The Long Road Home

Friday 27th September 2013

Isle of Skye - Day 12

Well I’m afraid to say that we woke up to drizzle and mist this morning, so we’ve spent 11 hours and 50 minutes on the road, and are now back home. That’s 450 miles, with two meal breaks, and one traffic jam.

The weather improved the further south we got, and we enjoyed our drive through the Highlands. After that, it got a bit tedious and I started getting a bit grumpy about the end of the holiday. Even the prospect of a warm house, a big bed, and as many showers and trips to an indoor toilet as I like didn’t make me feel any better about going home.

We think that our favourite day on Skye was when we went up The Storr (day 4). I’m not sure why  - maybe it was because it was the first nice day when we really got to appreciate the scenery, or maybe it was the favourable effort:reward ratio, or possibly the Belgian Buns.

Claire’s second favourite is the Fairy Pools, whereas mine is the second Munro - Bla Bheinn. In terms of personal achievement though, the Sgurr Nan Gillean trek is the winner by far.

We were inundated with free places to stop for the night in George. It’s so much easier to find overnight spots in Scotland, as they have different land access rules to the rest of the UK. 

All of the campsites we stayed at were good - and seemed cheaper than what we’re used to, although it may just be because it’s autumn now. We did decide not to stay at the Glen Brittle campsite (the one where we sneakily used the campsite loos - twice!). The site seemed more expensive, yet more basic than any of the other sites, but, crucially, you had to pay extra for showers, which really annoys me, partly on principle, and partly because you can’t enjoy a nice hot shower when you’re paranoid about your time running out when you’re still all soapy. 

The best campsite facilities were at Dunvegan, and if it had been nice weather when we were there, I’m sure it would be my favourite site. But despite the rather tired old spidery and mildewy showers, the site at Sligachan was my favourite. Probably in part due to it’s proximity to the pub and the mountains.

We plan on going back to Skye, but as there is so much of Scotland that we haven’t seen, it probably won’t be for a while.