Battling the Wind on Skye

Fortunately for this, my last excursion of the cruise, I was going on an afternoon trip. In the morning the rain bucketed down.

Unfortunately, the sea was very rough and we were anchored in the bay. This means being taken across the waves by tender to Portree. There were several problems with this. There are only two docking spaces in the port. At midday people were returning to the ship for lunch. This meant long queues are the tenders were offloaded, then re-loaded them with people returning to the ship. On the ship itself, people who wanted to stroll around Portree were boarded onto the same tenders as those of us on excursions. It would have made life easier if the strollers waited until the excursionists had been ferried across.

We eventually reached Portree half-an-hour late for the excursion and I suspect we missed out a photo stop. Nevertheless....

I loved the tour despite the grey skies and gale force wind.

The rugged terrain backed by the mountains made for wonderful vistas. So many shades of green from the grass to the shrubs and trees interspersed with the 'bonny' purple heather and backed by granite mountains. The first stop was to see the Old Man of Storr. Not a venerable old gentleman but a very large single slab of rock overlooking the surrounding land.

The next stop was at Kilt Rock - so called because of its 'pleats'. Stupendous views all around and a waterfall dancing down the cliff face to the sea.

 

I am sure you have heard of Flora Macdonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Even simply from the song 'Over the Sea to Skye'. This fearless young woman rescued Charles Stewart (the Young Pretender) from the Scottish mainland and the Duke of Cumberland's forces, and kept him safely on Sky until he could be rescued and taken home to France. Having been on a tender in the rough seas I am even more amazed that she managed it in a small rowing boat.

Flora is buried in the cemetery at Kilmuir and her grave is marked by a very tall monument. Even though I have problems walking uphill I was determined to go to the monument. The biggest problem once up there was the wind which made it very difficult to hold the camera still.

 

Also at Kilmuir, at the bottom of the hill is the Skye Museum of Island Life with thatched stone cottages and some of the implements that had been used for farming in days of old. Each of the cottages (or crofts) bears its name. For example, the Weaver's House, The Old Ceildh House, the Forge.

Our guide, John Mackay was excellent. As he is also a singer we were treated to a couple of Scottish songs, one of them being in Gaelic. And he was proudly wearing his kilt. To be honest, listening to his soft Highland accent reminded me of my Scottish granddad who came from Aberdeen.

It was, despite the weather, a lovely afternoon out.

Oriana anchored off Portree