All photos for this trip can be found in our
2017 Scotland/Paris Photo Album
Look for the "Week 2" tag for photos added this week.
2017 Scotland/Paris Photo Album
Look for the "Week 2" tag for photos added this week.
Monday morning, the Mansefield House breakfast was excellent; yogurt for both of us, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon for Kris and poached eggs with smoked ham and a side of toast with PB&J for Brian. Our planned journey for the day...
Leaving the house we did a quick drive into Fort William before heading north. Not much to see with the low cloud cover (no sign of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland) so off we went. Not too far north of Fort William we spotted a sign "Clan Cameron Museum"...
We were already past the turn off when we noticed it so had to drive several miles before finding a place to turn around. Then it was five miles on a single track road to get to the museum... well worth the effort and Brian got to practice on the single track road having to take advantage of pull overs several times to let on comers get past us. This stop was of interest to Kris because she is a MacPhail who are a sept of the Clan Cameron. The Cameron's were a lead clan in the Clan Chattan confederacy whereby smaller clans banded together for mutual protection. The Clan Chattan sigil is the Scottish Wildcat and their motto is "Touch not the cat, but glove" which may go a long way to explain why Kris is such a cat person :-) :-)
It was a grey, but not too wet day for our drive north on highway A82 then west on A87 towards the Isle of Skye. The colours in the mountains are simply gorgeous but, unfortunately, very few places to stop to take pics at the appropriate times. We did get a chance to stop near Loch Garry and also Loch Loyne for a couple of decent pics although they don't really do the colours justice...
... and also at Eileen Donan Castle, apparently one of the most photographed castles in Scotland and you can see why...
Not long after crossing over the bridge to the Isle of Skye we finally had a chance to stop and take some scenery pics....
... and one pic of a sign indicating possible sheep on the highway...
... and this poor sign had been the object of numerous shootings. It contained 12 bullet holes but not a single one hit the sheep. We speculated on the reason...
- poor shots
- were just trying to scare the sheep
- were actually good shots trying to hit the sign without hitting the sheep
In any case, we saw numerous other such signs and nary a one had a single bullet hole.
We stopped, for a break, in the very cute little seaside town of Portree. Great view over the harbour...
Early evening we arrived at the Cowshed, our stop for the night in the small village of Uig where we would catch the ferry to Tarbert (Outer Hebrides) Tuesday morning. The Cowshed it actually a hostel but they have a number of self-contained "pods" which is what we had reserved...
It was a bit of a climb to get to the pod but the view was worth it...
For dinner we went to the Uig Hotel where we had really good salmon (Kris) and seafood linguini (Brian) and shared a pretty good creme caramel for dessert, and ok, wine and beer. While at dinner we had a chance to see a ferry coming into the Uig ferry terminal...
Then it was back to the pod where, as the sun dipped towards the horizon, the view was pretty spectacular...
Tuesday morning we caught the CalMac ferry from Uig to Tarbert. Cost was 42.50 GBP which is around $75 CDN. The ferry duration is 1 hour and 50 minutes so I guess it is somewhat comparable to a Nanaimo to Vancouver ferry; 90 minutes for $85 CDN for car and 2 people. Quite a bit smaller boat but had a decent breakfast and comfortable ride although it did sway a bit. Our route from Tarbert to our hotel, the Doune Braes, near Carloway was...
The distance of about 43 miles took a little over an hour. While checking in, the hostess suggested contacting Bill Lawson at the Seallam! Visitor Centre in Northton at the south end of the island. She called him for us and Kris chatted with him. It turns out he is away tomorrow but if we could drive down this afternoon.... so we did, back past Tarbert to the south end. Very interesting place and very knowledgable fellow who provided Kris info about her family history. Then it was drive back up to the hotel, except this time mostly in the rain, for some dinner and some beer and wine in the lounge. Time to take it easy. Here are a few pics of the ferry crossing and the landscape on the island...
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| Leaving the dock at Uig |
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| On the ferry to Tarbert |
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| On the ferry to Tarbert |
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| Island scenery |
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| Island scenery |
Wednesday started as a day of "firsts". Brian had Black Pudding for breakfast. Not bad actually but would take a bit of getting used to. After breakfast we drove over to see the Black House Village at Garenin. This is a restored village giving a feeling what life was like living in this type of house. It is also in a beautiful location overlooking the ocean...
... and the detail of the thatched roof is pretty cool...
Leaving there we headed to the nearby Carloway Harris Tweed Mill...
... for a tour of the facilities. Very interesting and an even more interesting fact is that the mill can make the wool but it cannot weave the fabric. Harris Tweed fabric must be woven by individual weavers in their homes on this island. That is the only way it can be true "hand woven Harris Tweed". After the tour we drove to the studio of a local weaver, Norman MacKenzie...
who gave us a demonstration and talk about the Harris Tweed brand. He weaves on a Hattersley loom, a fairly antique piece of equipment. There are only about 70 of these looms left and any repair parts have to be scavenged from existing looms. Before we left his studio, Kris ordered up seven yards of a beautiful blue tweed herringbone, to be shipped home. It will become a jacket later.
To end the morning we went to the Callanish Standing Stones. This is truly an amazing place...
... We had a very nice tomato and red pepper soup along with a couple of lattes and apple pie for lunch at the Callanish visitor centre before driving south to the island of Great Bernera where we visited the Bosta Iron Age House. Another interesting place but too dark to take pics inside...
..it too is situated in a beautiful spot with a white sandy beach...
... and if you look really closely, just to the right of the rock island in the water you might get a glimpse of Newfoundland :-)
Thursday was our last day for exploring the Outer Hebrides (Isles of Lewis and Harris to be exact). After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and, after a quick stop at the Dun Carloway Broch,...
...we headed to the north end of the island where after a brief drive around the small town of Port Ness we went over to the Butt of Lewis lighthouse where the dramatic rocky coast pretty well rivals a good part of the Oregon coast. MAN, was it windy there!!! It was hard to stand still let alone hold a camera still...
Leaving there we stopped in a cute little museum/cafe where a couple of lattes, sponge cake and oat cakes went down real well. When we entered the cafe we noticed a number of tables all set out for what might be a birthday party. Then while we were eating a large group of very senior citizens came in and sat at the tables. At one point, a gentleman stood up and said grace, in Gaelic, and the place went dead still while he did so. Then they all tucked into the waiting food and a good time was had by all. Meanwhile, the rest of the cafe also filled to capacity such that there was a waiting list. Very nice little place.
Heading south again we eventually turned east to Stornoway, our stay for the night. We checked into the Crown Hotel near the ferry terminal (our ferry tomorrow morning leaves at 7:00 AM) then wandered around the town centre for a bit. Brian picked up a new Harris Tweed cap...
... and it was a good thing too because it started to rain rather heavily and our umbrellas were back in the car. After stopping for a couple of rather mediocre lattes and even more mediocre cake we went back to the hotel for a rest and dry off. Early evening the rain stopped so we drove out to the tip of the Eye Peninsula to see the lighthouse at Tiumpan Head. Not as dramatic of coastline as up at the Butt of Lewis, but still just as windy...
We got back to the hotel just in time for our dinner reservations. Kris ordered a ham terrine and Brian ordered beef pie along with a glass of wine and beer. We had waited a bit for our order when the waitress came over and apologized profusely that chef had told her to tell us that they were out of the terrine. Instead Kris could have whatever she wanted on the menu and there would be no charge. So Kris also had a beef pie and they were both delicious. Afterwards we retired to their cozy little lounge for another wine and beer and to also have a wee sip of their "malt of the month".
Overall, a great few days on the Outer Hebrides. The roads we covered...
| Back to Week 1 | On to Week 2b |
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