Friends in the Water

Day 4 Monday 8th Sept

Jeremy blogging on the iPad by firelight

Tonight I am writing this entry, sat next to a roaring fire outside a 'wigwam' camping hut overlooking the ferry port in Armadale, south Skye. We are staying at Rubha Phoil Forest gardens, and the lovely owners are supporting us by donating free bedding and allowing us to use their kitchen facilities. Many thanks to them for making us so welcome. This was a great find - Tracey (Mrs Jeremy) had visited here a while back and thought we'd enjoy it as much as she did. Their new camping wigwam hut is perfect for us so it's all worked out rather well.

Morning on the ferry - dolphins yet to appear

Anyway, it is pitch dark here apart from our fire and the lights of Armadale. Owls are hooting and midges biting.

Our morning departure from Harris seems a long time ago now. We got up at 6 am and proved that we can get washed, packed, breakfasted and loaded inside the hour as we turned up at the port ticket office at 7 am to get our passage to Skye. The ferry was in on time and we pulled away from Harris with glorious morning light on the mountains. We stayed on deck for a long time watching the views change as the ferry churned across the water. We eventually went inside for 'second breakfast' and it was whilst we were eating this that John C noticed the dolphins. There were about 6 or 7 in several groups surging and jumping across the ferry's bow waves, coming straight for us. They didn't stay long, but seemed to be having fun! A first for me and John C. The journey was only slightly spoiled by the midge that unwisely had a go at my eye.

Jeremy in foreground, Cullins in background

We docked at Uig, immediately noticing its softer, greener landscape. The cycle trip meter on John H's bike had stopped working at some point, so we spent some time trying to sort it out with new batteries etc, to no avail. We moved on, having stocked up with food (of course) at the Uig store. It was sunny, if a bit chilly, and we had a tail wind, almost perfect cycling. The views and scenery were really nice (I've been told not to use spectacular anymore...). 

A "really nice" view

It seems to me that Skye is split into three as far as the texture of the land goes. The first bit, which Uig is at the northern tip of, is definitely greener than Harris and has low hills, many of which are flat topped - there's some interesting Geology going on, but that's for another time. Then there's the middle bit; this is all majestic mountains that dwarf all anthropogenic artefacts. They are barren, rocky monoliths that either have jagged edges or are more rounded (geology is the reason again .... ). The third type is what we have found on the Armadale peninsula; it is lush with trees, plants and colours. The coast is a delightful collection of small bays and islands with the mainland mountains as a backdrop across the water. Definitely to be recommended.

JR takes the back road

John H and Jeremy 

So we spent today wending thought these delights, having lunch next to a minor road that we noticed on the map that gave us some brief respite from the rather busy main road (we've very quickly become used to hardly having any traffic). This gave us idyllic scenery and a chance to enjoy it without worrying about the next lorry or bus. We had a hot chocolate and cake stop in Portree (at The Grannery), where John H also picked up a new cycle trip device. We wound down slowly over the last few miles of the day. As we expected, there were no places to eat, so we cooked the emergency meal that we've been carrying from the start; spaghetti with a tomato sauce and tuna (ethically sourced!). Pronounced delicious by all, but then hunger makes us poor critics.

Man Make Fire!

Amusing John H anecdote of the day. John was feeling a bit low on energy half way through the day, so whilst I was getting food for the evening meal, I picked up some dough twists, which John enjoyed one of. It had the desired effect, as a few minutes later as we headed out of Broadford on the last leg of the journey, he shot off, having what he terms a 'Pete moment';  it took John C and I about 8 miles to finally catch him up!

Highlights today are proving very difficult because there are so many candidates, so these are collective ones:

Dolphins chasing the Tarbert to Uig ferry in the morning

Views of Harris and the outer Hebrides from the ferry

First views of the Cullins coming across Skye

We found a quiet detour route round the west coast north of Broadford where we had lunch, again with great views.

Our wigwam camp, in particular the fire pit, which I am sat next to writing this, also the nature walk here from which we saw seals frolicking in the sea as the moon rose over the mountains.

View from the Otter Hide - otters currently hiding!

Stats for the day

Distance 61 miles

Average speed 12.4 (max 37.4)

Total climb 958 m

Energy 3124 cal

John C 3 bananas

John H 2 bananas

JR 2 bananas