Scotland - Day 7 Inverness

We woke to a pesky seagull screeching outside our window and the sounds of a harbour coming to life. Before breakfast we took a short walk along the waterfront and chose new ‘favourite’ boats for the day. After breakfast we left Portree and our pink hotel and headed north to the Trotternish peninsula.

Along the way we were amazed at the spectacular scenery at every turn. Every other car was doing the same as us – drive for a bit, stop and take photos, get back in and drive a little more. We passed the Old Man of Storr, a tall, imposing rock on the side of the mountain, Storr. There were plenty of walking tracks and lots of people setting out to explore. James was excited when we told him we were going to a waterfall, at Kilt Rock. This magnificent rock rose from the sea as part of the cliff and we could clearly see the volcanic strata. The waterfall fell from the top of the cliff all the way down to the sea below. James said “it’s huuuuge” as he wriggled to see it and I clung to him for dear life!

Further along we took a B-road west to cut off part of the peninsula and this took us through the amazing Quairaig. Martin did an admirable job watching the single track ahead and the mountains looming above.

Our next stop was Dunvegan Castle, the ancestral home of the Macleod clan. It was a 13th century building rebuilt in the 19th century. Inside were many family possessions and photographs and paintings. And a dungeon that I was not keen on. Not really our idea of an adventure, but interesting all the same. We had lunch here and kept going.

Kept going until we saw the sign for the Talisker Distillery and we detoured to buy a bottle of true Scotch whisky. When in Scotland...

We left the beautiful Skye and headed for Inverness via Wester Ross. This scenery was as impressive as the rest. Again, a narrow winding, sometimes bumpy road but lots of fun. We made up a song about beeping sheep on the road. We used it a lot!

We arrived into Inverness and promptly got lost as we didn’t have the exact google address for our B&B. After much mucking around and calling our host we have arrived and are settled here for 2 nights. We walked down the hill into the town for dinner and James was still full of beans (being a horsey, uphill) when we got back. There are 2 boys who live here and they have made friends already so tomorrow we will make some time just for James to play.