COVER PHOTO: MEALT FALLS AT KILT ROCK, ISLE OF SKYE

After the exciting ride over the Northwest mountains, dodging the deer, it was like coming into a fairyland as we rounded a turn at the lowland part of the drive and saw the Eilean Donan Castle! The rest of the world, except for the wildlife, seemed to be fast asleep as we trekked onward late into the night towards our next accommodation.

 

The sight of  the illuminated castle just before we came onto the Isle Skye to me was like a welcoming committee, as if  someone was leaving the porch lights on for you, saying, “come on in, we’re glad you made it safe.”

LOCH SNIZORT AND SKEABOST HOUSE HOTEL

How can you not love the name Snizort? As it comes up on your GPS you can just feel your nose tickling. Adding to Loch Snizort’s charm, especially to weary travelers, the beautiful Skeabost Hotel sits right at its edge. We pulled up quite late, but still were treated to  a hearty welcome and a cozy room.

 

What a great place to go birding in the early morning before my daughter woke up! Just as you would expect of  a place named Snizort (I just love to repeat that name, forgive me for saying it so much) , it was a damp, swampy place.

But it was swampy because the tide was out. And with our schedule of being at the hotel and the tide schedule, that was the only way we happened to see it while we were there. All the better though, because the birds were abundant then, feeding in the shallow water.

Gray Herons love the waters edge, and I’m so glad they are a common bird as they always seem to complement the horizontal lines of the water with their elegant tall shape, a truly artistic composition from our creator. They are very similar to our Great Blue Heron we enjoy here “across the pond”, in North America.

The area around the hotel came up on the GPS as, “ Loch Snizort Beag”, which means “Lake Snizort Small”.

 

CROFTING, A WAY OF LIFE IN SCOTLAND

Across the loch from the Skeabost, on the russet hillside, there is an example of how the land was separated for the crofters’ use. A croft is a small holding of land where the tenants, or crofters, raised a few crops and some grazing livestock.

“We hold three or four acres, and we have to work hard to grow a few potatoes, some vegetables for the house, a patch of oats, some hay and a few turnips for the beasts in the winter. And above the crofts, on the slopes of the hills, we have our common ground, where the sheep and the cattle are.”  – a small excerpt from a 1944 British documentary film “Crofters”, showing life on the small Scottish farms. It’s a trip back in time to watch the short film, and there is the added joy of hearing the local dialect throughout the film as the crofters from the 1940’s chime in about their life.  Here’s a link to it:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm6os4YN15k

“ These people… give us sturdy citizens that we can ill-afford to be without” concludes the film, produced by Verity Films, LTD for Britian’s Ministry of Information. The future for crofting looked dim for a period, as many young ones left the  crofts for more lucrative careers elsewhere.  This produced a generation gap in crofting, but the gap is being cemented in by new interest from young families and individuals in crofting, and older, more experienced crofters mentoring these newcomers in the lifestyle.

 

TOURING THE TROTTERNISH PENINSULA

We certainly didn’t drive away that morning from the hotel on an empty stomach! Our hearty full Scottish breakfast was a delight, and gave us enough energy to carry us through to suppertime. Before we left the maître d’ came to our table inquiring about our plans, and wrote out for us on a notepad a list of stops he advised for a day of exploring the highlights in the area.  And we wisely followed it!

Our first destination on the list was the town of Portree, the biggest town on the Isle of Skye and a good central spot to tour the island if you like to stay in town.  The Skeabost House Hotel is not far from Portree, so I feel it gave me the rural feel I’m used to, but with a central location on the island.  We pulled over just north of town on our way up the Trotternish Peninsula for a pic of its colorful harbor:

Next stop: meeting with an old man!   I can think of no better way to see the Old Man of Storr than in the morning mist like this, it adds to the mystique of the place. This unique solitary stone pinnacle stands as a fitting precursor to all the weirdly wonderful sights you will see as you adventure further round the Trotternish Peninsula.  Years ago I felt like I totally understood why the people of the Pacific Northwest rainforest of the USA believed in Sasquatch after I had walked through one of their dark moist forests of creepy half rotted tree structures with outstretched arms dripping with moss. Now I think I know why the Scottish folk have invented wee creatures springing from their soft ground, especially when it is peppered with outcroppings like this Old Man Of  Storr.

Driving along the east side of the peninsula, the next treat to the eyes was Mealt Falls.  How much more Scottish of a name can you give its setting…Kilt Rock?  An apt description with its pleated basalt columns, I can just envision a giant wearing that edge of the cliff there in the picture. Now a waterfall any day is beautiful, but add that this huge thunderous beast plunges a depth of 180 feet (55 meters) into the ocean and the view and experience become top-notch!  Then consider the surrounding scenery, Kilt Rock, itself around 300 feet, (90 meters) and you have one of my favorite views in Scotland. Our day there was misty, but it is said that on a clear day, the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and even mainland Scotland can be seen.  Someday I’ll return and visit the Outer Hebrides, the Islands of Lewis and Harris are high on my bucket list.

 

 

Just before heading west across the peninsula, we took a small road down to the bay of Ob Nan Ron. A small winding road past sheep leading to a place not famous for anything that I know of, but a lovely place to just wander around undisturbed looking the sea and birds and walking out on the fisherman’s launch area.

The nearby town of Staffin, a word of Viking origin meaning “the place of pillars” is named after these basalt cliffs near Mealt Falls.  This area is also well known for the dinasaur remains that have been found there, as well as dinosaur footprints that can still be seen there at An Corran on the Isle of Skye.

At the “top” or North end of the Isle of Skye was, to me, the epitome of its sites, the Quiraing.  In a word, it was otherworldly.  The islanders here once used the strange landscape of the Quiraing to hide their cattle from raids by the Vikings.  Driving through the peat bogs at the base, then ascending up the hairpin curves brings you to a view that I’ve never seen anything to compare to before. Below is the sea, and interspersed in the valley are small ponds.  Along the ridges, which look like waves of land, are jagged formations of rocks and cliffs. It’s part of a landslip, or landslide, one of Britian’s largest, and it’s still not done slipping and sliding.  In fact, at one area of its base the road has to be repaired every year because of the land continuing to shift.  I was so sad that we weren’t able to do the walk because the rain was increasing, but the jagged shapes of the land, some softened in appearance by moss and grass, others bare rocky cliffs and pinnacles, were still visible. A disappointment, but yet an excuse to return!

 

 

 

We toured the Talisker Distillery, and  it gave me a new appreciation for Whisky. (Only the product made in Scotland is spelled without the “E”. )  I guess I had an old memory of it as being more like medicine. But no more!

The Edinbane Inn restaurant  was a comfy, delicious end to our day!

 

Kyleakin Lighthouse bids us goodbye as we leave the Isle of Skye.  It is right next to the bridge, extremely close, as you cross toward the mainland of Scotland.  It is situated on the tiny 6 acre island of Eilean Ban.  The island is used as a stepping stone for the large bridge to Skye.

Gorgeous Eilean Donan Castle, seen just after leaving the Isle of Skye and headed back to Edinborough for our flight home.  At least we were able to stop and tour it as one last hurrah to western Scotland.