Skye

After a delicious breakfast at our Pink Guest House B&B, we headed off to see as much as we could see. Although crossing over the island was less than 15 miles, the one-lane road with passing spots crowded with sheep took quite a while to get across. And there was a wrong turn that took us down a very muddy, pot-holed one lane road. So, despite our early start, our first stop was not until nearly midday.

Heist Point Lighthouse was a lighthouse seemingly at the end of the world. We parked in a fog-filled parking lot and were only able to see the lighthouse after traveling about 1/4 mile deeper into the fog. The lighthouse itself was a bit disappointing, but the views from it were amazing, despite the surrounding fog.

Dunvegan Castle, just a little ways up the road, was the next stop on our tour of the northern part of the island. The castle itself was a bit of a let down. We chose the tickets that were just for the gardens as there was still much for us to do, but the castle, in comparison to many we have and will see is very new and as such is missing the wonderful charm that goes with buildings that have been around for centuries. The gardens were lovely, complete with a couple waterfalls, but that was not the best part. We paid a few pounds extra and went out on a small wooden boat with four other people to go and look at a nearby seal colony. Not only did our small boat get within feet of beautiful wild seals, some under a week old, but the sky opened up and blue skies appeared. It was glorious! Our boat captain even joked, "Oh, that's blue sky? I had always wondered what it was." Sunshine is a rarity here and we weren't about to waste it. We ran back to the car, hoping to get to the Quiraing while the sun was still gracing us with her gorgeous face.

Sort of like the Dingle Peninsula, Skye has a well-known, beautiful peninsula that is a popular drive for visitors to see. In the middle of the peninsula is a place called the Quirang where there are interesting rock formations and gorgeous sweeping scenery. The road to get there was another one lane road with passing points and the small parking lot was overflowing with police cars and a filming crew. So, we drove past it looking for a spot, then came to an incredibly steep hill before an opportunity to turn around. The next few minutes were quite stressful: car stalled while trying to turn around, reversing up the hill to make way for a bus, climbing a steep one-lane-two-way hill and searching for parking. But we did not give up, and for that, I'm very thankful. 

We did not know exactly what we were getting into, but we thought the hike was one where you traveled as far as you wanted and then turned around. That was correct, but that's all we knew. 

Somewhere on our drive the bright blue sky disappeared. There was still some light and patchy sunshine, but not what we were hoping for. It was not needed, even with grey skies, the landscape is unmatchable. I've been fortunate enough to travel to some beautiful places, but I think I may have just topped my list. Glacier National Park, Austria countryside, the magical Denali National Park, the South Island of New Zealand are stunning, breathtaking scenes, but the Quirang on the Isle of Skye is uniquely breathtaking. There are no snow-capped mountains in the background like there are in many of the others, just lush green, but wow. Just wow.

Our walk was a bit precarious: just a narrow path etched into the side of a steep rocky hill where we had to cross over waterfall run offs and like driving, when people headed our way, we had to find a passing point to step to the side. But the views seemed only to get better. Sunshine continued to be spotty, but at least there was no rain.

We stopped at one point to watch a sheep dog below do his job and round up the sheep and escort them into another area. It was after that that the obscurity ensued. After one herd of sheep were ushered out, another was ushered in, only these were no ordinary sheep, they were wearing tiny billboards made to look like homes, hotels, and airplanes. Remember I had said a film crew was taking up the parking? (Understandable in such a gorgeous spot. One of my favorite films, Stardust had several scenes shot here.) Well, as we had walked onto the trail, there were several tents set up to the side with lots of people and equipment set up for filming. There was also one sheep dressed up with an airplane "outfit" over him. 

Since a cloud began heading our way and it was getting later in the day, we turned around on the trail, crossing small creeks on precarious rocks and looking down the steep hillsides with caution. We asked some of the film crew what they were filming. When you see a commercial for Kayak (the travel booking company) with dressed up sheep, think of me and know I was there watching the filming!

Almost immediately upon our return to the car, some of the clouds broke and blue sky appeared over the gorgeous scenery we had just left behind because of clouds. Of course. Thankfully, there was a pull off on our drive out that allowed for a few quick photographic opportunities. The clouds here move incredibly quickly and we are finding that the weather, although it is not extreme, is highly unpredictable.

We took advantage of some blue skies though and drove around the peninsula a bit more, stopping at a rock formation on the sea wall that resembles a kilt, a waterfall and the Old Man of Storr, a unique rock formation. 

At one of our stops, the sheep were close to us and especially picturesque, but man they are stubborn little creatures. They had a tendency to stare at us until our cameras moved, then they quickly dropped their head to eat or turned their bums on us. Thankfully, we got a couple shots of the cute little stubborn guys, though, despite their uncooperativeness.

Most restaurants stop serving food at 9, so that is a good goal for us. Tonight, eleven hours and over 20,000 steps later, we made it back in town just in time to change and get to a tasty local spot for dinner. I had a burger of local beef, Brie, bacon and onion rings. Delicious!