Well, we got here safely, but before I tell you about Skye, there are a couple of items of interest from our previous destination.
Firstly, our chosen B&B accommodation was superb and the hosts very hospitable and friendly. They had only two rooms available but we'd booked one for two nights months ago, based on their website info.
Kilronan House, Bridge of Allan, near Stirling. That's me, and our car at the front door.
The weather was less than perfect, but slightly drier than it had been the couple of days before. But we were still able to walk the 300 metres or so to the local for a decent pub meal and a Guinness each night. So we had a whole day to fill in after the terrific full Scottish breakfast on the first morning. While we had in mind a visit to nearby Stirling Castle, Linda, our hostess, suggested we might also be interested in some rather newer nearby "attractions", the Falkirk Wheel and The Kelpies. In the event we fitted all three in. While everyone's been to a castle or two, we think you'll be interested in these two modern features of Falkirk.
Firstly, the Falkirk Wheel, which through clever engineering has joined up two canals in a more efficient and spectacular way than the old style lock.
And secondly, a modern sculpture. The Kelpies.
Stirling Castle was an interesting visit too, although time does not permit me to add anything about it in this post.
And so the next morning, around 09:30am, after taking on sustenance at Linda's breakfast table, we set off, in drizzling rain, to journey through the highlands on roads we'd never before travelled, to the Isle of Skye, about four hours away.
Loch Laggan, about half way, by which time the clouds were clearing and the rain definitely gone.
And then, not far from Kyle of Lochalsh, we impulsively decided to take a small break at a layby overlooking a waterway known on the map as "Inner Seas Off the West Coast of Scotland". Here we discovered Sandy, who took a shine to Mary and accepted a small donation from us to feature in our movie.
By now the weather was superb, the car thermometer was reading outside air temperature as 20°C, and we'd both shed our jumpers. We couldn't believe our luck.
We'd never been on this part of the Scottish coast before and soon we could see, in the distance, the rugged peaks of our destination. Suddenly Scotland's most photographed castle, allegedly, appeared next to the road. It looked so photogenic that we just had to get one of Eilean Donan ourselves, and have an ice cream while we admired the building and its setting.
Eilean Donan, on the northern shore of the Inner Seas. Yes, this is our picture.
And shortly afterward we could see the bridge leading to the Isle. Another photo opportunity.
In the background, Isle of Skye. Pity about the industry in the foreground, but Scotland has to earn a living.
We rolled up to our rented cottage at 3:30pm and half an hour later were making up a supermarket shopping list for the next week.
Here at Portree we're 56° north of the equator and daylight is presently 17.5 hours long, and the days are still getting longer until the solstice on 21 June. It's 2140 local time; I'm sitting by the window and can clearly see across the adjacent valley, and the sun's just about setting. We're very lucky the sky is clear.
Here's a quick video of our cheese and bikkies a couple of hours ago.
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Kev Long
Author iPad Traveller for iPad and Mac.
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The technical stuff:
Our main iPad is connecting to the Internet mainly through a cellular connection provided (prepaid, 3gb for three months for £16) by the UK "Three" network. On high ground and in town environments this connection has so far proven quite good but, as in Australia, some places lack good coverage so no or poor connection. There are quite a few WiFi options available too although not always advertised. Just ask if you're unsure if available. All except two of our accommodation reservations include free WiFi which is of course the preferred method of transferring large amounts of data but I have been posting these blogs and their images sometimes using only a cellular connection either from inside our accommodation or on the roadside.
Mary's iPhone is operating using an Australian SIM card (Optus prepaid) which is roaming while in the UK and gives us the ability to make phone calls (not cheap) and send and receive SMS. It also uses WiFi, can connect directly to the Internet through the local cellular system (expensive), and use a Personal Hot Spot provided by the iPad (essentially free as the iPad connection is prepaid).
