Day 30 - Glasgow to Isle of Skye

5 May 2023

Today’s drive through the Highlands was spectacular, and probably more so because it was overcast, with occasional glimpses of the sun, and cold. The three-day Isle of Skye Tour is run by Timberbush Tours, and the 17 of us are in a minibus with a very capable and full-of-knowledge driver/tour guide named Neil. I am the only Kiwi/Aussie, with most of the passengers being from the USA – a much younger crowd than we had on the Türkiye tour.

Our first stop was at Luss, a quaint little fishing village on the banks of Loch Lomond. Neil explained the story behind the Loch Lomond song, and I realised that I was incorrect when I said Roger and I were taking ‘the low road’. The high and low roads referred to in the song are not geographic, rather the low road is after death. Rog and I were therefore definitely on ‘the high road’!

I also found out today that Loch means 'body of water'. So, all lakes are lochs, but not all lochs are lakes!

The scenery though Glencoe was some of the most dramatic that I have seen so far. Soaring, steep mountains, rivers, waterfalls, fields of peat, and long, thin valleys. It was easy to see how the surviving McDonald’s would have struggled to survive after the Glencoe Massacre, when they had to hike up the steep mountains in the February snow. The Glencoe visitor centre is well worth a visit as it is very informative about the area (hiking trails, climbing, skiing) and they have reproduced a turf and creel house similar to what the McDonalds would have lived in during the 17^th century. It even had the smell of smoke from a fire and sounds of a Gaelic community. No wonder the visitor centre has won awards, and I can also highly recommend their soup!

The top right photo shows two of the three sisters in Glencoe. The middle photo is near where Skyfall was filmed.

We drove past Eilean Donan Castle (we will be visiting it on Sunday) and crossed the bridge over to the Isle of Skye. Skye is not as I expected – it is really big, in parts is very close to the mainland, and has huge soaring mountains. As part of the tour I have been given accommodation in a private house on the outskirts of Portree, a pretty fishing village about half way up the island. It is light here until about 9:30pm, so I was able to walk into town and do a bit of exploring before dark. There is a large square with historical buildings around it, and a wonderful line of coloured buildings down at the harbour. I ate fish and chips while sitting on the harbour wall watching the moored boats bobbing up and down. It was very peaceful and the fish was delicious.

Bottom two photos are of Portree. Top right is Eilean Donan Castle.

Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring the island.