Canadians on Tour on the Isle of Skye

Ready for a picture heavy post?

I finished large animal ICU on the Monday morning at 9:30am and then drove straight to the Glasgow Airport to pick up my friend.  When we got back to Edinburgh we were both pretty tired.  So we just had a little stroll around Edinburgh, got some dinner and then went to bed.

The next day we started our road trip.  We started with a visit to a place called Finnich Glen, also known as the Devil's Pulpit.  To get down to the glen there were quite a few fairly treacherous stairs.  I decided that the path beside the stairs actually looked safer.  Well I was very wrong.  I managed to slip and fall right on my tailbone.  4 weeks later I can still feel the bruise!  But it was worth the fall.  The glen was stunning and we were the only ones around.  For Outlander fans, this was used as a filming location in the first season.

After Finnich Glen drove through Glencoe and stopped to have a look at the Three Sisters.  We continued on to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct.  This was the third time I had been to see the Viaduct but my friend really wanted to see it.  It was part of the very famous flying car scene in the second Harry Potter film.  It was still as impressive as the first time I saw it.  After Glenfinnan we drove onto the port town of Mallaig where we stayed for the night.

Three Sisters

Glenfinnan Viaduct

The next morning we walked around Mallaig and then caught the ferry to the Isle of Skye.  The ferry ride was a little bumpier than my friend would have liked.  She didn't seem very reassured when I said it was actually relatively calm!

View of Skye from the ferry

Our Ferry - the spray kept hitting some of the cars and setting off car alarms

Our first stop on Skye was the Fairy Pools.  I had been to the Fairy Pools before but the last time I was there it was raining and there were so many midges (for those of you who have been fortunate enough to not be subjected to midges they are really really nasty biting flies about the size of fruit flies). This time there was no rain or midges so it was quite a bit more enjoyable. We spent a fair amount of time hiking around the pools.

Our next stop was Neist Point.  I think on Skye it is my favourite view.  It is quite a hike up and down but it is definitely worth it.  We also had some excitement on our drive to and from Neist Point.  I am now pretty comfortable driving on the left side of the road but the drive to Neist Point tested that.  It was a single track road (one lane with places for you to pullover to allow oncoming cars to pass) and it was along the edge of a cliff.  I think the drive had my friend quite stressed.  On the way back from Neist Point I was driving along the single track road up a hill.  And as I came over the hill there was a sheep asleep in the middle of the road.  So I had to slam on the brakes and came about 3 feet from hitting it.  I was very stressed but the sheep was completely unaware how close it was to catastrophe. She barely even raised her head!  I had to drive through the passing place because she refused to get up from her napping place.  After Neist Point we headed to Portree the main town where we were staying in a hostel.

Its tough being a sheep in Scotland!  What a view

The next day we headed out for a breakfast picnic on Coral Beach.  It was a little chilly but we had the whole beach to ourselves.  After the Coral Beach we went to Faerie Glen.  Faerie Glen is a very interesting place.  Driving along the road the scenery is rather average and then all of a sudden these cone shaped hills appear.  We hiked up and down most of the hills.  When we arrived there were lots of people but by the time we were done we were the only ones there.  How lucky were we that at two different very touristy locations on Skye we got to be alone.  We finished out day with a drive along the coast and past Kilt Rock and back to Portree for the evening.

Coral Beach

Faerie Glen

Faerie Glen

Uig

Kilt Rock

Our final day was a busy one.  We started with a 10km hike to Boreraig.  Boreraig is an abandoned crofting village that was cleared to make way for sheep.  There are still sheep on the land today.  

The view coming over the hill on our hike.  All the sweat to get there was worth it

One of the ruined crofters homes

Some Cheviot Ewes enjoying their land

After our hike we started heading home.  We stopped at Eilean Donan Castle.  The first castle on the site was built in the 13th century.  It was home of the MacRae clan.  In the 1700s it was occupied by Spanish soldiers supporting the Jacobite rising.  When the rising failed, the castle was destroyed.  In 1912 John MacRae-Gilstrap purchased the castle and had it restored to the castle that stands today.

After Eilean Donan we made the rest of our journey home to Edinburgh.  I think I will leave it there as there are already a ton of pictures in this post.