Day 6: Portree, Isle of Skye - Tuesday, 3 September

Weather: 8º - 14º. Morning - Overcast, light rain, Afternoon - Cloudy

Accommodation: Burnbrae Apartment, Portree

We slept right through until 6.45am so maybe our body clocks have finally realised we’re in the UK. The weather app had correctly forecast it was not a morning to be outdoors so we took the opportunity to go to the laundrette and catch up on a week’s washing. The only laundrette in town was under the bright yellow Portree Independent Hostel. We had no trouble finding it.

The laundrette was a small one with limited machines and no washing powder. We needed Dot Cotton from “East Enders” to help us out! We wandered the streets and found the local Co-op, bought washing pods and we were in business. A mother and daughter from Townsville (Qld) came into the laundrette and we had a good old chat whilst the clothes sloshed and spun around.

With our clean clothes in our daypack we set off to explore the town. It was buzzing with people scurrying under their umbrellas and dashing in and out of the many small shops, galleries and cosy coffee shops. We soon learned that there was a Holland America cruise ship visiting Portree for the day with about 2500 passengers. The ship arrived at 8.00am and was moored in the outer harbour with passengers coming ashore via tenders to the harbour pontoon. It was due to leave at 4.00pm. Many passengers were undertaking bus tours on the island as well as those who remained in the town.

We visited the very busy Information Centre and gathered maps and information for Portree and the Isle of Skye and a friendly guide suggested some local walks. 

As it was nearing lunch time we decided to take our clean clothes back to the apartment via a different path and have lunch. This time we timed the walk from the town to our accommodation and it is seven minutes.  There is so much food in the fridge provided by our host that it’s a shame not to avail ourselves of it. We also found our host had left amongst all the goodies homemade Scottish tablets from the Isle of Skye Fudge Company. It went very nicely with our cup of tea. I must learn to make it!

After lunch the weather cleared to cloudy skies so we put on our walking boots and we set out with maps and brollies to undertake some walks as suggested by the Information Centre. We left at 1.30pm and returned at 4.30pm. We firstly walked to The Lump which is the high headland behind the coloured houses on the harbour. It is where the Isle of Skye Highland Games are held each August. There are 360º fantastic views over the town, harbour, mountains and over to the Isle of Raasay which had the huge cruise ship sitting alongside it. In the far distance we could see the Old Man of Storr which we hope to see tomorrow. 

We then walked to the other side of the town and undertook the three kms coastal Scorrybreac Circuit walk (the Speckled Steep Hill). It was a little boggy in parts following the morning’s rain but it was a lovely walk with different views of the town and harbour with The Lump behind. We then followed the coastline for some time with the cruise ship on our right before going inland and climbing some steep zig zag sections to have high views over the Sound of Raasay. 

Henk and I are always on the lookout for, what we call, the Enid Blyton toadstools (Fly Agaric) and today we saw one. We were so excited. I took a number of photos and not long after we came across the mother and daughter we had met at the laundrette undertaking the same walk. They also took photos of the toadstool so we compared photos. 

When we returned to our apartment we decided that we wanted to spend the evening in rather than going out again for dinner. We have eaten out for six nights in a row and today we walked 13kms in total. We started with nibbles of olives and cheese followed by toasted ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches and dessert of yoghurt with strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. We finished eating all the Scottish tablets with coffee. The wine was very good too! (French Chardonnay). Our host has been so generous. It rained heavily as we ate dinner so we were pleased to have stayed in to eat. 

After dinner and just before eight o’clock we remembered seeing a sign in the town square that said a band was playing in the square starting at eight. We quickly got our boots and coats on and headed into town. The rain had disappeared and it was a clear evening for the Isle of Skye Pipe Band. They only play each Tuesday evening to raise funds for their band so we were pleased to have made the effort. 

It was a great day. We thought we might have had to spend the majority of the day indoors so it turned out much better than we expected. The improvement in the weather in the early afternoon and the opportunity to do some walking as well as seeing the pipe band were unexpected and very welcome.