Showing posts with label Hebrides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hebrides. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 June 2023

Dunvegan Castle, Carbost and Glen Brittle.

 Another hot day, up to 26C. This is unheard of for the Pickwells en vacances!! We started out at Dunvegan castle and gardens, having called in at an inspirational silk weaving workshop/gallery. The castle gardens were beautiful as were the great views of it and from it. I was fascinated that the family owned St Kilda until they donated it to the National Trust. As we drove on towards Carbost and the Talisker Disitillery there were increasly majestic views of the Black Cuillin. The distillery was interesting, mostly because of the eye-watering prices that were being charge, and paid for by some people. Heather treated me to a very classy glass and then later in Portree coop I found a bottle of Talisker Skye at half price! Dragging myself away from the whiskey lake we drove down Glen Brittle wondering about walking to the Fairy Pools but when we saw that it was virtually a motorway and we were going to be charged £6 to park, we gave it a miss. It didn't detract from the spectacular grandeur of the location, though. It seemed (and is) a lot of years since I came here with a school friend when we were 22 and nearly frightened ourselves to death of the ridge!! The campsite was much as I remembered it: OK but not the best in the UK as the Daily Telegraph bills it; Sligachan and Horgabost are both better in my opinion. Later in the evening there were superb views of the Cuillin across the harbour in Portree after Ramen Noodles at the local Japanese restaurant. A good day.

















Monday, 12 June 2023

A Day at Elgol

 For the first time in this trip we had rain overnight and an overcast, but still very warm day. A scratch breakfast in our room was followed by excellent coffee and cake in Sky Skyns at the back of the car park and then it was time to hit the single track roads again from Broadford to Elgol, a tiny harbour at the road head with superb views across Loch Scavaig to the Cuillan Hills. Although I had been grumbling about brassy blue skies which were horrbile for landscape photography, I was now confronted by too much cloud over the mountains. Photographers are never happy with the light. Still, there is no such thing as bad light, just light. Or so the saying goes - usually by someone who is not taking photographs. There were boats buzzing backwards and forwards across the loch and a cruise ship: Adventure Canada, anchored on the far side. After I had completed my photography we enjoyed sitting in our chairs with a packup and watching the world go by. Just as we were leaving a small fishing boat we had been watching came in to land its catch: masses of crabs and lobsters. The fisherman was very chatty as he looked for a single crayfish in a box full of lobsters, destined for the seafood shack above the harbour, along with some lobsters and crabs. He said that, although a small proportion of his catch went to local restaurants, the majority went abroad. How sad!

Returning to Portree, we indulged in the most magnificent fish and chips which we ate sitting on the harbour wall.

Bla Bheinn from the Elgol Road.
Bla Bheinn from the Elgol Road.
Bla Bheinn across Loch Slapin
The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol

The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol
The Cuillin from Elgol
The catch
The Cuillin from Elgol
Harbour detail
The Cuillin from Elgol
Portree Harbour