Scottish highlands - day 2

Today we have been driving, stopping, walking, photographing and repeating. Relaxed is how I feel. It feels like the 8 of us are a group of friends who've hired a personal guide. Our tour is incredibly chilled out. We run to our own timetable and stay as long or as short as we like in each spot. Rich gives us ideas and sometimes we give him some.

This morning started with a trip to the grocery store to buy lunch and food for dinner as everything would be shut when we arrived at the Isle of Skye this is evening.

Our first stop of the day, after we'd loaded up was to the Culloden visitor and site of the Culloden Battle. We spent an hour here walking through the self-guided information centre, which gave insight to both the English and Scottish stories. We then got to walk out on the battlefield with audio guides guiding us through the day and site. It was very interesting. Slowly all the people and all the years are starting to filter in about the Scottish history.

From here we drove to Rogie Falls and walked through the forest to the falls to try and see salmon. It was a beautiful spot. I liked walking through the forest area. We came out onto a wooden bridge that crossed to the other side. Standing on the bridge we all intensely looked on to see the salmon, two people apparently saw some jump, but the rest of us were not so lucky.

The water was a dark brown frothy mess, it flowed strongly after all of the rain the highlands had recently had. Although Rich assured us the water was fine to drink and swim in, it looked the colour of Guinness and frothed like it too haha.

While eating lunch on the road we passed a heard of deer and stopped to take pictures. It was awesome! These great big animals just standing on the side of the road, but it wasn't long before they packed up and moved on. As did we, we were making our way towards Beinn Eighe for a hike and a sit by the lake.

It was beautiful. The hike highlighted how unfit most of us appeared to be haha, and how fit Richard was getting. The view down into the Loch was beautiful and we took some fantastic group shots up and down the mountain. I’ve started noticing that we aren’t running into any other guides or tourists in general, which is awesome! And is probably what is making this not feel like a tour.

The daylight was slipping away so we boarded back on the bus heading towards the Isle of Skye and we would be driving through, which Rich described as, the most scenery in Scotland. So I grabbed the bottle of red from my bag, poured myself a glass and sat back to enjoy the view.

He wasn’t kidding; it was spectacular what we saw! We drove across vast lands, around deep lochs and through valleys where once huge glaciers tore through during the ice age. We would’ve looked like this tiny ant cruising along. It was beautiful.

We stopped many places to take pictures along the way including Loch Maree, and Loch Torridon and the ruins of Strome Castle. Loch Torridon took my breath away (how clichéd) it was just stunning! Words can’t describe. We looked down into this valley, this loch and it stretched as far as the eye could see. With the sun setting in the background, it was everything you could want on a tour.

The ruins of Strome Castle are where we watched the sun disappear over day 2 of our adventure. It was perched on this little hillside and we looked down into the loch and out to the Isle of Skye. We took some great group shots in the archway as the sun slipped away, a perfect ending to a wonderful day.

To complete our trio of animals for the day we also spotted some Hairy Coo the local highland cows. They were very cute and all wolly. We stopped by for a few quick pics with the big guys before heading on once more.

For the next two evenings we are staying in the village of Kyleakin in our own house away from the main hostel. As we’re the only group on tour this week, it’s only us in the house. It’s awesome! It has it’s own lounge room and fireplace where we spend the evening relaxing. We are located right on the harbour and watch the boats sail in and out in the daytime.

This evening a couple of us head over to the local pub for dinner. It was a bit of a disappointment with a lack of atmosphere and pretty much no one in there. But the fish and chips were fantastic! And I would return there for that dish alone.

I am thoroughly enjoying this trip!

Where I stayed
Skye Backpackers Hostel - Village Green, Kyleakin, United Kingdom

Fantastic place! We stayed here for 2 nights as part of the MacBackpackers 5 day highland fling tour. We were in a separate house from the main hostel, apparently only the MacBackpackers tours stay here. It was an old victorian house right on the water and only ourselves and the other staff stayed in it. The highlight was the lounge room with a fire in the middle. We spent most nights in there enjoying the warmth, a few drinks and some stories. There is a full equipped kitchen, breakfast is included, there's a dining room and a few showers and bathrooms. It feels like someones home.Read more