Hi there, reader
In today's post I'll show you some of the amazing scenery on the Isle of Skye. My time on Skye spanned three days, although I only slept on the island one night. The other two nights I was on the mainland in the Kyle of Lochalsh, a small town right next to the Skye bridge. Did you know there's a bridge connecting Skye to the mainland these days?
I was excited to visit Skye as I'd met a girl two days previously who'd spoken passionately about the landscape of the island. She said that when she'd visited there she found it hard to believe it was a part of the UK. It reminded her of a holiday she'd had in Iceland.
Skye is lovely to drive around. Some parts are wild and open and at times you can't see any other vehicles. Other times you might find yourself stuck in a convoy weaving between the mountains. The biggest town on the island is Portree, and like Oban and Fort William it's quite difficult to find free parking. But once you're out in the more open parts of the island there are lots of places to park, including overnight.
On the first day, I met this lovely couple called David and Ania, who have been living in their van with their two dogs since April. They're here in Scotland for the wildlife, but, like me, they've only seen farm animals and crows so far. No deer, no otters, no eagles, no seals, pine martins, whales, dolphins, osprey. Perhaps I haven't been looking carefully enough but I thought Scotland was going to be teeming with amazing wild animals, like the landscapes in RDR2.
The second day was mostly rain. Rain and strong winds. Whenever the rain stopped for a while, I got out and went to various viewpoints or old buildings.
I noticed I had almost run out of water and spent ages driving around looking for a drinking water tap. I remembered the words of that old blowhard back in Dumfries: "Just let me tell you this, so that you know ... every graveyard in Scotland has a water tap." I remember at the time thinking that was a bold, sweeping statement. How could he possibly know that with such certainty, unless he'd personally visited every single graveyard in Scotland? Anyway, I used Google Maps to find the nearest graveyard - in the village of Uig. Drove over there and ... whoops! No water tap. He should change that to "Every graveyard in Scotland, except the one in Uig, Skye, has a water tap." In the end, I just went into a pub back on the mainland and asked the barman if he could fill three bottles for me. Job done.
The rain didn't let up as afternoon turned to evening and it started getting very chilly. I was happy to get into bed early, watch Zootopia and read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
I was asleep before 10pm.
Day three was the same sort of thing: rain, cold wind, driving around randomly and stopping at points of interest.
I found a big patch of mushrooms that look similar to the ones you get in the supermarket. I sent a picture to David and Ania, who are into foraging for wild mushrooms, fruit, wild garlic and so on. Ania replied that white mushrooms are a minefield and it's hard to be sure ... so I decided not to cook these. I was reminded of a bad experience I'd had when I was about 13 or 14, when I cooked and ate a huge white mushroom I found in someone's front garden. I had an extremely painful stomachache that evening, but didn't tell my parents - just rode it out. My son, Hugo, is fascinated by that story.
Back on the Kyle of Lochalsh at the end of day three, I went to the local Chinese takeaway and got spicy kung po vegetables with chips. That's what I ordered, anyway. I think I actually got sweet and sour vegetables. Irn Bru to drink; when in Rome.
The rain continued through the night, and the van stayed dry on the inside. I stopped by a garage to put air in my tyres and picked up a bunch of groceries from a Co-op. Then goodbye to Skye and off to my next destination: Plockton.
Hope you'll join me again soon. Thanks for reading,
Brian
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