Skye and Outer Hebrides

On Sunday morning I went to Dunnet Head, so I can say that I have visited the most northern point in mainland Britain. I spent the rest of the day driving along the north coast and then down the west coast, ending up at Portree in Skye. It was the longest drive of my travels so far. Many of the roads were single lane (with numerous passing bays), especially on the northern coast. Hoever, the traffic was light so that didn't present a major problem. It was great being on the open road with very few settlements, quite rare in the UK. The views of the coast, mountains and lochs were fantastic. Soon after Dunnet Head, which was much nicer than John o'Groats as it has no tourist shops at all, is the unlovely Dounreay nuclear power plant, the worlds first nuclear reactor to generate electricity for a national grid. It is now being decommissioned, which will take generations. On the news the day before had been an item about some further newly discovered source of nuclear contamination at Dounreay. I stopped briefly to see the station but did not linger. I stopped at Durness for lunch and briefly visited the local attraction, the Smoo cave (that is not a mispelling). It is a large cave that you can walk into at low tide. There is not much more to say.

My great-great grandparents on my maternal grandmother's side came from Potree on Skye, so it was nice to make it there. Portree is not exceptional and reflects the Scottish love of pebbledash exteriors. The weather on Monday was fine, a bit nippy but warm at times in the sun. I went for a walk at Quiraing on the Trotternish peninsula. Quiraing is a spectacular area with a large rock formation dominating. I also walked to the "Old Man of Storr", another large piece of spectacular rock. I spent the night at a very nice hostel overlooking the sea.

Yesterday I caught the ferry from Uig to Tarbert on the Outer Hebrides, a one and three-quarter hours trip on a calm sea. I left my car in Uig and am travelling with just a back pack. The cost of taking my car on the ferry was not worth it, given the relatively short amount of time I would be on the Outer Hebrides. It is exciting to be here, as I have wanted to come for a long time. From Tarbert I caught a bus to further down the coast and walked from the east to west coasts of Harris. The walk was not the best I have been on, it rained most of the time and in a couple of places bogs almost swallowed me whole. But, the White sand beaches on the west coast of Harris are amazing (see the photo above).