Posts Tagged With: Isle of Skye

Fairy Pools and a Castle on Skye

Posted on October 11, 2021 by julieallen36

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.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Dunvegan, Isle of Skye, MacLeod, Scotland | 1 Comment

Skye scenery overload

Posted on October 10, 2021 by julieallen36

Yesterday was our first trip to Skye from here in Dornie. The weather forecast was for rain up until 2pm and then getting slightly better. This meant we had a fairly leisurely morning before Enid set off on the drive to the Misty Isle. We drove over the modern Skye Bridge and then onwards.

My plan for the day was to explore The Trotternish Peninsula , there is a circular route but it took us ages to even get to Portree. I quickly adapted my planning realising we were highly unlikely to fit everything in in half a day. Good decision.

As it was pouring with rain we stopped first in Portree, had a quick look down on the colourful cottages but then retreated out of the rain and into The Merchants Bar. It’s part of the same hotel and restaurant (Dulce and Brose) where we had hoped to eat but where it was booked up for the whole of October when I tried to book in August! Anyway, a very grumpy Russian barman agreed to serve us drinks. We sat watching a real fire blaze on the flat screen TV. Jane and I tried the Red Skye beer which was very good. The bar had a fine display of whiskey’s but it was a little early for that……yet.

As we left the rain stopped and the sun tried its best to shine. We had a stroll through the town square and found MacKenzies bakery where I treated myself to a couple of naughty looking tarts for later.

Then our tour proper began. The road was pretty rough and we’d already driven past the magnificent Cuillins getting glimpses through the mists. They’re truly spectacular when the sunlight catches them and very different to anything I’ve seen in the Lakes etc.

On poor Enid drove, up the eastern side of the peninsula along the A855. I used my OS map app to follow our route and its brilliant because I can see exactly where we are on the road and spot viewpoints, waterfalls, car parking ahead. This meant that we stopped at some of the places I’d always planned for us but other little laybys too. Mind you, we were not the only ones doing this and it was surprising just how many tourists including American’s, Russian’s and Japanese were following the same route.

So, our main stops today were The Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls (which tumbles over the basalt cliffs). The weather did get better and better although as we walked up to The Old Man of Storr the mists were very much swirling around and we decided not to take the full 1-2 hour trek up.

As we got up to Staffin (famous for its huge dinosaur footprints) we all decided that the most important thing now was the loo. Maybe there would be a hotel or tearoom in the next village , there was but it was closed. 3pm on a Saturday? What? We spotted a lane with a sign that said ’To the Beach’. Surely on a Saturday, there would be a teashop with a toilet down there. Down the terrible single track road we went. There was nothing , but a steady stream of cars coming along. Admittedly, the views here were absolutely fabulous but Jane said she had ’scenery overload’ and would not take any more photos until we found a toilet! There was a fabulous beach here with a backdrop of green fields of tiny crofts and spectacular mountains. Anyway…toilets…

Enid drove on a little further in the hope that ’PC’ on the OS map meant ’Public Convenience’ but no such luck. We decided to turnaround and we stopped at a tiny petrol station and I told the nice man our plight, asking if there was a public loo nearby. He said that there was in the Community Hall exactly a mile back along the road. Hurrah, it turned out the Community Hall was attached to the Mace store and I can report that it’s loos were very much a highlight of our trip.

So, we’d only really completed half of the trip I’d planned and the Fairy Glen would have to wait for another time. We drove back along the same road and Enid was keen to get home fast, until we hit a huge pothole at about 60mph! The pub we’d planned to eat at was closed for a private function so we decided instead to get back to Dornie and have dinner at The Clachan Pub just across the water from us.

What a brilliant turn of fate this was. We had a great evening with splendid food. Then we decided to have our own whiskey tasting. We enjoyed comparing the Speyside Balvenie with the local Skye Talisker. I don’t actually like whiskey at all but felt I had to join in. In fact, after a couple of sips I found I rather liked the smoky, peaty Talisker! The evening was rounded off nicely when the very handsome man in the kilt agreed to have his photo taken with me. He was off to a wedding and looked very splendid indeed.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Isle of Skye, Scotland, Whiskey | Leave a comment

Moving on to Dornie near Skye

Posted on October 9, 2021 by julieallen36

The next day it was time to move onto our next destination, the tiny village of Dornie on Loch Long near The Kyle of Lochalsh. We had quite a bit of time before we could check in so we took a slight detour in order to get there. Today it was pouring with rain and it was incredible to compare places we’d been yesterday in such glorious weather! How lucky we had been.

The route took us back up to Appin and then onto Fort William where I had hoped to get at least a glimpse of Ben Nevis. However, it was all covered in cloud and the town itself is full of nasty looking carbuncles. Our stop here was for the world famous Marks and Spencer foodhalls on the Retail park. It was a fine experience with visitor toilets and cafe. We re- stocked our supplies as we weren’t sure when or where we’d find civilisation again.

We then drove along various lochs which I pointed out to Jane as we whizzed past. She seemed little interested as now the Sleepy Bears had turned into Grumpy ones. Loch Lochy and then our detour to Loch Ness at Fort Augustus. Here we had to wait to cross the Caledonian Canal as the locks were opened to let boats through. We parked up and walked along to the viewpoint. Hmm well at least the rain had finally stopped and we watched as people took their large rental cruisers out onto the loch. Like campervans on water- looked quite appealing.

We wandered along by the flight of locks and into a few of the tourist shops. It was really quite busy here but cuter than Fort William.

Next we drove a little further along Loch Ness (no sign of anything) before turning off onto the A87 at Invermoriston. There are apparently some good waterfalls here but unfortunately I got a bit confused in some roadworks so we drove straight past. Up through the pine forests we now drove on a very good straight road with no-one else on it. Our next stop was the Redburn Cafe which was somewhere along this road. Why on earth would anyone open a cafe up here when no-one drives past? I’d found it in Trip Advisor #1 cafe in Glen Moriston. No wonder. Mind you apart from the attractive menu it also offered a bonus of some photogenic Highland Cattle. We went inside out of the pouring rain and it was lovely. A very nice couple running it and just us and one other very quiet couple eating a piece of cake.

We went full on traditional cafe for a wet afternoon – ham, egg n chips, cullen skink x 2 and a sarnie and Jane had a baked spud. The apple pie looked particularly good but we resisted. I enquired as to the whereabouts of the wee coos. They were just across the road in the field and so off we went to say hello. We soon found Misty and Nessie who came to the fence to greet us – thinking we’d bought a £1 bag of food for them at the cafe. Unlucky coos. They were lovely and obliged us with a nice photoshoot.

Then we were on our way again with another 50 minute drive over to Dornie. As we left the forests and drove down to sea-level the scenery changed considerably. Now we were driving through huge, dramatic mountains and I think we could even see over to Skye for the first time. The mountains were a really odd colour up here caused by the grass covering them. Orange-Green is the only way to describe it.

We arrived at our new little cottage Camuslongart right by the lochside. It is absolutely perfect with beautiful views across the mirror like loch. We are right at the end of the lane and it’s incredibly peaceful. The sunroom looks out over the water so its a great place to see the wildlife without getting wet. Of course we are all hoping for otters!

Yesterday we ventured out to nearby Plockton reasonably early as rain was forecast by 2pm. The sun actually shone for us and when we arrived it was like we were the only ones in the place. The tide was in and we wandered about taking in the breath- taking beauty at every turn.

By 12-30 it was pouring ahead of schedule so we visited the small gift shop and then got back in the steamed up car. Now the tide was out, there were more visitors and it was all a bit gloomy. We left feeling rather smug and decided to head back to our cosy cottage for a relaxing afternoon. I decided to try to paint the view over the loch with my oils. Very enjoyable trying to capture the changing light but it still needs a bit of work.

As it got a bit darker I spotted a nice flock of birds and got the binocs out for a closer view. They were just seagulls but as I looked down I spotted a head moving in the water. The others spotted it too and we agreed that it was a seal because it just bobbed its head down and was gone. Otters, on the other hand, dive head first followed by their tail (thank you Andrew for this tip). He didn’t resurface but it was nice we came to greet us.

The evening closed with a curry courtesy of Joyce and a game of Yahtzee. All very 1976 reminiscent – well maybe not so much the curry.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Isle of Skye, Plockton, Scotland | Leave a comment