We are heading now to the Isle of Skye to explore more of Bill's mother's heritage with the MacLeod Clan, and then on out of the Highlands towards Glasgow. Dunvegan Castle, the seat of the chief of the MacLeod Clan for the last 800 years, is on the Isle of Skye, as are a number of other attractions.
We are heading back into civilization, which means more (other) tourists and travelers on the road than then the last week or two, but the weather is not looking promising, as we move into quite mountainous terrain, both on and off the Isle.
Tuesday
20 September
We
had to get up during the night to batten down the hatches as the wind
was so strong the van was being blown wildly. Quite scary really but
we're out of here today and heading towards the Isle of Skye. That
may not be achievable if these strong winds continue, but we'll at
least get close and see what tomorrow brings.
Taking
the inner roads this time, the countryside was a bit more picturesque
then the coastal roads with its “burnt” looking landscape. There
was still a bit of that but also a lot of pine tree forests and tall
mountain ranges. The road was quite good but often turned into
single lane and at one stage we were keeping pace with a two carriage
electric train zooming through the countryside.
We
had a moment of slight panic just before we arrived at a major town.
Whilst still driving in the wilderness, the fuel light went on and
the alarm sounded. The GPS tells you how far you have to go and how
much time it will take, and the vehicle tells us how many miles the
remaining diesel will provide, but we had already passed two fuel
stops that were no longer operating, so it was with some relief when
we pulled into a fuel stop, with only 20 miles of fuel left in the
tank.
Arriving
at our camp site, Morvick Caravan Club Site at Inverinate, we were
glad to see it was a better sheltered site because the winds are
still quite fierce and will remain so for the next day or two. And
the rain of course.
Sylvi
got talking to lady from Yorkshire who is travelling for 7 weeks in a
caravan with her husband, 2 dogs and a cat. She was a wealth of
knowledge on the local area and gave us some good tips on where to
visit if we couldn't get to the Isle of Skye tomorrow due to the
weather.
Wednesday
21 September
More
fierce winds and rain overnight but we're facing into the wind at
this site so the van didn't move around so much. But it's raining
heavily this morning and we just feel like staying curled up in bed
all day.
However
there are places to go and things to see so we're off in the
direction of Plockton, only a half hours drive away. The rain
stopped as we set off and apart from those single lane roads, it was
quite a pleasant drive along the Loch Duich with huge background
mountains. There's a lot of water coming off the mountains due to
all the rain.
A
big attraction at Plockton is the cruise you can do to see the local
seals and the seafood restaurants which we were very interested in.
This is a small fishing village and amazingly has several palm trees
lining the shore. It didn't take us long to walk the entire length
and admired the Duncraig Castle in the distance across the Loch
Carron. This is a “stately home” built in the 19th
century, used for several purposes throughout the years and is now a
B&B.
We
settled on the local Hotel for a beautiful seafood platter each for
lunch. It was totally delicious with two langoustines (a step up
from prawns), scallops, smoked salmon, fish cake, pickled herring,
salmon roulade and hot salmon pate. The Hotel was warm and cosy with
very friendly staff. Totally great.
On
our way back to camp we stopped to visit the Eilean Donan Castle, the
location for several films including Christopher Lambert's
“Highlander” and Sean Connery's “Entrapment”.
The
original castle was built in1230 by Alexander II to protect the area
from Vikings. Later it was occupied by the Jacobites during an
uprising in 1719, however the English King George had it blown up
when he found out about this. It remained a ruin until 1912 when
John Macrae-Gilstrap took 20 years to rebuilt it. His descendants
still look after the castle trust and live there whenever in town.
We
had a really good feeling about the Banqueting Hall which was
elegantly decorated and cosy. There were some lovely pieces of
jewellery and historical documents held in glassed display cabinets,
and several very large paintings of John Macrae-Gilstrap at different
stages of his life. Upstairs were several rooms used by the family
from 1932 but the current family rooms are kept private. The kitchen
on the bottom level held a recreated scene of kitchen staff preparing
a banquet complete with game hanging in the larder.
This
is a fairly small castle but looks very impressive both inside and
out and with the surrounding Loch and sheer mountains as a backdrop,
makes for a magical setting.
To
finish off the day we were treated to a brief thunder storm complete
with lightning, but things should settle down a bit tomorrow,
apparently. Regardless we are determined to visit the Isle of Skye.
Thursday
22 September
Lots
of heavy rain and strong winds overnight but things have calmed down
a bit this morning and we're on our way to the Isle of Skye. The
bridge across is impressively tall to allow sailing ships through.
Stopping
at Portree the capital of the Isle of Skye we did a loop of the town
and admired the beautiful harbour filled with small sailing boats.
It's quite a tourist town and prices reflect this.
Our
main aim today was to do the walk to the rock formation known as OldMan Storr or The Storr. From a distance it looks rather slim but we
discovered up close it's actually very large and amazing that it
remains balanced there as a result of volcanic activity centuries
ago.
From
the car park we walked through several forest areas and plenty of bog
though the path is pretty well maintained. It's a fairly steep climb
on several occasions but remained rather pleasant until we had
reached as far as we were going to go at around 500 meters, and then
the rains came and went away just as quickly.
It's not only The
Storr which is impressive, there are several other rock formations
too and some in the distance that people were climbing. If the
weather had been better we would have stayed longer but descended as
the winds started to cool us down too much. It was a really great
experience and we were both proud of our efforts.
The
next must see was the Lealt Falls and Gorge a short drive up the
road. It was only a short walk from the car park this time to the
view across to the Sound of Rassay and to the remains of some old
mining buildings below. The waterfall is better seen on the return
up the path, but mind the slippery slopes as you go taking photos.
In Australia there would have been all kinds of barriers to prevent
falls, but here it's look after yourself or you're over the edge.
Our
final port of call for the day was the Kilt Rock and Waterfall, again
just a short drive up the road. This rock formation was also the
result of volcanic action and the drying lava created the “pleats”.
This was beautiful as was the waterfall, but Sylvi really loved the
rocks you could see below the crystal clear water which looked like
some kind of sea creatures.
Arriving
at our camp site, the Staffin Campsite, we were again pleased to see
we would be fairly well protected by strong winds but were told to
put ourselves to the left of the park as the group of French campers
we initially saw days ago at Dunnet Head was on their way and would
all be placed together to the right.
We
were very satisfied with our day and very glad we stuck to our plan
to visit the Isle of Skye. The weather was fairly kind to us today
though more rain is predicted for the next few days.
Friday
23 September
Plenty
of rain and strong winds overnight made sleeping a little difficult.
Just yestreday, in Glasgow several caravans were overturned during a
freak tornado type event and we keep remembering seeing on the news
motor homes overturned in New Zealand just after we left there
following our first motor home attempt during Easter, also after a
freak tornado. So strong winds worry us, especially at night.
Anyway,
we're made of tough stuff so packed and headed further north towards
Dunvegan where we will visit the ancestral home on Bill's mother's
side – Dunvegan Castle. There were a few attractions we could have
stopped to look at – Duntulm Castle ruins and the Museum of Life –
but the weather was so dismal and the attractions not much appeal for
us, we just drove past.
Dunvegan
Castle though we just couldn't miss.
Home of the Macleod clan for
over 800 years and still the family home of the current Chief (the
30th), Hugh Macleod. As with most castles, it began as a defence and
over time was added to and became an elegant home. But not before
falling into semi-ruin following the fall of the Jacobites in 1746
resulting in the ban on Clans. Then the infamous Potato Famine
(1847-51) caused much hardship, and ultimately led to a mass
emigration. It was not until 1929 when the 27th
Chief returned to the castle that refurbishment commenced and public
viewings began (initially for charity).
The
28th
and first female Chief, Dame Flora, did much to re-establish ties
with kin who had migrated to other parts of the world and also
rebuilt the spirit and pride of the Macleod clan.
When
the current Chief's father came of age, the grand celebration at the
castle was attended by a very young Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke
of Edinburgh, who were in Scotland on the Brittania.
The
exterior of the building is now a dirty brown but originally was a
soft orange colour. All current family rooms are off limits but we
did see several rooms from the refurbished period containing many
portraits of past Chiefs, beautiful furniture, books, original
letters, jewels and many old flags almost perished with age. It was
fascinating to know that the original medieval floors and ceilings
were still beneath the refurbished panels and several original
staircases remain visible but not accessible for public use. And
Sylvi's favourite spooky aspect, a deep and narrow dungeon that
surely no-one survived.
Some
of the most fantastic relics were of the Jacobite era including the
vest and lock of hair of Bonnie Prince Charlie who was sheltered by a
family member in the nearby Sleat Perninsula following his defeat at
Culloden in 1746.
The
surrounding gardens are vast and bisected by flowing streams leading
to a Loch containing a seal colony which can be visited by boat from
the castle grounds. In spring, the flowering rhododendrons would be
magnificent.
This
was a totally great experience for us made all the more relevant due
to the ancestoral connection.
John
MacLeod, a descendant of the MacLeods of the Harris line from the
nearby Isle of Lewis, left the Isle in 1872, and after spending time
around Glasgow, arrived in Australia a couple of years later, to
make his way in the world. He moved to Edmonton just south of Cairns
in 1909, where he subsequently built and operated the Grafton Hotel
in 1910. John MacLeod is pictured above with his wife Sarah - they were married in Cairns in 1886. (The photo is courtesy of Robert Spencer). The rest as they say is history, with Bill's parents
married in Edmonton over 50 years ago.
The
castle is being very well maintained and obviously receives 10's of
thousands of visitors annually. And the fact that a Macleod has
basically always lived in the castle is testamont to their commitment
and passion.
After
this and because the weather was still horrid we decided to leave the
Isle of Skye and return to the Morvich Campsite where we stayed a few
days ago before heading further south tomorrow. The winds have died
down a lot on the mainland with the prediction is for some clearer
weather where we are heading.
Saturday
24 September
Packed
up and headed for Fort William, around 2 hours away, and the weather
has indeed cleared.
Fort
William is a busy and popular area for hikers, climbers, bikers and
general adventure seekers like ourselves :) The tallest mountain in
the UK is here – Ben Nevis – as well as many picturesque walks to
waterfalls and old fortresses to name a few. The area itself is Glen
Nevis and the mountain peak at a height of 1344 meters is apparently
shrouded in cloud 355 days of the year. But masses of people come
here to climb it year round. We won't be doing that but would like
to at least walk to the Nevis Gorge and Steall Falls which would take
about 2 hours.
We
parked in town and had a bit of a look around. The one street/mall
of shops is made up of either outdoor/adventure clothing and
equipment shops or tourist boutiques.
As
we arrived at our camp site, Glen Nevis Caravan and Camping Park,
positioned just below Ben Nevis, we could see a trail of people
coming and going from its base. And this probably being the first
fine day for awhile, it's a perfect opportunity to do so.
The
Visitor Centre just up the road was a wealth of information on the
area and we bought a map to do a walk tomorrow. Unfortunately this
was before we checked the weather prediction with the ranger –
rain, wind, cloud :( Oh well, we'll see how things look and then
decide.
With
the sun still out we decided to go for a short walk up to a very low
point on Ben Nevis and that was enough of an indication of how steep
the rest of the climb would be. There are lots of rocks along the
path and this is definitely not for the faint hearted. Although
crazy enough, they do a race to the summit each year. The fastest
time was in 2005 at around 85 minutes. The normal climb takes 4
hours up, and 3 hours back down.
Sunday
25 September
Raining
and cold and we just can't face going for a walk in the forest in
these conditions. It's not so bad if you're out and then
it starts raining, but when you have to set off in the rain it's a
bit too disheartening. And anyway, there will be plenty more walks
ahead of us so we packed up and head towards Glasgow.
The
2 hour drive was very pleasant with lots of towering mountains,
waterfalls, lovely forests and quaint little villages scattered along
the way. One thing we learnt recently is what we thought was a
lovely covering of ferns in the countryside is actually grass
smothering Bracken which is encroaching on farming land. The EU has
recently declared that the poison farmers currently use to rid
themselves of this weed will be banned from sale at the end of the
month due to it being so noxious. As in Sweden where the EU is
trying to ban chewing tobacco, a cultural passtime, the Scottish
farmers are non to impressed with this ruling and will try to fight
it.
Arriving
at our camp site, Lomond Woods Holiday Park, we are in the town of
Balloch which is a 45 minute train ride from Glasgow city. There
really weren't any camping sites closer to the city and this one
looks to be a good one.
After
lunch it was still raining and seems cooler here then where we've
come from though the temperature is supposed to be 15 degrees, so we
turned on the TV and discovered one of Sylvi's favourite films was
just commencing – The Princess Bride. Fantastic.
Bill
was non too impressed by this so read his book but Sylvi caught him
checking the telly several times during the film. Eventually he went
outside to potter about.
The
weather predictions for the next few days is brighter which will be
very welcome, as we use this place as a base to explore the surrounding area, and travel by train into Glasgow.
More photos here.
It's the poison with the pestle!!!!!
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