Broadford, United Kingdom

Great sleep at the Holt B&B as we have found the beds rather ******* holiday and this was the first with a little ‘give’. They have funny – or rather unusual electric showers here – you have to first turn on power with a switch outside the bathroom, then there is a little control box you turn on in your shower, and promptly turn off again when you are finished. Water does not run unless you activate these steps. I think these are designed to save both power and water.

Breakfast offered was a full Scottish cooked with fried eggs, bacon, tomato, beans and very tasty little breakfast sausages. All products sourced locally and organic where possible and there was toast and juices and cereals if we wished. We dined in the lovely breakfast conservatory room overlooking the river with the broken old bridge in the background. We chatted with our hosts the husband being an ex lawyer from Manchester who wanted a more relaxed life in the lovely Scottish country before armed with tips for a scenic route we set off for the Isle of Skye.

Unfortunately the weather was a bit overcast, with a forecast for rain and showers. We topped up with petrol and money in town around the corner and were delighted to see that a boat we had seen last night was commencing her rise through the locks. Her name was Fair lady and I think a private hire luxury schooner, she was so beautiful with timber and luxury fittings and spotless. It is quite a process with the loch attendants managing the gates and water and the skipper making sure the boat does not get damaged against the edges. Vern got chatting to the passengers who were very posh and from the South of England. They even got him to take photos of them with their camera!

Once she was up one lock we saw there were 3 others waiting on another tier, waiting to be moved up and along, then behind Fair Lady a colourful canal cruiser was waiting. Lots of people gather and enjoy watching the manoeuvres, and cars line up to wait for the Bridge to swing back. On the way back to the car there was a lady selling fresh Raspberries and we bought a pottle for £2 and she asked “would you like cream”? offering a spray can. Thats a new one on me! We declined gracefully preferring them as they were – which were very nice and sweet. Another item I got tempted to buy at the souvenir shop was a fun Nessie hat or highland cow hat complete with horns. Just wasn’t sure where I would get to wear it though.

Fort Augustus was a great stop over and perfect location. Its tiny and pretty and I would recommend it as a base for exploring. As we moved on we got to enjoy more beautiful scenery despite the spits of rain and dull day. There is soft green every where and different shades for the different foliage. When you stop the car you see all sorts of different flowers from tiny to the large rhododendron, violets, primula, foxglove, lupin and other small daisy and alpine sized little flowers, purple pink, white and yellow. I even saw an odd shiny black slug amongst the mosses when Vern pulled over for me to snap a bluebell. Heather yet to flower give a dark purple brown shade to the patchwork colours of the landscape.

Roads continue to be pretty good, windy, narrow and a few pot holes but ok. Vernon often pulls over in view spots marked with ‘P’ to let speedsters pass. You see endless high hills, lochs, with the green contrasted by predominantly blues and purples of drifts of bluebells and pockets of rhododendrons. It is very dramatic scenery and my main complaint despite the weather is that there are few good places to stop and take photos or enjoy the views.

The rain started to get more steady as we progressed and after an hours drive we arrived at Eilean Donan castle. It is one of the most photographed castles in Scotland and sits gracefully on the corner of a very pretty loch. It is about 20 minutes inland from the west coast and still tidal which was interesting. There is a very pretty village around the corner with white stone houses surrounded by tall hills and the flat lake with reflections. Unfortunately I could not get a photo of that part due to the typical lack of grass verge, narrow roads and steady traffic preventing desired ‘u-turns’.

Isle of Skye has a high bridge connecting it to the mainland and it was a little thrilling going over it with a good wind that had picked. On the other side is a little town called Kyle Aiken but there was nothing really open that attracted as it was about 2:30pm, so we drove on to where our B&B was located in Bradford and found a tiny cafe at a reptile place. Yes, snakes in Scotland. They have their own viper which can in rare cases kill. Nice. We had a carrot soup, filled roll and a lemon cake to share. Not the greatest quality, but it filled the gap.

Our B&B, The Skye Picture house is set on the edge of one of the many lochs here. It has great views and a nice English host. Interesting to note that the B&B owners in Scotland so far are not Scottish? He encouraged us to take a drive even though it was raining and blowing, and showed us a ‘short’ 1 hour loop taking us to the other side of the island and back. He even said there was a possibility that it could be more settled if not fine on the other side.

About the weather, how disappointing but we did prepare mentally and clothes wise, but it would have been nice to pull a sunny day out of the bag. The B&B owner said it had been like this since April bar a couple of days here and there. He put his boat out then and had only managed to use it twice. Skye is known as the misty island and I have heard and read comments that it ‘always is raining on Skye” I am thinking it may well be founded. Nevermind we only had the afternoon and regardless of the deepening rain we set off to explore.

The weather then turned from bad to worse with steady horizontal squals of 30-40 knots with wind that would rock the car. This was a real pain as when we could pull over for a view, I couldnt even wind down the window to take a pic without getting myself and the camera wet! Sometimes it was misted over totally, other times we could see gorgeous scenery through a veil of mist and rain and we had to let our imagination fill in the gaps. It is hard to describe but I can definitely see how it had earned its reputation of a stunning island.

So a few words to describe what we saw? High mountains skirted by lochs (which were quite clear in spots – a green blue I would say in fine weather. Lovely rocks of black browns tans and white, lots of sea weeds and kelp adding to colour and texture. Many rocky and boulder lined small to average waterfalls and streams that cascade and wind down the hills and mountains filling larger streams that feed the lochs. The lovely little heather bushes everywhere (would love to see them in flower), lots of gorse in flower. Blue bells in pockets – some blanketing the hill side. Not as many trees here as the mainland, its a more dramatic landscape and boulders and rubbly rocks. Not unlike the desert road in some places – without the wide open spaces. Sheep dotted here and there – either plain white or with black face and feet – some with curling horns and most with long shaggy coats. Lots of wool pieces wave like flags in the breeze along the fence lines and in some paddocks dotted like pebbles in the field. I don’t think they shear them in spring like at home? Not many cows, only saw one pair of highland, and a few other beefy looking beasts.

The island is sparsely populated, with predominantly white washed stone homes shaped like a rectangle with pointing shale roofs. Sometimes the sheep are on the side of the road and I got the one lamb who was free with its mum, tried to get them together but they were a bit skittish. At one point when the weather got particularly hairy we saw sheep trying to shelter under heather bushes or in crags or hollows in the side of the hill. Lambs would try and hide behind or underneath their mums – so cute.

As our days sight seeing ended the hill sides were bursting with the many small streams becoming almost torrential waterfalls and one particular big waterfall had almost doubled in its size and velocity. We pulled over to try and take a picture but the rain was horizontal, the car was moving and it just wasn’t going to be. One other couple did rug up and head out with their camera (waterproof I hope) and they had trouble staying straight upright LOL. We tooted and gave them a thumbs up as we pulled out of the viewing park – to big smiles and waves from them. Clearly we are not tough enough.

As our loop came back around we hoped to get dinner in Portree which is the main town on the island and about 15 minutes up the road from Broadford where we were staying. What a joke, it was raining, crowded and we could not get in at any of the four places we tried. You can see what the weather was like by the photo of the boat coming in the harbour. They are really not equipped for all the tourists in summer, we saw lots of other tourists getting turned away from places and looking miserable, wet and cold. Our host said that because its quiet in winter they cannot get staff all year around and the young also leave the island and accommodation is expensive for seasonal workers in summer.

We ended up at a so called good upmarket one near Broadford, French style. I think not. It was not good – sounded fancy like my Haddock which was baked and served with a Pernod and saffron cream sauce with local shrimp – then plonked on packet fresh pasta. It was ok, but over cooked and overpriced for the portion. Vern had steak which he ordered medium and it didn’t have a pink spot on the slice. The service was rubbish too, but given we had trouble getting somewhere to eat we said nothing but headed home to rest after a big day.

Whilst we were settling in Vern was looking out the window and saw an otter in the water playing and fishing I think. I just missed him with my bigger lens. We had a pretty sunset and yep the rain stopped for a bit! Speaking of sunset, it is so odd here staying light at night till about 11pm, then it gets light in the morning at 4 am. The sun goes down say at 7:30, but it doesn’t go dark. It really fools you as to what time it is. Its not too much of a bother as far as sleeping as we are well ready for shut eye by 11 and have no trouble sleeping for 8 hours.