The day started with the curse of being a woman arriving unexpectedly so I’ve showered and went in search of a shop to buy more supplies. As it happened, the morning was already warm, the sun was out and I found the best coffee shop in Portree. And Paul, our early riser, has already been out to buy the pastries for breakfast which I enjoyed with my coffee when I returned to the flat.
Deli, Roey and Daz met us outside the flat and we all rode to the Sligachan Hotel not far from Portree where we stopped for a proper breakfast.
We were all excited to arrive to the Fairy Pools where Roey was going to go skinny dipping.
On arrival at the car park it was stupidly windy to the point that Paul strapped his bike to a pole in case it toppled over.
Jules, Daz and Paul decided to stay with the bikes and Deli, Roey and I started the walk towards the pools. We came across a small waterfall where we stopped for some pics. Then Deli and Roey changed their mind and went back to the bikes. Well, I’m no quitter so I carried on to the Fairy Pools.
It was bloody roasting and I was glad I gave my jacket to Deli to take it back to the bike. The pools were impressive but too many people around for any decent photos. However, worth a visit and I would have loved to have been there at a sunrise.
I returned 45 minutes later and they were all ready to go. We got back on our bikes and pointed north along the west coast of the island. Paul took us to Stein and we stopped at the Stein Inn which is reputedly the oldest Inn on Skye. We were hungry and wanted lunch but all they’ve had were full on meals at evening dinner prices so we had a few starters and portions of chips and sat on the waterfront basking in the sun.
The weather was incredible, 22 degrees celsius and not a cloud in the sky. I had to remind myself I was in Scotland at times.
We continued our trip faithfully following Paul and me trying not to stop too often for the photos and annoy all the others, paying attention to the road while sneaking glimpses of the stunning views that were opening behind each and every corner and noticing my face was starting to ache from permanently grinning.
We stopped at the top of Quiraing and walked to the edge for the breathtaking views. Plenty of walkers around doing the loop route but we were more interested in the snaking twisty road that was leading us to the east coast and back towards Portree via a waterfall at Kilt Rock.
The road back to Portree was stunning, past the Old Man of Storr where Paul nearly led us off-road to stop for a pic. Luckily Deli, Jules and I spotted the potholes and the big drop off the tarmac and parked on the side of the road where I think the adventure bikers quite liked it.
On return to Portree we decided to refresh and regroup at a bar then head for dinner. We ended up in an Indian restaurant which was the only place that could accommodate us all. The food was good, the atmosphere a bit canteen-like but it didn’t matter, the service ok but can’t be fussy where there are limited choices. I’ve had enough by then and left most of the group to go to the pub so if anyone got banned or refused drinks on that night it wasn’t me and they didn’t tell me about it either.
The day was 21st September 2019.
The route was heart shaped and we’ve covered 92 miles.
