Day 128: Isle of (not much) Skye

Woke up today to heavy clouds but thankfully no rain around. Had breakfast at our digs then headed out, as today was our main day for exploring the island. First stop was up on the north-eastern coast, at a spot called the "Old Man of Storr". This is a large rock finger sticking up near a cliff, about 25 metres high and very impressive.

It's quite a long hike to get up there, about an hour, but we managed to climb up to the base of it; all three of us including Schnitzel! Tiring stuff, but good views. Weather was very inclement, windy in places and occasional brief showers as well. Lots of mud on the track too and Schnitzel got carried for a fair bit of it. The hike back down was quicker, but still took around 45 minutes!

Stopped next at a place called Kilt Rock, where a large waterfall cascades over a sheer cliff into the sea, probably 60-70 metres below. Very dramatic, but it was incredibly windy here and a rain shower was passing through, so we didn't stay for long.

Continued driving to our next destination, and stopped on the way at a pie shop where we dined in. Very gourmet pies, Shandos had a salmon pie while I had pulled pork and Asian vegetables in mine. Delicious!

Next up was further north, a spot known as the Quiriang. This is a high plateau where shepherds used to graze flocks away from the roving eyes of tax collectors on the coastline below. Unfortunately our notes were a bit vague on where exactly the trail we wanted to take started from, and Google wasn't super clear either. We parked up at a car park where there were a bunch of other cars and set off down a track, but not confident it was the right one (it probably wasn't), we turned around after about 30 minutes.

We then drove across the backbone of the northern part of the island, to where the Quiriang trail finally ends on the high plateau. Magnificent views from up here, with very dramatic scenery and rugged cliffs. The sun finally came out as well which definitely helped! Took some photos and enjoyed ourselves, though the wind was absolutely howling through this exposed spot, almost bowling me over. I very nearly lost my rain jacket as well while I was putting it on - the wind ripped it clean off and only my arm was still in it!

Across to the western side, we stopped in the town of Uig (pronounced Oo-ga), where there was a ferry to outlying islands. Found a tea room and had a hot drink and cake, though neither were particularly impressive. Drove back to our accommodation from here, slightly better roads on this side of the island as it's a bit more populated.

Grabbed a couple of supplies for the evening at the supermarket, and ended up doing a couple of hours work and having pesto spaghetti for dinner. Fantastic sunset across the bay from our sitting room window which was very nice! Moving on again tomorrow, down to Glencoe and finally the end of the Scottish Highlands.Read more