It was time to say goodbye to Harris and board the ferry from Tarbert to the Isle of Skye.
Going through all the tiny isles, the ferry took the course to the Isle of Skye.
We got some company for a bit, and a school of dolphins joined us.
And hello Skye – the weather just stayed a bit wet, like in Harris. On the way to my shepherd’s hut I first stopped at the Rha Waterfalls and the Fairy Glen (next post).
The Isle of Skye (an t-Eilean Sgiathanach in Gaelic) takes its name from the old Norse sky-a,meaning ‘cloud island’, a Viking reference to the often-mist-enshrouded Cuillin Hills. It’s the second-largest of Scotland’s islands, a 50-mile-long patchwork of velvet moors, jagged mountains, sparkling lochs and towering sea cliffs. (Lonely Planet)
Skye is the largest and most northern island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and “parted” in several peninsulas. It is known for its dramatic and beautiful mountain scenery to cliffs falling into the sea, white beaches and old castles – you´ll feel like you’re in a fairyland where fairies and trolls still rule.
Skye’s history reaches back to dinosaurs roaming around the island and has been inhabited since 10.000 BC (Mesolithic period), was ruled by the Vikings and for a long time being dominated by the Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald. The Jacobite Rising in the 18th century lead to the breaking up of the Clan system and in subsequence to the “Highland Clearances” when whole communities had to leave their homes and villages and the mostly aristocratic landowners farmed their sheeps in these areas.
On the way to ones of Skye´s white beaches – the Coral Beach up in the northwest of the island, just north of Dunvegan.
After a breakfast with a view, it was time to get back into my fancy drive and explore the north of Skye under a blue sky. It was a perfect summer day, almost too perfect – some clouds would have looked nice on the photographs.
Phone booth (and post boxes) in the middle of nowhere, or almost nowhere.
First view of: Old Man Of Storr – that´s where reality hit me – a perfect summer day and high season – after seeing the more than filled parking space for the walk up to the Old Man of Storr, I decided to ignore all the known sights and just drive around, stopping whenever I want to. I can always come back and enjoy the Fairy Pools and everything else on a more quiet day.
And the backside of the Old Man. From here on I just drove around the coast and tried not to stop every second…
to be continued…
