Today was a day of travel and exploring as we made our way across the northern highlands of Scotland from Grantown-on-Spey to the Isle of Skye, just off the west coast. Our B&B host, David, was up for a chat over breakfast and reflected on the things he didn’t realise / know about Australia before he visited Melbourne a few years ago. He was surprised at how good the local wines were and wondered why there weren’t more of them sold around the world. He was also hugely impressed with the consistent quality of coffees served throughout his time in Victoria. Wendy asked about the history of the town; David explained that after the Jacobite rebellion was quashed in the 1700s efforts were made to retain the skilled workers who were leaving for places abroad – including the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The town was developed with broad streets and spacious (modern) buildings; things grew from those modest beginnings.
The car was packed and we were back on the road to Inverness at around 8:35am. It was already warming up and the clear sunny skies we have now come to expect were with us again. The drive across to Inverness took little time – it was only about 30 miles and for much of the way it was a dual-lane freeway. Chris stopped to refuel the rental car which was less than half full after the drive up from York a few days ago. We were happy with the fuel economy, considering petrol is about a dollar dearer per litre than we pay in Melbourne. After refuelling we rejoined the main road leading to Loch Ness. We were delayed slightly when a swivel bridge across the Caledonian Canal opened to let two boats through, temporarily blocking our progress until the bridge returned to allow vehicles to pass.
Our next scheduled stop was for morning tea at the Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochit where we had every expectation of finding a café. It took a little time but eventually we found one that was open with parking nearby. The outlook from the café was towards the loch, but obscured from view by tall trees and relatively new houses that appeared to be part of a new estate. With morning tea behind us we continued following the western shoreline of Loch Ness. We were waved away from the Urquhart Castle carpark entrance due to the carpark being full – no overflow facility existed, so that was that in terms of capturing our tourist dollar (or pound). Soon after, Chris found a spot to stop the car and take a few photos of the loch. Two locals were out for a spot of fishing and he managed to snap a shot of them as they cruised by in their fishing boat. Was that a dark shadow just under the water following their boat? Maybe it was just the shadows cast by the trees along the shore line…
Our next stop was a famous castle, the Eilean Donan that has featured in a number of movies as well as Scottish tourism promotional material. No space in the car park again posed a problem, and we had to make three attempts to enter before we were allowed to do so. Tickets to the castle could be bought as “outside only” or “full access” – we opted for full access, knowing we would be subjecting ourselves to flights of steep, narrow stairs that seem to be the way things are in castles. We did learn that the island had been occupied since the Iron Age. An order of Christian monks lived an isolated existence on Eilean Donan in the 6th century, and later it became a castle with fortifications encircling the entire island. Later on again the walls were removed to build the keep and a smaller diameter wall protecting the essential buildings. The castle came under attack from English war ships in the 1600s and was reduced to rubble before a member of the family who held the title deeds decided to rebuild the castle in 1913, returning it to its past glory. In more recent times the castle has been open to the public to help fund its upkeep.
A side trip to Plockton, on the west coast north of the Isle of Skye, had been locked in before we set off. It is a small fishing village built around a sheltered bay that some years ago was used in the making of the Hamish McBeth television series. Christine had visited the village on a previous trip and recommended the detour. The small houses ringed the harbour with barely enough room for vehicles to pass on the narrow streets. We watched a group of stand-up paddleboard riders as they glided across the smooth waters to the concrete boat ramp to our right. They were all well insulated in wet suits and boots. We enjoyed an ice cream beside the stony beach while sitting in the sun and watching a couple BBQ their lunch on a small, portable, charcoal-burning cooker while seated amongst the stones.
The drive from Plockton to the Isle of Skye was relatively short. We crossed over to Skye via a tall bridge that had signs warning it may be closed to traffic during periods of high winds. Our accommodation is in the south of the island but we were first heading north to Portree, the main town on the island, to stock up on provisions as we are in a self-catering cottage for the next 2 nights. The scenery in this part of Scotland is quite different to anything we have previously seen. Treeless, steep-sided mountains with jagged peaks reach skywards. Small villages of whitewashed houses are dotted along the coastline. Orange buoys marking out where lobster pots are set can be seen bobbing up and down just off the rocky shoreline. The sky to the south-east was hazy and we later learnt that fires were burning in the highlands after near-record high temperatures of 24.4C had been lingering for some days.
There were detailed instructions on how to find our accommodation, high on a hill with commanding views towards the mainland. There were also instructions on how to negotiate the steep gravel hill to get to the cottage. Chris tried a slow and steady approach that failed dismally when the front-wheel-drive wheels lost traction and simply started spinning and throwing up gravel everywhere. He reversed downhill and decided a more aggressive approach with more momentum was required to carry the vehicle forward over the tricky bits. This proved to be far more successful – although the passengers were thrown around somewhat during the steep ascent.
The evening was spent enjoying the views (from the confines of the cottage, as it was getting too cool to sit outside by the time we unpacked and recovered from the bumpy ride up the hill). The night was very quiet and we all enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep.