View from Midge Breeder Central [Loch Leven]
The Quiraing
Fingals Fingers
Port Neist lighthouse looking to Lewis
Loch Dunvegan seal colony
Staffin Bay
We went to Skye for the first time this year. Its a long way; 458 miles door to door but well worth it. As soon as you get over the Bridge there's a lot of 'Wow' factor for a first time visitor!
F + I stayed in a converted barn, 'The Bothy' in the village of Staffin, on the northeast coast of the island. Very peaceful, with great views of the Quiraing Mountain and over The Minch to the mainland. John MacKenzie, the owner is a lovely bloke who told us many tales and helped me celebrate my 51st birthday with a wee dram [or two] of Caol Isla malt whisky !
Skye is a big island, and there isn't enough time to explore it in a week. You have to accept you are going to do a lot of driving as the villages, beaches and places of interest are well spread out. The sea lochs cut inland quite a way, so inevitably you have to go round them.
Next time we will try to base ourselves in the centre of the Isle; I've already noted a good looking campsite at Loch Greshornish, which looks just the job.
Out in the Aquanaut, I paddled round Loch Dunvegan to see the seals, and over to the islands off Staffin and Flodigarry. While we we away we were surprised to find out it was brolly weather in the rest of the UK, but the fine if windy Skye weather limited me to fairly sheltered coast hugging trips on my own. [On reflection, I should have taken my smaller Easky boat, which is lighter smaller and better suited to rockhopping.]
We stayed a night in a wee camping cabin at the back of The MacDonald Hotel at Kinlochleven on the way home, where some of the backdrop scenery to the Harry Potter films is filmed.
It is as my mate Frank says: 'Midge Breeder Central'
3 comments:
Nice blog, Doc, much better than the old WLS one. One step closer to getting onto WordPress, eh? :-)
Welcome Belly to the land of blogger you blugger.
Nice photos of Skye, you lucky . . . blugger!
We've stayed with John for our holidays for several years now and always hate it when the time comes to go home. He's such a good host and like you mentioned, enjoys a wee dram with you. His knowledge of the whole island is a great benefit to those visiting for the first time.
Reading your post has made me feel homesick! I can highly recommend anyone visiting Skye to call in at Johns for a chat, maybe while they are filling up their car at the tiny store come garage at the bottom of his drive. Fond memories indeed.
Cheers, Ken, Jackie & Shep!
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