Isle of Skye - Day 6
We were rudely awoken at 7.45am by what sounded like someone angrily pounding on George. I got no response to my shouting "who's there" or whatever alternative phrase I may have come up with after being woken from a deep sleep. We peered outside and saw that Kayak Man was out of his car stretching, but perhaps more significantly, George was surrounded by sheep. None of them owned up to it, but we suspect that one of them might have been having a scratch on the bike rack, or possibly a nibble on the waste water bucket.
The alarm had been set for 8 anyway, and as it was dry and bright, we got up and were on our way earlier than normal. We were soon on our way up Waterstein Head, which is a big wedge shaped headland, that misses out on being the most westerly point on Skye by being maybe half a mile or so too far east. It was a bit of a slog uphill, in strong winds, and up into clouds that were swirling around us. It didn't rain on us but Claire was grumpy. Every time I've said the words "walk" or "boots" over the last day or two, a black thunder cloud has appeared over her head, and today was no different. She cheered up a bit when we got back to George, changed her shoes and socks, and I cooked us an early lunch of heart shaped fried eggs, frankfurters, and hot potato scones.
After that I thought another walk was out of the question (and besides, the weather was looking more and more unpleasant by the second), so we headed over to Dunvegan where we are spending the night.
There isn't much to Dunvegan. An over priced cake shop, a bakery with no bread, a filling station with a tiny shop, and a village store with somewhat limited supplies (no popcorn, minstrel type sweets or appetising cakes). But, there was a rather scary gun and fishing tackle shop at the end of town. Apart from a miniature tank, and a selection of rifles, shotguns, handguns, and most alarming a "sniper scope for moving vehicle or human targets" (!), there was also a fairly respectable range of budget walking boots.
After trying a few pairs on, she settled on a pair of size 9, full leather, and, according to the scary shopkeeper, fully waterproof Hi-Tec boots. Now, I don't have a problem with Hi-Tec. In fact, I owned 3 pairs of Hi-Tec "Silver Shadow" trainers back to back in my youth, and more recently have owner 2 pairs of Hi-Tec "Magnum" work boots, which were excellent until they developed an annoying squeak. However, Claire is a snob when it comes to outdoor clothing brands, and under normal circumstances wouldn't be seen dead in such a budget brand. But when the alternative is wet feet all week, or an all day trip to Fort William or Inverness to find better (and more expensive) shops, then the Hi-Tec won. Just about.
After our shoe shopping trip, we settled in at tonight's campsite, where we enjoyed very hot power showers in the newly refurbished, and fairly warm shower block, and then washed and dried all Claire's wet socks (and a few other things) in the laundry.
I have been told by the man at reception, and also a lady in the laundry room, that the awful weather we are currently experiencing (strong wind that rocks George, and horizontal rain), will have blown over by tomorrow, and we are in for a beautiful day, with highs of 25 degrees. I've taken this with a huge pinch of salt, as the BBC says different, and I am planning a day at Dunvegan Castle. With the Coral Beaches as backup.
Tonight we have electric hookup, and are going to test out George's DVD player for the first time. In the absence of popcorn we have Doritos and wine.
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Location:Isle of Skye
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