First Trip to Isle of Skye

Thought the Isle of Skye is one of the most-often visited islands in Scotland, and seen by people who have only been to Scotland for a week, we have never been. It's a looong drive from St. Andrews to Skye on windy roads all the way across the country, and Skye is a very large island and quite built up by Hebridean standards. So, we have always assumed we wouldn't like it, and have gone to the smaller islands like Arran and Iona instead. But, since David's parents are visiting and our kids are on a two-week school break,  we felt that it was probably a good thing to give them all the chance to see the island. So, here we are!

The drive itself was a bit of a slog, and it was raining for most of the day. Still, it did give David's parents a chance to see some of the Highland landscape, along with Ben Nevis and the Great Glen through the car windows. Once we passed the Spean Bridge and turned north, the landscape turned positively eerie-- all the trees were completely coated with a bright green growth that looked like foam. It was so striking that Emma and I read about it online as we drove--it turns out that it's lichen, and folks in the Highland are very serious about preserving it. I assumed it was hurting or killing the trees on which it was growing, so it was a relief to see that it does no damage...it just looks creepy!

Skye is accessible by a bridge, so the end of our drive didn't require a ferry trip. We stopped just before the bridge for some groceries and a toilet break, then crossed to the island. Once you cross the bridge, arrive on the island and pass through an uninspiring port town, the scenery changes dramatically. The road narrows and turns to single-track with passing places located periodically along the side. David was driving but I could tell it feels a bit like driving 50 mph on a golf cart track!

We have rented a small house in Dunvegan, which is on the northwest side of the island. It took about another hour, after crossing the bridge, to get there. It's nicely located near some good hikes and the main town of Portree, but still remote enough. There's a coral beach about 10 minutes north of our house, and we made that our first stop. It involved a wee hike to get there, and the rain made the trail a bit mucky, but by the time we reached the beach the clouds had cleared and the sun came out. This made the water turn aquamarine blue, and it did look a bit like the Caribbean, though it was much colder!

I took these photos with my phone, by the way. I have a much bigger and better collection of photos, but no way to upload them here, so I will have to save those for a "Skye recap."

After playing on the "beach" for a bit, we got back in the car and headed south for a well-known hike called the Fairy Pools. This is a short walk through the moor and along a body of water that falls through the rock and forms a series of clear blue pools. Apparently, it makes for some good "wild swimming" spots in fairer weather, but I can't attest to that first-hand. Way too cold! It was lovely, though. The water runs off the Cuillin ridge, which is what you see in the photo above, which we took from the car park at the trail head. The mountain in the back is Sgùrr nan Gillean and is one of the eleven "Munros" on the Cuillin ridge. 

The hike was a bit rocky, but reasonable enough for Leah. When she got tired, John put her on his shoulders and pretended to be a horse, which caused her to scream with glee! We got quite a few amused nods from passers-by as we walked!

We stopped at an oyster shed on the way home to buy some fresh seafood for dinner. The conversation we had with the woman shucking oysters there was thoroughly confusing, probably due to our opening question about the price per pound, which is a unit of currency to her while a unit of measure to us. We came away with a huge bag of fresh scallops on ice, and stopped at the next "town" for a bit of butter, which we purchased from the smallest "store" I have ever entered. As we drove home, the sun was going down over the hills, and we did stop a few times to let some sheep pass in front of our car and took some photos, so I will share those soon as well!