11 April 2010
The day started off with a good breakfast on the second floor of the Ben Tianaviag B&B. Besides serving us an excellent breakfast, Bill Johnson came to chat with us and helped fine-tuned our sight-seeing plan for the day.
Our plan was to explore the Trotternish Peninsula and North-East Skye and all these could be covered in a day, going up one side of it and come down the other side for a full circuit.
Places I planned to cover includes the following:
THE OLD MAN OF STORR (8 miles north of Portree) - stone pinnacle which is 160 feet high and featured on many postcards on Scotland.
LEALT (14 miles north of Portree) – a walking trail to see Skye's most spectacular gorge and waterfall.
MEALT WATERFALL AND KILT ROCK (17 miles north of Portree) - a waterfall that drops 300 feet into the sea. Kilt Rock is where columns of dolerite form what appears to be pleats in the cliff
THE QUIRAING (20 miles north of Portree) – Mountains with weird formations of pinnacles and pillars.
DUNTULM CASTLE (26 miles north of Portree) – a ruin castle close by the sea.
UIG (15 miles north-west of Portree) - Ferry terminal and town. Probably a good place for lunch.
FAIRY GLEN (2 or 3 miles east of Uig) - conical mounds and hillocks divided by steep-sided narrow valleys were formed by a process of landslips.
DUNVEGAN CASTLE (22 miles west of Portree ) - Picturesque castle and wooded gardens.
Bill loaned us his detailed maps of Skye which I found particularly useful. He recommended that we drive up to the Quiraing for the gorgeous views and walks at the top. He said that we should have no problems with it if we had done the Applecross Pass. It is going to be easier or pretty much the same!
The above itinerary would be enough for a day trip but I wanted to photograph Neist Point at sunset. Neist Point is the most Westerly point on the Isle of Skye. This is a good place for short coastal walks, spectacular sceneries and watching the sunset. It would meant a detour from the standard Trotternish Peninsula driving route, going through some single-track roads, to get to this remote area.
It may mean some night driving on the way back. But if you had seen some the photographs of this place in postcards of Scotland, you will understand why this was a “MUST GO” place for me in Skye. I will post my photos of Neist Point at a later post. We planned to be back at Portree for dinner and probably back to the Sea Breezes Restaurant again!
By the time we finished our breakfast and ready to go, it was 10 AM. I could not help taking more shots of the postcard picture views of Portree with the reflection of the pastel coloured buildings off the still water of the harbour, but this time in the morning light. The lighting was harsher now, so it was not the best picture but still pretty nevertheless.
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