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.
Where shall we go to next? 