Archive for the 'Great Escapes' Category

Skye 2012 – a wet Wednesday

Posted by on September 2nd 2012 in Fishing, Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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I must have slept well on Tuesday night because the next morning was awake at stupid o'clock. The kids were still snoring and Chris was dozing on the settee so I grabbed the fishing tackle, made my excuses and went down to the rocks at An Laman just in time to catch the turn of the tide after this overnighting boat had departed. I'm not sure but think it was the gaff cutter L208 Eda Frandsen:

Setting sail

I was chucking 28g Tobys out to about 50 yards (wind-assisted) and was dragging them back just above the bottom, I was getting takes every three or four casts for a couple of hours, some stayed on the hook but a lot didn't. Even so, after an hour I'd caught enough keepers to feed the family and I ended up doing catch-and-release. In all, I'd caught about a dozen and brought home only three - any more would have been greedy. The biggest keeper was a shade under 5lb, I'd lost two others about the same size and there were two huge feckers that I never got anywhere near landing, I've no idea what they were.

Anyway, here's me handling one of my three pollacks:

None of these fish answered to the name "Colin"

 

A while later a shower passed over and treated us to a fine rainbow:

Shame about the post

The afternoon got progressively wetter so we got in the car and hit the road. First stop was the farm on the road to Uig to pick up some logs and kindling from their roadside honesty-box, then we went on into Uig to see if we could find anywhere that sold fishing tackle. Amazingly,  the is no such place in Uig, we were told that the nearest place to buy tackle was Portree! This turned out to be untrue - a few days later (and too late for us) we found that the garage/shop on the main road at Stenscholl near Staffin sells the stuff.

Instead of heading to Portree again we crossed the peninsula using the mountain road from Uig to Brogaig, stopping off at the upper car-park for a brief recce of the bizarre landscape area of The Quiraing. We didn't explore far as we were inappropriately kitted-out for the drizzly conditions, but it was still an interesting place to see:

 The Quiraing

Bioda Budhie overlooking Cleat

The track across The Quiraing

Rainbow over Staffin

Back at the cottage the neighbours were having a get-together:

Soay sheep?

Choosing an evening meal wasn't difficult, we cut the largest pollack into three huge steaks and open-baked them, they went down well with some spuds and fresh veg.. The other fish were gutted and frozen to take back home.

To be continued...

Skye 2012 – a Tuesday trip to the beach

Posted by on September 1st 2012 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Tuesday morning was looking a bit grim up north so we decided to head westwards in an effort to find more sunshine. As usual I was ready and waiting while the others were still faffing so I had a play with the camera trying to capture the ever-changing view from the cottage:

A million miles of space and fresh air
(Caption inspired by Alan Sloman)

Sunshine and shade

Soon we were on the road and heading for the area around Dunvegan. It doesn't look too far on the map, but distances are deceptive even when you allow for the twists and turns of the route.  Eventually we made it to our first objective - the small car-park at the end of the road to Claigan - where the weather was sunny and warm. We were lucky enough to nab the last available space and soon we were at the start of the easy track to the Coral Beaches. At the start of the track is a sign that reads differently every time I look at it:

Are they really thanking all of the dogs on leads?
Do they shoot the farm animals if a dog is caught worrying?
How serious is worrying? I worry about lots of things, will I be arrested? Or shot?

 

The short walk is a delight, there being many different grasses, colourful plants and butterflies:

Purple and blue

Soon enough we got our first look at the beaches:

On the approach to the Coral Beaches

Of course, it's not really a coral beach. The stuff underfoot consists of maerl (the calcified parts of coralline red algae) with some broken shells and worm-tubes thrown in for good measure:

It's sedimentary, my dear Watson

We spent more time there than we expected, and we ran out of time to visit the nearby Souterrain and Dunvegan Castle. No matter, it's a good excuse to go back another year. Here are some more pics:

Cnoc Mòr a' Ghrobain

Over Lampay towards Duirinish

Towards Macleod's Tables

Isay, Mingay and Clett from Cnoc Mòr a' Ghrobain

Gin-clear shallows

Chris atop Cnoc Mòr a' Ghrobain

Paddling

 

Anna

Hooded Crows (Corvus cornix)

On the short drive back to Dunvegan we saw plenty of seals:

Seals near Gairbh Eilein

 

From Dunvegan we headed to Portree to pick up some supplies and some petrol, and then headed northwards past The Storr. Sadly, we didn't get a chance to walk in this area. If you're thinking of giving it a shot you could do worse than follow Jamie's route and advice here.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics:

The Storr from a distance

The Storr beyond Loch Fada

Back at the cottage all was overcast so we had a night in sitting in front of a compelling open log-fire and watching the telly.

To be continued...

Skye 2012 – a Monday motoring around Trotternish

Posted by on August 31st 2012 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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We had a late start on Monday, mainly due to having to wait for the kids to get out of bed. Seems that Sunday's six miles of bracken-bashing and bog-trotting was far too much for them. Eventually we shoehorned them into the car and headed off for a drive around Trotternish.

The first stop was at Càrn Mor, where folk had been busy rearranging the shoreline. It reminded me of this:

Piles

More piles

From there we headed south towards Uig, with fine coastal views on the right, and then we went onwards to Portree to do some window-shopping. Sarnies were scoffed on the slipway:

Luncheon

 

United Colours of Portree

After picking up a polite parking-ticket from the local Feds we headed back up the eastern coast towards home, stopping at a few places to take in the wonderful scenery. A short stroll near Ellishadder led to the cliff-edge and some amazing views:

Looking southwards - Dùn Dearg and Rubha nam Brathairean

Looking northwards - Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock

From a distance the cliff-edge railings seem like just a safety feature, it's only when you get near them in a breeze that you realise that they're musical:

Railings at Kilt Rock (Field Set)

Source

From there we continued the leisurely drive back to the cottage, with a few more stops for sightseeing.

After another evening of chilling-out the others went to bed while I stayed up watching the stars again for a few hours - the skies were utterly cloudless, the air was warm and still, and the Milky Way was an amazing sight. I took more pics, I'll post them sometime soon.

To be continued...

Skye 2012 – a Sunday stroll

Posted by on August 30th 2012 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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Sunday morning was dry and calm, with the rest of the day forecast to be warm and sunny, so we decided that a gentle walk was a good idea. While the others got ready I sat outside watching the birds and the sea:

There were many of these things in and around the garden

Stac Lachlainn and Rubha Bheanachain

The decision was to head for Rubha Hunish, the northernmost tip of Skye, to see if we could spot any whales and/or otters. Here's the route:

The Rubha Hunish route

 

Suitably armed with navigation aids, Smidge, binoculars, cameras and very little else, we headed off towards the bay. Here's a shot of the view behind from a point halfway to the bay:

A look back

Another look back, from near the bay

We took a break at the small car-park/picnic area by the bay while the kids went down to the shoreline. There were many mackerel shoals in the bay, so we resolved to return later with the fishing tackle. There'll be more about that later, but for now here's a shot of the bay:

Kilmaluag Bay at low tide

We backtracked a few yards and bypassed the graveyard, taking a fair track that was heading in the right direction. There was a fair bit of wildlife on display:

Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)

This thing was over twice the size of the Buzzards that were common over the ground in front of the cottage. Judging by that and by the calls that it was sending out, we're fairly convinced that it was an Eagle of some sort

Yet another look back

After a short diversion to avoid climbing a barbed-wire fence we eventually arrived at the Lookout Bothy which is supposed to be the best place for spotting whales, basking sharks and other such beasties. Needless to say, we saw none despite giving it our best efforts. The view was to die for, my camera skills do it no justice whatsoever:

Rubha Hunish and the view towards Harris and Lewis

Looking up The Minch, Eilean Trodday on the right

The Lookout Bothy

270° panorama with dodgy stitch-work

270° view in a scrolly-thing that works when it feels like it

We decided that the clamber down to the headland wasn't for us so we picked out a route past the eerie deserted settlement of Erisco and headed towards Duntulm, being in need of sustenance. We kept watching the shoreline but saw none of the resident otters. On the way we found loads of these critters:

I'm fairly sure that this is a Fox Moth caterpillar

We decided that the best point of vantage for viewing Duntulm Castle was the garden of the Duntulm Castle Hotel, as it had obvious other attractions:

Duntulm Castle

The roadblock benches were remarkably comfortable, allegedly:

R & R

The intake of an appropriate amount of alcohol made the short road-walk to the cottage quite bearable... until the need for the loo kicked in. During the last few hundred yards there were many moans, funny walks and contorted facial expressions:

Strained relations

 

Back at the cottage we took some relief and had a relaxing evening. I was in surprisingly fine fettle considering how bad my back had been during the previous couple of weeks, I put the recovery down to having an excellent driver's seat.

Before bedtime we were treated to a fine sunset:

Blue and Orange

Later the clouds departed and after midnight the sky was alive with stars and a fair few meteors. I did take some pics but I'll leave them for a suitable post later on.

To be continued...

Skye 2012 – getting there

Posted by on August 28th 2012 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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There's not a lot to tell about the journey out. Because of the distance we'd decided to break the driving into sections, the first stop on Friday was at the Little Chef at Penrith for a decent meal, then we made our way towards Glasgow.

The overnight stay at Cumbernauld Travelodge wasn't as dull as we'd expected, as within 10 minutes of arrival we were all evacuated to the car-park because somebody had triggered the smoke alarms and we had to wait for the Fire Service to attend and deal with the situation. The kids enjoyed the free light-and-sound show provided by the fire appliances.

Next morning we were back on the road, heading for a superb breakfast at The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum. From there it was a mad dash to Fort William to stock up on basic supplies and then onwards through magnificent but cloudy scenery to Dornie Bridge where we stopped for snacks and the obligatory photo of Eilean Donan Castle:

 

Eilean Donan Castle

 

After crossing Skye Bridge the last leg of the trip was the slow scenic drive up the eastern edge of Skye to Kilmaluag and our home for the week:

Home

 

Three allegedly-wise monkeys

 

The view from the cottage

 

The same view in a scrolly-thing

 

After settling in and getting the wood-burner stoked we spent the evening watching buzzards quartering the fields and generally chilling-out before turning in for a well-deserved early night.

To be continued...

Back from Skye

Posted by on August 27th 2012 in Great Escapes, Summer Holidays
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1333.3 miles on the clock, 31 gallons in the tank and 532 photos in the camera.

Expect pics and reports in due course.

Here's a spoiler:
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