Sunday, October 30, 2011

Isle of Skye- 15th till 17th October


After leaving the Orkney Islands we drove back down the east coast of the Highlands.  We stopped for a look around Dunrobin Castle on the way before heading east to the Isle of Skye.

An attraction in Scotland that was actually open - amazing!




A lovely setting let down by the hideous statues on the fountain.
The Isle of Skye was a lot less inhabited than I expected, with more of the same incredible scenery we've come to expect from this part of Scotland. It also has amazing mountains which add to its grandeur.  We stayed at a site in Portree, the main settlement.  It was only a mile out of town but it might as well have been 10- it felt very isolated.  It did have perfect TV reception however and we all snuggled in to watch the All Blacks v Australia game.  Nervy stuff!


We had a massive storm during this night. We learnt that the van can handle a 50+kmh crosswind, but it was pretty noisy and shakes around a bit. We ended up moving to the lee of the toilet block during the night (where this photo is taken from) and it was much more comfortable, plus very convenient!


Portree is a cute, vibrant town, and we had some good meals and wanders there.  The weather was a bit variable and pretty cold (as we were driving the campervan thermometer warning light kept coming on- because of "low temperatures outside"!), but we managed to get out for a great walk around the headland walking path, called Scorrybreac.


That is a battered, deep fried, haggis. Deeeeeeelicous.

It's a serious business wearing two tone gloves. Jane is also modelling a stylish, cold deflecting, double jacket combination this afternoon.


Portree Harbour

Most gaelic words include a sound that is somewhere between a cough and clearing your throat, so this is pronounced skorry - bra hackcough









Yup, snow on the top of the hills!


We are either smiling because it is sunny, or grimacing because it is windy, or both.


Josh, working that ass.

Jane taming the fierce creatures of the Scottish highlands, she was lucky not to lose a finger to this denizen of the forest.
God only knows what is going on here.

On our way out of the Isle we visited Talisker Distillery in Corbost, which lies down a narrow winding river on the banks of a loch.  The tour was good and the Talisker even better :)  We also tried to visit Dunvegan Castle, but it was closed.  The perils of off season travelling.

No castle for you!



On our way to our next destination (Oban) we stopped for a night at Corpach, where we re-sampled the Talisker (still not poisonous) and proved that there ain't no party like a campervan party.

Morgan is sensibly sticking to water. 

Keeping Josh fed was an ongoing challenge, with severe consequences if he went without. I now have to hold my glasses on with duct tape.


Josh has large feet. Jane is now modelling a more informal look of night time attire.






1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nothing like a bottle of whiskey to get the van party started.