A Quick Trip to The Isle of Skye!

Our school holidays were quite early this year, first two weeks in April and since I spent the first week working really hard to get stock made for the Makers Market on the 5th, we decided to take the children up to Skye for most of the second week.

 It takes us about 5 hours to drive straight there but we stopped a few times on the way as the scenery between Fife and Skye is just stunning.

Eilean Donan Castle above is always a welcome sight. You know you are close to Skye when you see this iconic castle.

It's been three years since we were on Skye and it was really great to see all the sights again. Here is the Old Man of Stor taken on my phone as we drove up the Trotternish peninsula. Not a great photo but it's not easy to stop at the side of the road here.

We were making our way up to The Quiraing, a fantastic geological feature in the north part of the island, and we just had to make a stop at Mealt Waterfall and Kilt Rock.

The Quiraing was looking resplendent in the Spring sunshine.

David took the photo above on our 'big' camera and I took the one below on my phone. Life looks a lot greener in my world! hahaha

That's my son being a 'Quirangatang'. 

I always think that photos taken looking back along the ridge look really impressive like you have hiked all the way up here but really it's a very easy walk. You can drive up to the top of the pass and park then walk along the foot of the cliffs on a relatively easy path!

The last time we walked The Quiraing we went from the top all the way to the bottom then got a lift back up for the car. This time we just walked to the middle and explored the main features. Below is known as 'The Prison'.

Another walk that we enjoyed was up to the Fairy Pools in Glenbrittle. We had been here before as well and just loved it. The water flowing from the Cuillin hills is such an unusual shade of turquoise and all the little water falls are so enchanting.

We must go back in the summer time and go for a dip! My daughter stuck her toe in and assures me that it was absolutely freezing. Well it would be as there was still snow on the hills!

We stayed at the Skyewalker Hostel at Portnalong again. I blogged about this great hostel 3 years ago and it is still just as good if not better! You can read that post here 

There are a few oddities around the place to keep you amused.

We got mixed weather on this trip, mostly good. The thing about Skye though is that the weather can make the scenery look even more dramatic.

Below are the Cuillin brooding beneath a dark cloud. I'll be using this as inspiration for a picture for next years calendar, without me in it of course.

I love this little crofters house below.

We did get one rainy day and spent it going round galleries and cafes etc.

I was delighted to bump into my friend Emma at Skyeworks Gallery above The Isle of Skye Bakery in Portree. I had no idea she'd be there and found her running a workshop on how to make a textile wall hanging. 

Here is Emma with some of the pieces produced during the workshop.

Emma and her husband have a beautiful studio in the south part of Skye. You can read a full post about it here

As the rain was just not letting up this day, we decided to put on our boots and coats and walk to Talisker Bay and just get really wet.

It was worth it. The bay looked very dramatic with it's black sand, big black boulders and rugged stack standing our against the grey sky.

You'd think I'd taken this photo in black and white!

The next day was lovely and sunny again and we took a little trip over to Raasay but I'll write that up in the next post.

Really busy getting ready for Open Studios which is in TWO WEEKS! Read all about it over on our website here