Clarkes in England and Scotland 2024: Day 30 - Isle of Skye

Day 30 - Isle of Skye - 7 October 2024

Today we are off to the Fairy Pools. It is also a long drive but apparently, they are spectacular. They are in the south of the island and once again, however our first stop was Portree to have a look through the township. It is beautiful and the people are wonderful. The port and harbour are stunning. We wandered for quite a while and checked the shops.

The shop keepers like the tourists and are very welcoming however, most mentioned that cruise ships do stop here and those days are chaotic. Even though this season has been mediocre, they are looking forward to a bit of a break.

That is the harbour - beautiful

Look at the boats

Very nice shops

Me enjoying the place

A cute staircase to the harbour

After the walk around the town, we thought it was time to re-energise before the long drive to the fairy pools. The UK is famous for their cakes (under glass domes) and Portree did not disappoint us. Red velvet cake was on the menu.

Morning tea

After morning tea, we headed to the Old Bridge or The Sligachn Bridge. It was constructed between 1810 and 1818by engineer Thomas Telford. The bridge is now used by pedestrians and cyclists only following construction of a new road bridge.

The old bridge

The new bridge

Near the old bridge is a monument in the memory of Cllie and Mackenzie and it is dedicated to mountaineers. John Mackenzie was born in 1856 and climbed his first mountain at the age of ten. He continued climbing and became the first native Scot to become a mountain guide. Norman Collie was an internationally known mountain expert and the two became friends. They conquered the Cuillin Mountains behind the Sligachn Bridge. The monument has the pair looking at the mountains.

The monument

After another slow and tortuous drive, we reached the parking lot for the Fairy Pools and were probably the 1,000th person to arrive today. The number of people was staggering.

The pools are in a creek and the path is probably about 1.5 km long. We walked nearly to the end. The pools are restricted to a certain section. I presume it has something to do with the type of rocks that can be eroded, however, some pools are so precise and circular that one would think that they have been carved.

The trek out and back took more than two hours and of course, everyone was very tired. The path drops steeply from the carpark and then climbs the hill. So, by the time we got close to the carpark, we were faced with a steep hill. We all agreed that it was worth the effort.