The Isle of Skye October 1, 2006

We were up early this morning in preparation for our drive to the Isle of Skye. We estimated about five hours to get to Eabost, the B&B that we are staying in tonight. This doesn’t count lunch and other stops we may make. It’s not that far its just most of the roads will be two lane with a few miles of single track.

We left Strathnoon at 9 AM stopping for a last time to see if the salmon were jumping, they weren’t, and another stop to see if Mrs. Bole was home, she wasn’t. We were on our way.

Our drive took us through the northern Highland countryside, mountainous rugged and sparsely populated once you leave Inverness. Low hanging clouds and intermittent rain made the landscape seem ominous and very dramatic. We reached the Isle of Skye Bridge around noon and by 12:30 or so we were at the capital Portree. We stopped for lunch at a small local café before continuing our tour. Portree is only about twelve miles from Eabost but we took another road to a headland near Dunvegan at a place called Glendale. When we reached the coast we were amazed as the cliffs rose vertically from the sea to about a thousand feet. The headland appeared to be about 5-6 miles long. It was an amazing site.

With Holly’s expert navigation we reached Eabost about 3PM. Holly settled in for a rest, while I went for a walk. The weather was still unsettled but my walk was great after being cooped up in the car all day. Lynne our host at Eabost seems very nice and we have her full attention as she only books in one party at a time. In contrast to the rustic Strathnoon, Eabost appears to be recently built and has all the modern conveniences while decorated in a decidedly upscale fashion. The B&B has two guest rooms so we had our choice. The views are of the sea and the mountains with the omnipresent sheep everywhere else.