May 11 Skye

The alarm was set for 6 am but we were both awake before then. I was lying there working out a plan for getting an Uber into Inverness but we were so well organised that we decided to walk.
We had booked tickets with Timberbush Tours for a full day tour to Eilean Donan Castle and the Isle of Skye departing at 8 am from Inverness and returning 8 pm.
There were 3 buses altogether. The weather was stunning and we got away just after 8 am. First stop was to see some Hairy Coos. They are beautiful creatures. We had managed to get photos of them on our travels but this was the first time we had been able to get up close to some. The next stop was the carpark at Urquhart Castle where if you are a bus you can park whether you have tickets or not so we managed to get a few photos from the road of the ruins of the castle.
We got to know our driver Andy and his wife Wendy quite well. They were very entertaining. The Scots love to have a laugh particularly at themselves.
The next stop was Eilean Donan Castle. This is the most photographed castle in Scotland and on this particular day it was impossible to take a bad photo. It is the home of the Macrae clan and has so much history. We paid the money and did the tour which was great although you can't take photos inside.
From there we crossed the Skye Bridge and on into Skye where we stopped at Sligachan before stopping for lunch at Portree.
After lunch it was on to the Old Man of Storr rock formation and a couple of other stops including Kilt Rock.
We covered all of the sights I had wanted to see in 1 day whereas I had allowed 2 days and I didn't have to drive. I even managed a Grandad nap on the bus.
Because we were on the Mommy Bear sized bus we went a different way back to Inverness over some of the narrow back roads and past some beautiful scenery including the smallest railway station in Scotland. You wouldn't want to blink.
We finally arrived back in Inverness about 8.40 pm and went to a little hole in the wall bar called the Malt Room where they have over 350 scotches. Gaye had a cocktail and I had a slider of 5 scotches called the NC 500. The NC 500 is an iconic road around the top of Scotland which we had looked at doing but much of it is pretty rugged and single lane with passing bays every four hundred metres or so. It looked a bit much for us old folks but at least I can say that I have done it even if it was only 5 whiskys from the region.
We staggered out of the bar and found our way to the restaurant that we had stopped at for a drink and a cheese board the day before and had a very nice dinner before wandering home about 11.30 pm.
We had hoped to see the Northern Lights which were in full force the night before as was the Southern Aurora but either the whisky was comprising our eyesight or it was not the right night. Either way we were buggered and about mid-night called it a dayRead more