Fri, 25 Oct 2002

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

Yet Another Isle ( 7 photos )
(Continued from Scotland 3)
This isle isn't so bad however - we can drive back to the mainland whenever we want, as long as we can locate the £4.70 toll!
The Isle of Skye hangs off the Western side of the mainland of Scotland, and in the last few years, much to the disquiet of the locals, a bridge has been built joining it to the mainland.
We called in for a bit of a brochure collection run, to find out just what there is to do here. All this preparation was wasted when we decided to "just drive to the end of the thing". Travelling through towns such as Uig, Flodigarry and Broadford, the road signs in both Gaelic and English reminded us that this at least used to be quite a far away place. The ever-present thousand B&Bs told us that the locals being worried about loosing their independence was perhaps not groundless after all.
For such a small Isle, it has a huge number of very high peaks. In the hostel here, there's lots of walkers staying. Speaking of which, we're staying in the "Portree Independent Hostel", in Portree, which serves as the largest town on the isle. An old post office, it is very warm and friendly, and we have a room which would sleep four in bunks, however we are the only two in it.
We cooked dinner in, had a good chat before retiring to our respective reading materials. Tomorrow we are aiming to take in all the Isle has to offer, before heading back across to the mainland and South a bit further.
Oh, and Peter has actually received my replacement camera!

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Scotland 3 ( all photos )

Towards Skye ( 7 photos )
After leaving our B&B this morning (fantastic breakfast, didn't need to eat anything else until 3pm), we headed further South along the East coast, in search of affordable fuel. Eventually topping up at a Q8 (that's just like a BP or Shell - not sure if the reference to Kuwait is intentional), we then headed across one of the few mountain roads through to the West coast.
Plenty of snow was to be found, though it only reached the road at one point. So we just had to stop and have a snowfight! Liz will tell you that she won when I stepped into a hidden puddle, six inches deep with both feet, however I think I covered her with more snow. And that's what snowfights are really about!
The highlands through here were beautiful the first time we came through, but seeing the snow on the peaks, then all around us really makes them special.
Eventually we arrived on Skye.

author Tim	location Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
posted 22:31 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/UK/Scotland/Isle of Skye ( all photos )

Yet Another Isle ( 7 photos )
This isle isn't so bad however - we can drive back to the mainland whenever we want, as long as we can locate the £4.70 toll!
The Isle of Skye hangs off the Western side of the mainland of Scotland, and in the last few years, much to the disquiet of the locals, a bridge has been built joining it to the mainland.
After leaving our B&B this morning (fantastic breakfast, didn't need to eat anything else until 3pm), we headed further South along the East coast, in search of affordable fuel. Eventually topping up at a Q8 (that's just like a BP or Shell - not sure if the reference to Kuwait is intentional), we then headed across one of the few mountain roads through to the West coast.
Plenty of snow was to be found, though it only reached the road at one point. So we just had to stop and have a snowfight! Liz will tell you that she won when I stepped into a hidden puddle, six inches deep with both feet, however I think I covered her with more snow. And that's what snowfights are really about!
The highlands through here were beautiful the first time we came through, but seeing the snow on the peaks, then all around us really makes them special.
Eventually arriving on Skye, we called in for a bit of a brochure collection run, to find out just what there is to do here. All this preparation was wasted when we decided to "just drive to the end of the thing". Travelling through towns such as Uig, Flodigarry and Broadford, the road signs in both Gaelic and English reminded us that this at least used to be quite a far away place. The ever-present thousand B&Bs told us that the locals being worried about loosing their independence was perhaps not groundless after all.
For such a small Isle, it has a huge number of very high peaks. In the hostel here, there's lots of walkers staying. Speaking of which, we're staying in the "Portree Independent Hostel", in Portree, which serves as the largest town on the isle. An old post office, it is very warm and friendly, and we have a room which would sleep four in bunks, however we are the only two in it.
We cooked dinner in, had a good chat before retiring to our respective reading materials. Tomorrow we are aiming to take in all the Isle has to offer, before heading back across to the mainland and South a bit further.
Oh, and Peter has actually received my replacement camera!

(customised)