Scotland Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 26th October 2014

Dear Everyone, the Isle of Skye is wild and woolly and we have gone from a three-room, two-bathroom cottage to a tiny one-room B&B with occasional difficulties with Wi-Fi. Our hosts, Sam & Mark, are very environmentally conscious and can’t do enough for us – however it would be good to be able to stretch one’s legs every now and again!

We left the Black Isle early on Thursday morning and set off along the scenic route to Skye. The whole thing was delightful with beautiful scenery, lots of water, and some fun experiences. We had to stop at Shieldaig to let sheep wander along the road; at Lochcarron we took a side street and found ourselves driving through the golf course. At the very end, where people watch for dolphins, there is an old lighthouse, an ice-cream van and lots and lots of dogs, including Sandy the 17-week old Labrador.

 The delightful Whistle Stop Café at Kinlochewe where we had tea, coffee & scones

Wes had decided to stop at Plockton, (site of Hamish Macbeth series) for a seafood lunch, and we wound our way into this pretty little village, found the Plockton General Store & Restaurant, and joined lots of others with the same idea. Afterwards we went for an hour’s walk around the village and finally headed for Portree and our B&B, which is about 5km out of town.

Wes in love with this boat at Plockton 

On Friday we set off for a walk after breakfast as we weren’t meeting Leigh & Simon until midday at the Eilean Donan Castle, about 75 minutes away from us. We went on a delightful walk to St Columba’s Isle in the River Snizort, which is a beautiful little island, where allegedly St Columba lived at some time, and where 28 Chieftains are buried. It is very green, with lots of haphazard headstones and remains of an old Cathedral. We just loved it.

After that we walked up the hill to a Pictish Stone, one of only two in Scotland and managed to get very wet walking back home.

It was wonderful to see Leigh & Simon who were waiting in the café at Eilean Donan Castle as the weather was wild, wet and cold. We all needed a hot drink before setting over across the bridge to tour the Castle. You are not allowed to take photographs inside, but it has been beautifully restored in the 1930s and we felt very privileged to be able to experience it, regardless of the weather.

We decided to take Leigh & Simon to Plockton and visit a local pub for beer, red wine and a good catch-up chat, followed by another walk around.

Then off to Portree to find their B&B, which is even further from town than ours and is operated by friends of Sam & Mark.

We picked Leigh & Simon up at 6pm and headed into Portree to find dinner somewhere. The first place we stopped was fully booked, but we found a table in the Seabreeze, where most of us had mussels followed by sea bass, and we drank our way through a couple of bottles of a particularly yummy NZ Sauvignon Blanc. We were home in bed by 8.30pm and asleep not long afterwards!

Yesterday we collected Leigh & Simon to do a tour of the North & East part of Skye, which they had boned up on with help from their B&B owners. Firstly we went back to St Columba’s Isle, where I wanted to tie one of Viva’s scarves in memory of her love of Scotland and particularly the Outer Hebrides. The weather is too wild for us to get over to those islands, but we thought this little island was perfect, and after a discussion with Leanne, who agreed, we went ahead. The scarf is tied to a tree near the burial site of the 28 Chieftains with the sound of water nearby, a lovely spot indeed.

Wes & I by the tree on St Columba’s Isle with Viva’s scarf, very well-tied in a sailor’s knot, behind us

Leigh did a wonderful job of navigating and we found Flora McDonald’s gravesite and discovered she was buried in the sheet Bonnie Prince Charlie slept in!!!!!

Then onto Port Gobhaig with a ruined church in nearly the Northernmost tip of the Island, which was sunny, but wild and woolly.

The three gravestones in this tiny area are all Ewen McDonald – great-grandfather, grandfather & father – quite an unusual sight.

We stopped at the Flodigarry Hotel in the Skye, where we could have tea and coffees out of the wind and enjoyed chatting to the young barman. Then back home via the East Coast through Portree to our respective B&Bs for a rest before going to dinner at the famous Three Chimneys Restaurant, where Gillie tells us she had the best scallops in her entire life!

What a treat this meal was last night – Leigh had arranged for a taxi to pick us up as we were about 30 minutes from the restaurant. Our taxi driver was very informative, chatty and polite and even opened the door of the restaurant for us. We walked in to an informal lounge area where we met Sarah & Paul Stanger from Edinburgh, who were sharing our table. We all enjoyed a glass of champagne, then donned our coats and went for a walk to the restaurant proper. What a thrill to walk through the restaurant, into the kitchen, where we 6 were seated at the Chef’s Table.

We were waited on hand and foot while all the activity went on next to us. Our Taste of Skye Menu was 8 courses and we opted to have the selected wines with each course, which was perfect.

Those smiles never left our lips – L-R Paul, Leigh, Simon, Wes, Karen & Sarah

Colbost Skink with egg yolk & haggis

King Scallop in Red Wine

View into the kitchen from our table

The highlight was being invited into the kitchen just before the end to watch our Hot Marmalade Pudding Soufflé being prepared by two of the chefs. We loved every minute of this very special treat – thanks to Leigh & Simon for arranging it and taking us there as their guests. They are off home later today so we won’t see each other, while we have to drive back to the Three Chimneys as I left our only umbrella there! It’s just the day for a drive without having to get out of the car.