Isles of Skye’s romantic, wild reputation makes it a favourite destination for tourists throughout the year. Departing from Oban on another gorgeous sunny morning, it was a picturesque drive up to Fort William with a slight detour into the famous Glencoe where the historical notorious massacre took place and where a group from the Macdonald Clan were massacred by British government forces led by the Campbells after they offered them hospitality in the brutal highland weather.
The highest mountain in the Highlands, Ben Nevis, was looking glorious with a few drifts of snow on the tops and was in perfect view when we stopped at the end of Caledonian canal at Neptune’s staircase which is a series of locks near Fort William where it enters loch Linnhe and out to the Scottish coastal islands. It’s always good to hear the bagpipes and a lone piper provided great entertainment to a group of small sailing boats making their way up the locks, which we were told could take anything from 1-2 hours.
This year we only had one night on Isle of Skye. We arrived by ferry from Mallaig after the scenic drive following Loch Morar through avenues of wild Silver Birch trees and purple flowering rhododendrons. Both, I suspect might be noxious weeds here – but very beautiful at this time off the year.
The Macdonald clan used to dominate the south of Skye and were once the most powerful clan in Scotland. In the beautiful grounds of the now uninhabited Armadale castle there is an excellent little museum which helps put Scottish history in context from a MacDonald perspective and provides an insight into early life on the isle.
One night stops are unusual on my tours but this was an exception. Kinloch Lodge was an absolute pleasure. It sits by itself on the edge of Loch na Dal and is a lesson in attention to detail, wonderful service, gorgeous rooms and delicious Scottish inspired food. It was fun to be met by two NZ boys from Invercargill and Wanganui both working and gaining experience here.
The weather has remained sunny and hot with clear blue skies which helped show off the barren rocky hills of the Cuillins. Before leaving the Skye we drove up the only main road to the major town of Portree, stopping for photographs and the all-important mid -morning coffee. Turning back, we retraced our drive south and headed to Inverness over the bridge at Lochalsh. It is relatively new since 1992 and used to have a very heavy toll of GBP11.00 – people used to say it was the only place in the world where you get mugged and get a receipt! After some nasty demonstrations and protests the bridge became toll free in 2004 and certainly helped tourism on the island.
Stopping at probably the most photographed castle in Scotland ‘Eileen Donan’ for a visit and lunch stop, it was a spectacular drive through to Invergarry, past lochs with beautiful reflections. We picked up the Caledonian canal again through to the series of lochs at Fort Augustus before it enters Loch Ness. Known as the Great Glen which runs from Inverness on the Moray Firth to Fort William in the west we follow the 62 miles up the side of Loch Ness to our hotel in Invernes on Ness Bank called Glen Moriston. We have been so lucky and the Highlands showed up their spectacular beauty in the sunshine for us and now we have time to taste one the 100 or so Gins on offer in Scotland before dinner !!!
