Note: The day described here really happened on the 23rd of August 2012.
I had a very restful night, thanks to ear plugs that I now bring on trips with fellow travellers who snore loudly. It’s their problem if I’m the one snoring and they don’t have ear plugs right? So other than the tea coloured water at Aultguish Inn, I thought nothing of the stay until it was time to load the car.
When I got to the car, I found the front passenger’s window wound down completely. That was curious. It was raining when we arrived and it was cold and the heater in the car was on. I loaded up the car anyway. Then I walked to the driver’s side and discovered that window too, wound completely down.
I started thinking – could the windows have dropped into the door? Because that was what happened to one of our Nissan’s? But it’d be a huge coincidence if BOTH windows did that at the same time.
And then I noticed something else. The locks were also up… And I was sure I double checked locking the doors the night before.
I wondered if there were some people in the middle of nowhere who had taken the car out for a joyride.
What I haven’t mentioned is this: The room had three double beds. And my parents ended up in the same bed in the morning. This again is odd, as they can sleep on their own quite happily when necessary.
But it turned out my mother felt a bony man enter her bed in the middle of the night, and so clambered into my father’s bed after the bony man had left.
And so… that is how an ordinary stay at an inn along the highway made it’s impression on us.
Aultguish Inn. I may never forget the name.
A wrong turn – or rather a missed turn meant that we were heading back toward Inverness. But a last minute decision to stop at Rogie Falls, which according to the map reader – was not marked on the map, proved to be one of those good ones.
As there were tour buses, we knew that it would be an easy walk to the falls. And what a treat it was to see salmon leaping upstream again. This time, the falls were modified with steps at the side to help the littler weaker guys get up.
So after our visit to Rogie Falls, I decided I’d check the map to ensure that it wasn’t mentioned on the map, since it seemed to be quite a prominent visitor stop. And it turns out, Rogie Falls is on the map. But not on the road where we were supposed to go. We really should’ve made the turn off earlier. If we had gone on, we’d have ended up back in Inverness.
Getting back on track, we found way to Eilean Donan Castle, but as always I’m only really interested in the outside of the castle, rather than the inside. I don’t know why.
Again, weaving through many lochs, even going through a tunnel, it was a really nice drive. Along the way, near Lochcarron, there was a railway track running right by the road and a train was traversing on it. I really like to drive right next to trains, as I catch up and go ahead of them while they stop at towns, disappear through tunnels etc. It’s like a scenic relaxed unofficial race.
From Eilean Donan, we followed a sign for a viewing spot, but with no indication of how long more it would take, we made a turn back. But we did spot a wild boar on this road.
Then it was to the Isle of Skye. Here, we found a self catering accommodation outside the town of Broadford at the very last minute. We were fortunate. It was quite a nice setup. Two levels. Two rooms, a bathroom upstairs. Bottom level is living, dining and kitchen. I liked Broadford as it had the Co-Op supermarket and a gas station.
After settling that, we went into the capital of Skye, Portree. I didn’t like it. It was too crowded, too touristy and I was in general not liking Skye that much. Overdoing the island thing? Or just too crowded? I was getting used to seeing few people, maybe. I think everything just felt really commercialised.
We drove the north side of the island, Staffin and Lealt and saw the Old Man of Storr.
Yes, the old man is that pointy thing.
Unlike Orkney and Shetland, Skye is much bigger, so it didn’t really feel like an island. Particularly since we had crossed over on a bridge – where I think I may have been photographed speeding. It’s not really fair. The bridge is so steep, I had to hit the accelerator more to get to the top before letting the car slow down from the descending side of the bridge.
The landscape of Skye is very beautiful though. In Orkney and particularly in Shetland, you have to get out to the coast to really appreciate the beauty of the place. But Skye has the Black and Red Cuillins and they basically dissect the island.