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Around 4 PM - Whew, sorry this is so late! I had a last minute change of plans last night when it turned out the morning ferry to South Uist was already full! So I spent the time last night that I'd normally use to journal and upload the day's photos to figure out a new place to stay Friday night and book it. And since I had to be checked out of my BnB at 10, I couldn't do it then.
I'm sitting by a fire at the Glenelg Hotel bar waiting for my phone to charge before I head up to Strathpeffer where I'm staying tonight. So... Here's Day 4:
Yesterday I spent a wonderful day exploring! I'd slated this day to scout out a landing spot for Duncan and Fiona on Skye that would be the right distance and also allow him to find Dunvegan Castle, since he doesn't have an inbuilt GPS and doesn't know the land.
My hostess told me to talk to the guy at the Giant MacAskill Museum, because he might help me. Intrigued anyway by the name of the place, that was what I did. Turns out this was a mid-nineteenth century giant of a man--tallest Scot according to Guinness--who toured the US as an act with Tom Thumb. All interesting but didn't help me in my quest and the proprietor, while nice, didn't know the geography well enough to help. He suggested I go to the Neist Point Lighthouse, so off I went down another one-laner until I found a small car park jammed with cars. I'm glad I didn't know how much of a hike it was before I set out! The view was incredible, of course, and I might have found the Cliffs of Insanity (joking, but they looked like 'em)
Check out the photos of the MacAskill Museum and the drive to the Neist Point Lighthouse
Once I fully realized the nature of the hike (tiny ribbon of a path that marched up down and around this isthmus), I consoled myself that at the end would be some helpful chap who would help me find a good location and I also was looking forward to using their facilities and having lunch in their café. Haha haha. At the end was none of that--breathtaking scenery and an aging lighthouse we could only see the backend of but no toilets, cafe or even staff. So it was now past 3 and I still hadn't found a spot. I studied the map again and decided to try the little road that ran north of Dunvegan. If that didn't pan out, there was another road along the opposite shore.
Check out the photos of my trek to the Neist Point Lighthouse!
11:30 PM - I'm now at the Strathpeffer Hotel and catching up on the photo uploads and today's email to you!
So, where I left off--I went north of Dunvegan Castle, and when I got to the end of the road, I was surprised to find a car park and lots of cars there. I consulted my map and saw that there was a slight trail, so I headed out. By now the rain had stopped, and since it was a short trek to the shore and back, I opted to leave my raincoat and umbrella behind in the car.
Well, it turned out after the trail ended at the beach, we were allowed to keep going. A sign had said to expect seals and a beach formed from a coral reef. Cool. As I explored this beach, I kept coming across features that I'd already written into the scene! The rock Fiona hides behind, the bluff they have to climb, even an indentation in the ground that was just missing a slate rocktop to be my ground cave they hide out in. I knew I'd found my location!
There were other hikers there too, and they kept walking along the beach, so I did too, and then, OMG, we went up an incline and around a bend and I stopped and gasped. The gray-black rocky beach stretched farther, but then abruptly switched to a white beach! This country just kills me. Sometimes I just want to say, Make it stop with the gorgeousness for a sec, okay? (Not really)
Photos of the walk to the coral beach
There was also an island just offshore that made my mind turn with possibilities about how to up the stakes. By now, I'm walking by the large butte at the end and I see movement out of the corner of my eye--they told us to expect seals, but no one told us to expect Highland Bunnies! I'll probably sound loony to you, but I've never seen a bunny hole, much less a warren. The bluff and ground were riddled with them! It capped this awesome trek!
I did pay for it, though, as it started to rain on the way back, so the 45-minute walk back was a bit miserable without my coat. But I didn't care, that excursion was totally worth it!
Check out the coral beach photos!
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