Goodbye to all that…

Today has seen a complete change of climate.  For our week on Skye we have been blessed with fantastic weather every single day – an amazing feat for anywhere in the British Isles.  It is overcast with drizzly rain for our journey to the mainland.

The hog in his bog by the gate stopped rooting in the mud for one second and gave us a word of farewell as we drove out of the campsite, and then we were on our way.

Peter got very excited when he spotted this large bird in the sky and we stopped Bessie to take photos.

Could it be the Golden Eagle we have been waiting to see?  It was being mobbed by a tiny bird (could be a Meadow Pipit) so was probably eyeing up some chicks somewhere.   It hovered for some time and then eventually flew off.  Read on to find out our conclusion later…

We reached the Skye bridge, which is actually two bridges in effect – an island being used as a sort of stepping stone.  The whole length is one and a half miles.  I have included a Wikipedia image to show the complete bridge (taken on a sunnier day than today!).

The drive along Loch Carron would have been wonderful on a nice day and for most of its length we ran alongside the railway track – what a great train journey!  At one point there were twin tunnels – one for us and one for the train.

I remarked that the flora was being added to with each transition of this holiday.  On the Outer Hebridean islands, although fairly generously provided with small wild flowers, the gorse was few and far between.  On Skye there was an abundance of gorse with a small quantity of wild rhododendrons but on the mainland the latter is everywhere as well as copious amounts of gorse.

By 3.50pm we still hadn’t stopped for lunch and, as we were approaching Achnasheen, thought we would stop at the little gift shop/tea room for a quick bite.  We discovered that both shut firmly at 4pm but persuaded them to sell us some scones and jam and a couple of fruit slices.  Something savoury would have been better but it was all they had.  We took them back to Bessie and actually they were scrumptious. 🙂

The scenery, already fairly mountainous, became majestic in Glen Docherty with Loch Maree in the distance.

Even in this dreary weather, the mountains along Loch Maree looked romantically sinister in the mist.  My interpretation of this is also in the featured image above.

There is also a hydro-electric power station there.

It wasn’t long before Gairloch came into view and round the corner quite a nice sweep of sandy beach.

It wasn’t much further to Inverewe Gardens where our campsite of the same name sits close by.  It was with a touch of nostalgia that we encountered these sheep in the road ahead.

The campsite is a Camping & Caravanning one and our allocated pitch is virtually on top of the amenities block (toilets etc.) So not very picturesque.  First impressions are not great – toilet that refuses to flush and cubicles of very narrow dimensions.  But the grass is very nicely cut in neat stripes.  Never mind, we’re only here for two nights…

Oh yes, I know you’re all agog to hear the conclusion of the Golden Eagle/Buzzard controversy.  No?  Well, anyway, we have put photos onto iSpot, the excellent site run by the Open University and the overwhelming conclusion is…………. a Buzzard. 😦