Waternish, Uig and Trotternish

Highlands holiday - Day three

The year before last when I was on Skye I visited the Waternish peninsula in driving rain as it was famous for it's whale sightings and being ever the optimist, I decided I would have another go today but unfortunately I fared no better with the weather. I should imagine it's a bleak and unforgivingn peninsula at the best of times so having a bit of rain thrown into the mix didn't really seem to matter.

Trumpan Church, Waternish

Trumpan Church, Waternish

Trumpan Church, Waternish

I drove as far as the road goes to the ruined church at Trumpan (that's Trumpan and not Trumpton!) and took my life in my hands by getting out of the car to have a look at the ruins. There is nothing between this place and the Iceland on one side and Scandinavia on the other and it certainly showed with the icy cold wind and driving rain. I could hardly see the headlands never mind any whales so after taking a couple of photos I beat a hasty retreat and headed off to Dunvegan, the ancestral home of the MacLeods. Apart from the Castle and a run down harbour, the place doesn't have much going for it so I followed the B road which runs along side Loch Dunvegan as far north as it went with the promise of a seal colony and coral beaches.

Start of the seal colony walk

As it had stopped raining, I parked the car up and put on my waterproof coat and woolly hat and then set off  in pursuit of these infamous seals and coral beaches. Well, the wind got up, it started to rain stair rods again and no matter which way I turned the rain seemed to be driving straight into my face. I carried on as far as a stream which was  in spate. I think I walked across a coral beach but can't really be sure and came across the largest colony of invisible seals you could ever imagine but having said all that, I did really enjoy the walk and it certainly blew the cobwebs off of me. Thankfully I had a spare pair of trousers in the car as my jeans were sodden and stuck to me.

An Dubh-Aird, Loch Dunvegan

An Dubh-Aird, Loch Dunvegan

An Dubh-Aird, Loch Dunvegan

Nosey wet coo

Dunvegan harbour

Scotch mist

Unperturbed by the drenching, I headed to Uig and paid a visit to the Isle of Skye Brewery shop. I am now in possession of an Isle of Skye Brewery beer glass, a coffee mug, a key ring and a fridge magnet although the bottles of  Hebridean Gold having have long since disappeared!

Uig Bay

It stopped raining and the sun came out as I followed the coast road around the top of the Isle and excitement grew as I contemplated driving up to the Quairang and getting some good photos. However the sun might have been shining in Staffin at the foot of the Quairang but 3 miles away at the top it was cold wet and windy. I managed to get a couple of shots in a break in the weather but they were nothing special.

Trotternish

Road to Trotternish

Waterfall at Kilt Rock

Skye Coastline

Rainbow, Sound of Raasay

I returned to Portree with my tail between my legs and made for the Isles pub to drown my sorrows. A couple of pints later and the world looked rosry again. Looking back though it hadn't been a bad day and I always manage to make something happen no matter how bad the weather.