Day 11: Portree, Isle of Skye - Sunday, 8 September

Weather: 12º - 14º - Cloudy 

Accommodation: Burnbrae Apartment, Portree

It was a slow day for us as we made preparations for the next part of our trip. This included visiting the laundrette so we have a clean suitcase of clothes when we arrive at the Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides tomorrow. While Henk waited at the laundrette for the clothes to dry I took the opportunity to walk the back streets of Portree and down to the sea loch of Loch Portree. Although it was a dull day, the tide was full and the loch looked beautiful with the reflections. 

We had a morning coffee at a trendy coffee place called The Birch in a back street with island street murals. Interestingly, the owner of the coffee shop was inspired by trips to Melbourne and wanted to replicate the city’s coffee style.

I was keen to have lunch at the Rosedale Hotel on the harbour but found they only do dinners and like all other places in the town they don’t take bookings. However, I told the waitress I was keen to eat once more at the restaurant before we left the island tomorrow and she very nicely took a special booking for us. I nominated the later starting time of six o’clock. With our changed lunch plans we came home and put together a platter each from the food Shona had left us in the fridge. This included Scottish Oatcakes.

After lunch Henk received an email from the ferry company at Oban, Caledonian MacBrayne, notifying us that tomorrow’s ferry was leaving two hours earlier at 11.00am rather than 1.00pm. This was due to the forecast of strong winds later in the day. The road trip from Portree to Oban is four hours. We considered packing up and maybe driving to Fort William two hours down the road but in the end we decided that we already had a dinner booking and we would be super prepared and leave at the latest at 5.15am. This was to make sure we would arrive in time for check in at 10.00am. Shona tells us the ferry service is strict on check-in times so we will allow ourselves an extra forty-five minutes to make it in time. 

We totally repacked our bags and filled the car with petrol to be super prepared to make a quick getaway in the morning.

We then received a message from our AirBnB host on the Isle of Barra saying that we would need to make restaurant reservations as they can book out very quickly. The first restaurant we called which is located next to where we were staying was fully booked. Thankfully, the other two suggestions our host gave had spare places so we have our dinners booked for Monday and Tuesday evenings. 

We felt privileged to go to dinner at the Rosedale Hotel Restaurant. It made our last night on the Isle of Skye special especially as they gave us one of the few tables overlooking the harbour with their colourful buildings. 

For entree we both chose Pan Seared Scallops which comprised of black pudding, scallops, broccolini, parsnips crisps and samphire. It was fantastic. We had to ask what samphire was as we hadn’t come across it before and found it was a plant that grows in salt water.

It was a relaxing last evening watching the tide come in and watching and listening to seagulls fight and squark with each other over the harbour.

Overall, it’s been a fantastic week on the Isle of Skye. We were very lucky with the sunny weather so we saw the island at its best. On reflection we learned the following:

1. Portree is the best place to be based as most of the attractions are in the north part of the island.
2. A car is essential.
3. The accommodation needs to be within walking distance of the town centre as driving in and out of the centre and payment for parking would be both time-consuming and expensive.
4. Dinner is served very early from 5.00pm onwards and most eating places do not take bookings. Be prepared to queue. 
5. The minor roads are narrow, single lane with passing places. Potholes are big, deep and common. Drivers are courteous. 
6. The walks to the major attractions such as Old Man of Storr, the Fairy Pools and the Neist Lighthouse require a level of fitness and there can be limited parking.

It was an early night for us as we had to leave early.