Caravaning

Family Tour 2018 Day 11-12

In this next stage of the tour, we spent a day exploring Skye, before then heading over on the ferry towards Fort William

Day 11: 02/10/2018, Skye (84 miles)

The morning after the windy night before was a complete contrast.  It was sunny and bright, and we were quite happy to begin our exploration of waterfalls of sky.  The first ones we went to were a short distance from the camp site, but as we were continuing on to other ones, we did drive and park up near by.  A short walk from there took us to the Rha Falls:

The weather over night appeared to have supplied them with a good amount of water.

Back at the car, we then planned our route to get to the next set of falls, at Loch Mealt, and falling over a cliff into the sea.  We picked the (not much) smaller road via Sartle, rather than going right the way to the top of Skye.  And what a view of the Quiraing we got as we went along our way.  We stopped in the car park to take some quick pictures of the landscape, and will have to come back and walk it properly another time:

It feels a bit hard to believe that it is real, and not just an artists epic landscape!

We continued to Kilt Rock by Loch Mealt.  I must confess I was a little disappointed, as the viewing point has limited angles on the waterfall, and I couldn't see any easy access to get down the cliff to view it from the beach. That said, it was pretty close to high tide, so that wouldn't have been the best of plans anyway!

We continued on to Lealt, where there was a pair of waterfalls and a nice viewing area:

A short drive along and we were at the Brides Veil Waterfall, said to resemble a brides veil on their wedding day:

All of these waterfalls were were right beside the road, and easy to stop at.  After all these little stops, we went into Portree to find some lunch:

We then continued on for our last few waterfalls, Eas Mor and the Fairy Pools.  Both of which required a bit of walking to get to.  The scenery was fantastic as we drove down toward Glenbrittle:

The camera doesn't do it justice, but the mountains really felt like they filled the entire field of view looking ahead:

At Eas Mor, having taken our longest walk of the day (but still relatively short) we paused for a family photo, with a helpfully placed rock being a substitute for the tripod I'd not brought with me:

Then we back tracked to the Fairy Pools, and enjoyed the play of sunlight on the hills, as it approached sunset:

There were so many little water falls and pools:

And the main pool, which appears on postcards and alike:

The sun was sinking in front of us as we returned to the car:

Unfortunately, at the last stream crossing, while trying to encourage our dogs via the stepping stones or water, one of the stepping stones was loose and Hannah ended up loosing her footing and falling toward the river with our baby strapped to her in the sling.  The cry of "Oh S...." from others just about to cross was remarkable!  But with the sling, the only real casualty was a camera, with Hannah having her hands free to steady her fall, and I was a step away and able to stand in the stream to help her stand back up and make sure our little girl was ok.  We hot footed it back to the car, with me taking over baby carrying duties, as unsurprisingly Hannah was wet, cold and sore.

We got our tea in Portree in a fish and chip restaurant, before heading back to camp for the night with filled bellies and fuel tank

Day 12: 03/10/2018, Uig to Appin (134 miles)

All good things must come to an end, so having enjoyed our time on Skye, and vowing to come back, we packed up and made our way down to Armadale.  With the journey being as important as the destination, we had booked tickets on the ferry from there to Mallaig.  The first time I'd towed anything onto a ferry, although over the years I'd watched plenty of skilled operators loading the ferry at Douglas and Heysham.  With wind forecasted, and later on in the day, services to the Western Isles being canceled, we did double check that we were still on for the crossing.

At the terminus of the road, there was a man sat there with his clipboard, wearing waterproofs, and able to say our name as we pulled up.  I guess the combination of car and caravan, along with our booking made sure we stood out.

I can't say that it was the brightest of days, but we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and give the dogs a comfort break.

The beach behind the ferry terminal was pretty, and I imagine on a sunny day, even better

Eventually, the ferry arrived, disembarked its passengers, and loaded us on too.  I think we ended up spending more time waiting to get on than we did in transit, but such is the nature of short crossings

Its not often that we get a birds eye view of our caravan!

Once in Mallaig, we set off for Fort William, where we planned to spend the afternoon, as there was a large carpark which had an area reserved for caravans and motorhomes (but not for overnight parking!)
Unfortunately, the coach that was beside us on the ferry didn't seem to take too kindly to being behind us, as we were stuck behind a car that was suck behind a really slow car.  This coach driver took it upon himself to honk his horn and flash his lights in such a way that we were concerned that something had gone wrong with the caravan that we had not noticed.  We thought an open skylight, or something hanging down.  Having found a not too unsafe spot to stop and do a quick walk around, we soon realised what game the driver was playing, and proceeded to catch up with the slow car.  This car didn't seem to know how to indicate, or know which lane to use on roundabouts.  But with no strict plans, we plodded along, and enjoyed the sights peeking through the low cloud.  Glenfinnan Viaduct, Ben Nevis and such like.

Once in Fort William, we had a good walk around the town, enjoying the views across the Loch by the car park

Our campsite for the night was at Dallachulish Farm, about 30 miles south of Fort William.  We were met by the owner Ross, who suggested that as the ground was wet, but we had a motor mover, we could use the mover to get the caravan onto the pitch, then rotate it by 90 degrees, so the view from the front window was straight down the hillside onto the Loch.  Who were we to disagree with the view?