Part 4 - our week on the Isle

Our main reason for visiting Skye was to see our dear friends who had moved up from Lincolnshire a year ago. From Staffin, our base, they live about 20 minutes car drive away.

Leaving the views of Staffin bay behind us and moving round close to the tip of the eastern side of Skye, their temporary home and stretches of land sit between two sea views with the Isle of Lewis just visible on a clear day.

It was great to see them, for Katie and Ben to have time with their mates, and to catch up on all that's been happening. They have plenty of animals to keep them busy, horses, goats, hens, cats, dogs, guinea-pigs and rabbits and the talk of a couple of sheep joining the family too! Growing their own veg in the polytunnel and also planting willow sticks, they'll become true crofters in time.

Riding Briar

Katie jumped at the chance to meet the three horses (and the neighbours horses too), with "M" and Katie sharing the riding of one of them disappearing over the croft land having a good time (I think the poor pony was a little exhausted afterwards).

After a delicious lunch, we all went out for a walk, taking the dogs too, with Ben, "S" and "L" mucking around in the streams and generally enjoying each other's company. It felt so free just wandering over land which stretched for miles and miles with hardly any fencing to keep people out. Felt very weird coming back home, sitting in the garden, fenced in like animals in a paddock!

Museum of Island Life

During the week we visited the Skye Museum of Island Life at Kilmuir and then had a picnic lunch at Duntulm castle ruins right on the tip of island. The children (and me) enjoyed scrambling over the fallen rocks at the sea edge, looking in rock pools and keeping an eye out for seals and otters (we missed two - seen from the top of the hill by "L").

Two beach visits to Staffin bay occurred during the week as the weather so just perfect for paddling, seaweed throwing and sand fort building. We went looking for the fossilised dinosaur footprint (along with several other tourists), but weren't too sure we'd discovered it - one large dent began to look very much like another after a short while.


Staffin Bay


Commanding the seas

Skye beckons you to walk and climb, it really does (although it didn't for Katie, sadly). The hill behind Carn Ban lead to the most glorious views across Staffin with photos really not doing it justice at all. Paul, Ben and I climbed most of the way up to the "Old Man of Stor", which was a short drive from Staffin. A long, steep climb, with the minutes ticking by very quickly (we were aware of this because Katie had stayed back in the car), so we didn't reach the actual finish line, so to spead, but got pretty close.

Old Man of Stor - the bit sticking up on the right of the photo.


Views of Staffin Bay


Streams and waterfalls also featured quite alot during the week. Ben is drawn towards water and loved every opportunity to see the Kilt Rock and Inva Tote waterfalls as well as climb up other falls that tumble down the countryside in various places. The water is icy cold and so refreshing to drink.


Talking of drink, we visited the Talisker Distillery not far from Portree. Kids, naturally, weren't impressed, but Paul and I enjoyed the heady aroma, free tipple and interesting tour. Not a whisky lover myself, but I'm certainly enjoying the bottle of Talisker we brought back with us, as long as it's mixed with alittle coke!

Portree, the main town, has some lovely interesting shops and a fabulous visiting Fairtrade clothing market. It also hosts a curry house (one of just two on the island), which we had to sample during our stay. We went along for an evening out with our friends, rounding off with a Talisker whisky tasting at our holiday home and a tipple of an orange liquer mixed with sparkling white wine before departing. The children had fun running around outside with torches scaring each other and trying hard [not] to wake any neighbours!

Finally, as most tourists probably do, we checked out the estate agents window displays to see what the house prices are like in Skye. We were amazed to find a riding stables with 70 acres of croft land, huge indoor school, paddocks, arenas, stabling, cattery and kennels up for grabs at £350,000 (there wasn't a house with the deal though). Dreams and ideas started to ping around in heads; riding lessons, livery, small horse shows, trekking etc., etc. - we went to view it! Oh, how wonderful it all seemed, and the owner showed us her beautiful home too, which is also for sale at £250,000 and spot on for size, views and everything. Picking up the initial papers and valuation report revealed a few problems, mainly that banks and building societies aren't keen to lend money for croft land, and there seemed to be some confusion over the amount of land available and whether the Croft Association would actually move it over to new owners. It was nice while it lasted - just need to find someone rich to leave us lots of money to buy it without any hassles attached!!