ahead of me. Wow!
4 miles before the sat nav said we should, we found the sign for the car park for the Fairy Pools. It was incredibly well organised with a one-way system, lovely toilets and plenty of spaces to park. I’d read that it had only been built this Summer and it was all a bit of a nightmare before that.
You could clearly see the walk up ahead. Yes, the rain had cleared just in time again. It’s really just a small, lively river pouring down from the incredible arch of rocks behind. The path was quite exciting too as we had to get across several lots of stepping stones, some more tricky than others! With a helping hand and use of walking poles we all got across safely if not as gazelle like as some of the young campervanners. There were lots of people doing this walk, again of all nationalities but I guess I’d kind of expected that as it is so famously photographed.
On we went and eventually started to find the Fairy Pools proper. It’s a series of Crystal-clear pools and waterfalls , very tempting to swim. There were even some mad crazies taking a dip today. The pools really are quite lovely and as you walk up they’re all slightly different so you just keep going. Strangely, there is no great tarn at the top. I’m not quite sure how long it took us but as we turned to retrace our steps….it started to rain and the wind started to push us about. Yuk. We scrambled to get out waterproof trousers on whilst Jane said she’d helpfully left hers in the car. However, the shower soon passed and we all got blow dried on the way back up to the car. It really had been worth the visit and we’d all enjoyed the walk.
By now it was 2-30 and time to make our way up the island to Dunvegan Castle. It was another long drive to get there mainly along the western coast. Its a lovely quiet, good road so I made good time. Yesterday, we stopped a lot to take in the views, today I was more determined just to get there but there was some lovely scenery along the route, especially where you come across the little villages of tiny white crofters cottages. By now of course we were all getting hungry as we had not brought a picnic today. Surely, on a Sunday there’d be a nice tearoom in one of these little villages. Aha, here we are The Bog Myrtle Cafe…it looked a bit run down and the girls weren’t sure they fancied it. Not to worry it was closed. In fact everything along the road was very much closed. Until we reached Dunvegan itself where there was a petrol station and it even had some diesel. So I refilled and we stocked up on Garage Buffet. A note on petrol: there was been absolutely no problem getting petrol the whole time we’ve been travelling. We also passed an organic cafe/bakery here where they were queuing up the street to get in.
We had our tasty snacks in the car park of the castle before going in. The sun was shining so we decided to walkaround the gardens first. They were very lovely and full of Autumnal colours, it had a tumbling water garden, a walled garden and even offered seal trips down by the harbour (closed on Sunday). Then the wind whipped up again so we made a dash for the castle. Its not particularly attractive outside I have to say, is it covered in 60s concrete? but inside it was rather grand especially the dining room. It is the ancestral home of the chief of the MacLeod clan and has been for 800 years. The current MacLeod of MacLeod Chief is called Hugh Magnus MacLeod who was born in London and works as a TV director. There were some great paintings of his ancestors on the walls, most of them were called Norman but his great grandma Flora was also made chief when she was only 9 years old.
There was also a room full of historical artefacts such as the Fairy Flag which being very old (4th century?) was rather tattered but has magical powers when taken into battle. I’m really not sure what all this mention of Fairies is all about. We didn’t see any at the waterfalls and there wasn’t a picture of a fairy on the flag but Wikipedia tells me there are ’elf dots’ on the flag. Hm.
We watched a video in the basement room for a while about the history. The nice man narrating had a lovely, soothing voice and it was warm and cosy down there so we all started to nod off. It was time to go! Back on the two hour drive home. All in good weather and easy driving. Hurrah! Except at Sligachan Bridge where it was still drizzling so we didn’t stop again. We did stop at the Coop in Broadford for some supplies of Red Skye beer and enjoyed a night in with Steak a la Jane and a rematch of Yahtzee which I won. Yahtzee in 1s on my first turn. Luck of the Fairies.
Where shall we go to next? 