Eigg to Skye

Saturday July 6, 2019

We woke rather late in the morning - 9 am. Breakfast was croissants, mini oranges, tea, and possibly chocolate. If it’s there, we’ll eat it! We packed up our stuff and put it in Sue’s car for the trip back to the dock at noon. Just down the road from the bothy was a museum. It’s a croft - a farm - that was still in use in the 1960s. Fully furnished and looked at if the owners had just stepped out for a minute. Cute as all get out!

Sue took us to the store and we put our bags, by everyone else’s bags, just outside the bathrooms. Everything feels very safe on the isle. Tea and cake was calling to us from the restaurant, but first we popped into the craft store. In this quite small building was the restaurant, post office, grocery store, craft store, and bathrooms with showers. It’s the “happening place” on the isle!

It’s our practice to send a few postcards near the beginning of our trips. We bought those and asked about stamps. “You have to get those at the post office.” In a corner of the building is the cutest post office I’ve ever seen. The postmaster said we had 10 minutes to get them in the mail as the boat was leaving at noon. We were close to being done when he stopped by to ask, “How we were coming on.” They’re not the best post cards we’ve ever written, but they made the boat!

The bike rental shop was the next stop. Two bikes and two hours until the ferry left. Once again we headed down the “road” we went down the night before - the “wrong road”. It turned out to be more of a hiking path that lead to some amazing scenery. When you meet a car on the “real” road, you have to get out of the way. The roads are 8 feet wide, or less, which makes for very tricky driving. Only the residents can have cars on the isle. At one point, I was standing on a slight hill (on the side of the road) holding my bike as a car went past. Thank goodness I didn’t slip!

On the ferry ride back, we saw some large seals playing in the water. We had less than 30 minutes to get to another ferry 10 miles away. Our next night would be on the Isle of Syke. Busy place that ferry. So busy in fact that it was full. It would have taken us an hour to get to our next stop by ferry. It took 3 hours to drive there. But what scenery!! The old, rounded mountains are mostly covered in brilliant greens. The sun was out for part of the trip. Lots of lakes. Breathtaking for sure.

We arrived at our B&B at 8:45. Standing there, we could see the place where the ferry left from - just across the water. Just there. It was a bit discouraging that we drove for 3 hours when it was so close if we went by water. That would explain why the GPS said we’d be at the B&B in 10 minutes - from the ferry dock. If we had of driven across the water, that would have been true.

Mary, our host, said we should hurry off to the restaurant just down the road as the kitchen closed at 9. The chef was gracious enough to make us a fabulous supper - best food we’ve had yet. After a full day, we were tucked into bed by 10.

One thing I learned today: How wonderful it is to have a room with a private bath and hot water.
One new thing I experienced today: Tripping over sheep sleeping outside the bothy when I had  to use the outhouse in the middle of night.
Most powerful moment of the day: Seeing the incredible beauty of the mountains in the highlands of Scotland.
Our pleasurable experience: Having sea bass for supper. It was amazing!