Over the sea to Skye
29th September 2022
After travelling around the Outer Hebrides, we returned to the Isle of Skye on the 6 am ferry from Lochmaddy, in North Uist, to Uig. It was a cold grey wet morning as we drove off in a circular direction around the Trotternish peninsular of Skye. We were on single track roads with far fewer passing places than on the Outer Hebrides. Our first main stop was at the Skye Museum of Island Life shown below as the group of blackhouses on the coast. We were too early for the museum to be open, so walked up passed these lovely looking black cattle to the graveyard beyond where Flora MacDonald is buried, and then returned to admire the few Highland cattle in the neighbouring field.
The museum buildings were like those we had seen on the Isle of Lewis, and inside each was a display of the various industries and life styles of the people who had lived here.
Further along the road were signs for 'dinosaur footprints' so we stopped at the Duntulm Viewpoint. It was immediately obvious that Skye had far more visitors than the Outer Hebrides and we decided not to follow the crowds along the slippery coastline to see the ruins of Duntulm Castle.
As we journeyed southwards, the scenery became even more stunning. Occasionally the clouds would lift and the sun shone briefly on the lush green hills, but finding places to stop to catch the beauty of The Quiraing was tricky.
The next stop was Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls Viewpoint, and by now the sun was shining and we had a wonderful view of the Isles of Harris and Lewis in the far distance.
The Mealt Falls were stunning too, as there was no shortage of rain water to fill the rivers today. Despite its size, one could almost miss seeing this thunderous waterfall and it was hidden around a corner and quite difficult to view.
A little further on were the Lealt Falls where the peatiness of the water was more obvious. And from near here one could admire the spectacular coastline of Skye.
After a while in the islands, you learn to recognise the distinct profiles on the horizon, and Skye has a very distinctive profile when observed from Rodel in the south of Harris. Then, once on Skye itself, your eye will search out the Old Man of Storr. Its rocky eastern face looks out towards the Sound of Raasay and it is a popular walking route to the Man itself. We walked about the first 200 yards uphill and decided a long hike in such inclement weather was not for us! So we headed back to the car and continued our drive down to the biggest town for miles, Portree.
My friends will know that Lawrence and I equate a holiday with eating ice cream! We hadn't had ice cream in the Outer Hebrides so now was our last chance! I cannot recommend highly enough The Wee Ice Cream Shop in the main street of Portree and the Uig Pottery shop across the road.
We finally drove back north to our guest house near Uig for a very wet and windy night. We were greeted in the morning with a yellow storm warning as we headed south to Glasgow, thankful that our one and only day on Skye had preceded the storm. The next few hours of driving were horrible with Malaysian-style heavy rain, but here it was blowing horizontally. The drive from Skye to Glasgow takes you through Glencoe and I'd love to do this drive again one day without the rain. I have put a collection of photos here just to give you a hint of its beauty and tempt you to visit for yourself.
Scotland is renowned for its weather, and in many ways this is what makes its vast countryside so interesting to drive through. This was the end of our journey through the highlands and islands of western Scotland and reinforced the notion that there is still much to explore within the British Isles.
