Goodbye NC500 Hello Skye

Today was a big day, we finished the parts of the North Coast 500 we had planned on completing. We decided not to drive the Applecross Peninsula because our campervan is 24 feet long, and the recommended length of the vehicle is less than 18 feet. We feel as though we have done more than enough single-track roads. The route officially ends back in Inverness, and we would much rather spend some time on Skye and around Glencoe, so yeah, for us, we have completed that part of the trip. I would highly recommend it and am so glad we had the chance to experience it together. Today, we started the day with a visit to Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve. They have a very nice visitors center with information on the reserve and a number of hikes. The hikes range from an easy 30-minute walk to full day hikes to the summit of Beinn Eighe. We chose one of the short easy walks and were able to get back to the camper without getting rained on. It was a really nice way to start our day. Our second stop was in the tiny village of Shieldaig. We parked the van on the outskirts of town and walked in to take a look around. We stopped in a small smokehouse in someone's backyard and bought some salmon and cheddar. The owner was a really friendly young man, and we ended up chatting for a while. He explained to us that the road from Applecross when translated from Gaelic means "trail of the cattle." For many years the Bealach na Ba was only used to drive cattle to market. He said today hotshots in fancy cars love burning their clutches out racing over it. On our way back to the van, we saw a huge tour bus pull in. Too funny it would be like a bus load of tourists showing up in Wyoming Ontario. Before heading to Skye, we decided to visit Eilean Donan castle. We found a parking spot and checked out the visitors center. It was pouring rain and really busy, so after a quick look around, we decided not to go inside. We've visited a few castles on other trips, and although interesting, they really aren't our thing. We stopped for the night at a campground in Broadford, Isle of Skye. We needed to do laundry, we waited for an hour and a half, and the washer was still in use, so we decided walking into town and finding a pub was a better use of our time. There was only one man at the bar, and the bartender had country music blasting when we stopped in at the pub in the Broadford Hotel. There were signs everywhere saying it was the home of drambuie. It appears Bonnie Prince Charlie had ownership of the recipe, and he shared it in gratitude for the people of Skye assisting him in his escape after the battle of Culloden. It started to get busier, and the people parked next to us came in and joined us. Former sailors turned power boaters who were renting a campervan. What a coincidence. There were lots of stories flying around that table and a few rounds. Jill and Barry were so much fun. It was dark when we found our way back to the campervan and was too late to do laundry. We will save that for another day.Read more