Day 29 - Isle of Skye - 6 October 2024

Day 29 - Isle of Skye - 6 October 2024

We have been looking forward to staying on the Isle of Skye and now, with the accommodation on the side of a Loch, it seems even better.  We woke to a cold, rainy day.  The Scottish mist was low and covered the tops of most mountains. This is the Scotland that we remember.  For some reason, the cold seems to be easier to cope with in Scotland than Australia.

It still looks great

Cold and wet

There were swans on Loch Mealt which made it even more beautiful.  It is true, they really do glide through the water.

Swans on Lock Mealt

Just up the road is Kilt Rock and Kilt Rock Waterfall.  Whilst they were slightly shrouded in mist, they still looked great.

Kilt Rock

Kilt Rock Waterfall

The Fairy Glen is our first stop today.  It was a reasonable drive and made longer by the rain and the very narrow roads.  There are "Passing Places" every 50 m and we wondered why it was not possible to just add another lane. 

The Fairy Glen is a beautiful valley.  The hills are mounds with very interesting rills on the sides. Everything is so green, and we understood how people could imagine there were fairies around. It is so special.

What a beautiful glen

Someone made a fairy ring

We climbed that

Beautiful

An amazing place

We made it to the top

They look cold

Then it was a pleasant drive along narrow roads to Dunvegan Castle.  The countryside is breathtaking.  Interestingly, whilst the maximum speed limit is 60 miles per hour, it seems unsafe to go too much faster that about 40 to 50 miles an hour.

Dunvegan Castle is considered to be unique because there are ten different types of construction within the building. It is the seat of the MacLeod Clan and construction commenced in the 1200s.  The work progressed slowly over a couple of centuries. New buildings were added during the 1700s and the old tower was abandoned until the 23rd chief started the process of homogenizing the buildings in the late 1800s, the 24th and 25th chiefs carried on.  The look of the building today is very close to how it was in 1840.

The castle is accessed by a bridge and is a typical Scottish castle.  It was built for defense, not as a show piece. The displays are really good, and we spent a long time there.

Dunvegan Castle

The dining room 

The study

The only access to the dungeon

The pride of the MacLeods is the Dunvegan Cup.  It is wooden with silver filigree and is more than 500 years old.  It is a spectacular thing to see.

The servants had one room and everything happened there. That would have been a hard life.

The Dunvegan Cup

Servant's quarters

Another interesting thing about the Isle of Skye is that so many houses are nearly the same.  They have white walls and slate roof tiles.  Because the roofs are steep enough to allow the snow so slide off, they have dormas (windows through the roof).  Single storey and double storey houses are the same.

Typical house.

We were wet and bedraggled so we headed back to the accommodation.