Isleofskye – THREE GO TRAVELLING

Leaving Staffin, we continued our clockwise tour of Skye down to Portree and over to Glenbrittle. The weather has not been with us this time around, we had hoped to visit the Man of Storr, but the rain and cloud prevented us from seeing it. We could barely make out the island of Raasay, just over the water (we visited there before on one of our visits, with it’s wild pigs and we were guided by a Golden Eagle along the road – it is well worth a trip if you haven’t been)! Portree is the main town on Skye but it’s not quite suited for motorhomes, the roads can be a little tight! Once through the town, with it’s coloured houses, we headed over to the left side and travelled anti-clockwise around the peninsula to our next night stop at Glenbrittle.

Glenbrittle Campsite https://www.dunvegancastle.com/glenbrittle/campsite/ is located on a black sanded beach and although no bookings, there is normally always space, that said, after nights on a few small sites, it was incredibly large. You can literally pick a spot if you don’t want electricity! The road to the campsite is another typical highland road, single track with passing places, but also a logging route and the logging lorries have PRIORITY! This was our last night on Skye, but needless to say we will be back! It makes such a difference being able to see and experience things whilst not worrying about the next stop or going back to work!

From Skye, we headed inland and up to Fort Augustus, where there is a motorhome stop. We visited Fort Augustus before when we travelled the Caledonian Canal on a boat and knew how lovely it was. We took a stroll into the town, about a 20 minute walk, looked at the flight of five locks and returned back. The motorhome stop, is also a short distance from the Golf Course, where you can pick up a footpath which will take you back to the Canal and down to the Locks, before continuing the loop back to the stopover.

From Fort Augustus, we headed back towards Skye and the charming villages of Ardelve and Dornie. We opted to stop for the night at the Ardelve Campsite http://www.ardelvecaravanandcampingpark.co.uk/ and were pleasantly surprised to discover a takeaway pizza place – Pizza Jo to Go https://www.pizzajo.co.uk/ – right opposite the campsite, that’s dinner sorted! Also, in the complex is a Bakery and a Gin Distillery in unique fairytale style buildings. A short stroll from the campsite, is the Eilean Donan Castle. The castle and grounds are open to the public and dogs can enter the grounds, we opted just to look and not enter! The village shop in Dornie, is a little Aladdin’s Cave, with proper pies, second hand books and general groceries, as well as a Post Office. Please have a visit if you’re passing.

Next, we opted to go to the Caravan and Motorhome Club Site at Morvich, although we arrived slightly early, we were welcomed and told about their, Premier Pitches. They have three pitches, which have great views of the Five Sisters of Kintail, a series of hills north of Glen Shiel, and where you can see the deer and stags! There was one of these pitches left, so we graciously grabbed it, pitched facing the hills and waited… The only things we saw where the clouds and rain which got lower and heavier, respectively! The Five Sisters of Kintail, Sgurr na Mòraich (876m), Sgurr nan Saighead (929m), Sgurr Fhuaran (1068m), Sgurr na Carnach (1002m) and Sgurr na Ciste Duibhe (1027m) have a legend, which says that there were two Irish Princes who were shipwrecked and fell in love with two of the daughters of the King of Kintail. The two Princes married the two daughters, promising to send back their five brothers to marry the remaining five sisters, but, alas, they never returned. The sisters waited in vain and asked the Grey Magician of Coire Dhunnaid to extend their vigil beyond life itself, whereupon he turned them into mountains (as you do!).

We had a short walk from the site down to Loch Duich, along the A87 and back through the churchyard of St Dubhthach’s Church ruins, which was dedicated in 1050, to the Bishop of Ross, St. Duthac. The church was damages in gunfire during the battle of Glenshiel in 1719, and still in use until about 1855. Alongside the graveyard is the traditional burial ground of the Clan MacRae.

Our next stop was a bit of a novelty for us, we chose to off-grid for the night and found an ideal little suitable parking place, alongside the A861. We weren’t the only ones to stay there, either! and we had a lovely peaceful night with good views.

We’re heading off again, continuing our #oneyearlate trip around Scotland. As always, thank you for reading. We hope you’re still safe and well, and we’ll be back with more news…

This week sees us finish our NC500 trip and we head over to the Isle of Skye. Although, there is still more NC500 to go, we didn’t want to carry on back to Inverness, but instead continue our #oneyearlate road trip onto the accessible Islands and explore areas, we’ve never visited before.

Leaving Scourie, we headed up along the Drumbeg Loop to (believe it or not) Drumbeg and on to Lochinver, where we stopped for lunch over looking the fishing port, before heading on to our overnight stop at Ardmair Point Caravan and Camping Park https://www.ardmair.com/, outside Ullapool. We had a brief trip into Ullapool as there is a service station Loch Broom Garage Services, who sell LPG and can refill our cylinders. http://www.lochbroomgarageservices.co.uk/index2.htm Ardmair Point is perfect for the NC500, however don’t be disappointed by the lack of space, the views does make up for it, but you might need to find it – if you book far enough in advance you can get a pitch with good view (we didn’t!) but be aware of the midges – people we had spoken to had great views but couldn’t enjoy it due to the midges!

From Ardmair Point we headed back along the NC500 to Ullapool for groceries and then on to Kinlochewe, driving along the coast and along Loch Maree. We stayed at the Kinlochewe Caravan and Motorhome Club Site, with its great wardens, for whom nothing appeared too much effort, and who were still trying to catch up with the chores left by a year long lockdown. The village and campsite are located on the edge of the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve, with lovely flat gentle walks and more adventurous ones. It’s a lovely place and we’re sure we’ll return.

From Kinlochewe, we headed up for lunch overlooking Loch Clair, and on to Lochcarron, avoiding the Bealach na Ba, Cattle Road, partly because the advice is not to in a large motorhome, partly because we’ve done it before and partly because the weather spoilt the views! Lochcarron is located on, the aptly named, Loch Carron and the campsite we choose the Wee Campsite https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/markerMobile.php?id=28971, which is located on the road behind the main road and there are some footpaths back down to the main road, with it’s award winning Spar, pub and restaurants, as well as access to the Loch.

Leaving Lochcarron, we got to the Isle of Skye, crossing the Bridge and into Kyleakin, where we stopped for very tasty fish and chips from the Sea Food Shop, https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/markerMobile.php?id=28971 literally just after the bridge and took it to eat over looking the bay. Kyleakin is home to the Gavin Maxwell Museum (Ring of Bright Water and Otter man), with it’s otter statue outside, hopefully we’ll get to see one… We made our way up to Broadford and Camping Skye Campsite, a relatively new campsite, outside the town, easy to walk into and along the shore to the pier.

Heading up to our next stop at Staffin, we chose to take the route to Uig and clockwise along the headland. We stopped for lunch at the Museum of Island Life (which is currently closed due to COVID) and took a short stroll up to the Flora MacDonald Memorial. Flora MacDonald assisted Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart) to escape from the Government Troops after the Battle of Culloden from South Uist to Skye, disguised as her maid, Betty Burke. Her Memorial is at Kilmuir Cemetery, where the Designer, Lee Alexander McQueen is also laid to rest. We arrived at Staffin Campsite a little later in the day, but there is no phone signal, but the campsite does have free WiFi! A short walk from the campsite is An Corran Beach, where there are dinosaur footprints. We had been here before, but not seen them, this time though we were lucky and found one or two.

We’re heading off to the other side of Skye and we’ll keep you updated. Thank you for reading, we hope you and your families are safe and well, we’ll be back (WiFi permitting!) soon….