Skye - Day 3 PM

Tired but very happy to have seen the Fairy Pools we headed back to Broadford, via the usual Sligachan road and, turning one bend in the road, we were greeted with the most beautiful view down a loch.  Luckily there was a lay-by so we quickly swung in and parked up next to another vehicle and the chap standing by his camper kindly pointed out two seals he was watching (apparently he'd also seen a couple of otters in another loch an hour earlier).

My one and only rubbish shot of the seals, which then completely disappeared from view.

The view was just fabulous.

Back at the hotel we dropped our case and then shopped for lunchtime sandwiches at the Co-Op.  As it was such a lovely day we sat down at the harbour side of the hotel to eat our lunch.  Absolutely nothing going on, just a few boats moored.

A heron suddenly flew overhead, but I only got this poor shot.

And then we had a short wander along the jetty.

I love the colours of the flaky, peeling paint on this boat.

The water was very clear but seemingly devoid of fish.

Looking back to the Dunollie Hotel, which was adequate and quite frankly we couldn't have expected more for what we paid.

We were so lucky to have a sea view (our room arrowed).

Although we were both very tired after the Old Man and Fairy Pools walks, it seemed a shame to waste the glorious weather so we decided to drive back over the Skye Bridge and visit Eilean Donan Castle - only about 30 mins away.

There was a great view of the castle just before we crossed the bridge at Dornie and luckily a community centre car park which we could stop in.

We had a short wander along the shoreline.

There was a fabulous bank of purple (probably northern marsh) orchids growing.

Given my lens limitations there didn't seem much point in paying to park closer and walk around the castle, so we drove back up into the village for the panoramic view.

We then headed back to Broadford with the intention of stopping to get a photo of the Skye Bridge but we couldn't find a lay-by with the right angle so here's an internet image.  Built by a private company, the bridge was only opened in 1995 and at £5.70 one way had the most expensive toll in Europe before it was abolished in 2004 when the Scottish Government bought the bridge from its American owners.

We parked just before the main span and walked, or should I say crawled, to the middle; our poor legs were seriously complaining.  But the views of Loch Alsh were stunning and well worth the effort.

The ruin is apparently Castle Moil, its structure is quite precarious having been damaged by storms and lightning in recent years.

Scottish Mainland

Back "home" at Broadford we settled our bill and packed the cases ready for our early (06:00) departure then walked 10 mins to the other end of town and bought Haddock & Chips from the local take-away (same company as the Pizza Restaurant).  The food was freshly cooked and we'd brought plates and cutlery with us (just in case) so once we'd got some salt and tartar sauce we had a lovely dinner in our hotel room and then Ian watched the most boring game of football ever between England and Scotland.

We were happy to leave early and miss breakfast on Saturday morning as we planned to get something in the lounge at Inverness Airport.  Although the drive was, in theory, only just over 2 hours we gave ourselves ample time for hold ups and the drive was a lovely one; barely any other traffic on the road and some glorious views.  One particular loch we drove along was so still, the reflections of the opposite bank were just like a mirror - I so wished I could stop, but I'd packed everything away and besides I now know that my "just a quick photo" frequently takes 15-30 mins as I lose all track of time.  In fact we could have stopped, often, as we were there extremely early, couldn't check in until 09:40 and, sacré bleu, the lounge was closed due to Covid.  So we had a very overpriced and not particularly nice sausage bap in the airport cafe where I had to remind other occupants that their masks weren't chin straps.

There seemed to be just one long queue for security but when Ian commented that Fast Track was equally busy we realised it was actually completely empty with the queue going straight passed.  So we made use of it (and why not, only perk at this tiny airport).  When we got to the departures bit we saw that the closed Aspire Lounge wasn't much larger than a cupboard so we probably didn't miss much.  Sadly BA really let itself down on Covid-safe boarding, having made continuous tannoy announcements that boarding would be "strictly by row" and "please adhere to social distancing when boarding" when it was time to board rows 1-15 (use front steps) and 16-30 (use rear steps) were invited to come forward all at the same time - what an absolute farce.  I commented to the person checking our boarding passes that BA were making it impossible for people to socially distance when the whole plane was called in one go.  We then all had to line up on the tarmac for 20 mins presumably whilst they finished their allegedly "enhanced cleaning".  But we did fly on G-EUPJ which to commemorate BA's centenary in 2019 had been painted in the BEA livery (BEA was predominantly on domestic and European routes between 1959 and 1968 and together with BOAC (overseas flights) merged in 1974 to create British Airways).

Unfortunately there was an unspecified and long delay before we could take off of about 40 mins and whilst the pilot seemed confident we could make up time, we seriously doubted an on-time arrival at Heathrow as the flight was only 1 hour 40 mins anyway.  Still we didn't have to clear Immigration and the wait for luggage wasn't terribly long but we then had to wait about 15 mins for the car to be delivered to the Short Stay before we could get on the road - OMG what a lot of traffic on M25 compared with the Highlands/Skye.

A FANTASTIC little break and so needed.  Nice to see some of our homeland and if this pandemic continues to thwart our long distance travel plans, I shall have no hesitation in booking similar trips in the UK/Ireland.

Skye - Day 3 AM

I had a very comfortable night's sleep, although as is often the case I did have to sleep with my head at the foot of the bed to get maximum distance from Ian's nocturnal rumblings.

Continental Breakfast was included in the room rate and Morag had left us a fridge stacked full of food to choose from: apple and orange juice, 3 types of cereal, porridge, fresh strawberries, 3 types of cheese, 3 types of cold meats, croissants, bagels, 3 types of bread - an absolute feast.

Breakfast over, we were packed and ready to leave well before 08:00, keen to get to the Fairy Pools before the real crowds, as it was a 30 mile/45 min drive and that's without the inevitable photo stops.  The first views being view of Macleod's Tables (North and South).

Then just a few random scenes of lochs and boats.  What a stunning place Skye is, particularly when the sun shines.

There were already a few cars in the Fairy Pools car park and we were assured that crossing the little streams would be no problem today - ha!  My ankle was still rather sore but this was the one thing I'd wanted to see on Skye and I wasn't going to miss it.  Unfortunately, the stepping stones were spaced quite wide apart and required a little jump to get from one another, they were also higher off the ground than I'd expected - cue meltdown.  After several abortive attempts Ian found another easier way to cross and although he didn't let on at the time, I think it involved his feet getting a little wet (I had boots on). We had one further smaller crossing to make and again Ian found an easier way but it was frustrating watching other people just jump across like mountain goats.  It took me most of the walk to the first pool to recover from the upset and I wasn't overly impressed with the view.  The one day when light cloud was preferable and we had strong sunshine which causes burnt out highlights on the water and makes composing the shot onscreen very difficult - typical.

We saw quite a few people swimming - I'm sure the waters were beautiful and clear, but very cold.  

Finally, a few images I thought might be half-decent with a bit of post processing.

I know long exposure milky water isn't everyone's cup of tea but it was what I wanted to achieve - so I'm quite pleased (can't help wondering how it would have come out with my 24-105mm but actually I think this might be better as it gives more of the landscape).

Taking long exposure shots involves a great deal of patience on my part too, as no one realises what you're doing and many, many attempts are messed up.  If someone walks into the shot and keeps going it's fine; they disappear in the long exposure and if they stand still it's fine; I can easily clone them out.  It's when someone does a mixture of the two that really causes problems as you end up with a long fuzzy trail across the image.

This illustrates quite well how the water can easily be burnt out by the bright sun (left) and a few seconds later the clouds have moved (right).

Ian proved once again that he has infinite patience as he stood idly by watching me clumsily faffing around with tripod and filters.  Occasionally though he was allowed to sit down.

Same pose, different rock and taken with my phone.

A few "normal" shots, in no particular order.

I think this look is saying "enough now, it's a long way back to the car park and don't forget we have to navigate our way across the rivers again"

I was determined to cross by the stepping stones on the way back and carefully packed everything safely away.  But when it came to it, I just couldn't take that first step; Ian was already on the first stone and I was really worried I'd land badly and push him in the water - he was wearing the backpack so his centre of gravity would be compromised anyway.  Some young lads came down to cross and I told them to go ahead and if they'd like to carry me too it would be very helpful.  I gave them my tripod to carry and asked Ian to give them the back pack to make it easier but he wouldn't.  In the end we crossed over very easily this time just a little way upstream and no wet feet.

This shows how far we walked and my ankle was certainly rather sore when we got back to the car.

Last views of the Cuillin Hills.

Not Scotland's nattiest dresser!