Day 9: Portree, Isle of Skye - Friday, 6 September

Weather: 9º - 21º - Sunny 

Accommodation: Burnbrae Apartment, Portree

It was another glorious, sunny day on the island. Apart from visiting the beautiful Fairy Pools in the morning we had no set plans for the day. We set out at 8.45am and headed SW from Portree arriving at 9.30am. There were already many cars at the start of the walk and all were neatly parked thanks to the three friendly parking attendants. 

When we set out for the walk we could see many walkers ahead of us weaving their way up a gradually climbing path between steep, high mountains on either side. We were pleased we didn’t walk the path yesterday afternoon as it was a warm walk this morning. The path follows a tiny, pretty stream, River Brittle, which flows over small waterfalls, boulders and rocks. It took us two hours to undertake the return walk. It’s easy to see why the Fairy Pools are so popular with tourists. 

The water was crystal clear and freezing. There were a few hardy souls swimming in the pools. Interestingly, there are no fairy legends associated with the pools.

We were pleased we took our unflattering army midge hats which we last used in Scotland on our Land’s End to John O’Groats walk fifteen years ago. The midges were everywhere on the path and were biting us and driving us crazy. We quickly put on the nets. Quite a few others also had midge nets like us. We may soon have to buy some anti-midge cream such as Avon’s Skin so Soft or the other one which the Fairy Pool parking attendant told us about called Smidge. We’ve learned there is a Scottish midge forecast. 

After we finished our walk, and having no set plans we drove along a narrow road to the coast for a few miles and came to a dead end. We knew this because the sign said, “Dead End”. We were at a lovely loch, Loch Brittle at Culnamean where there was an inviting and busy cafe where we had early lunch. 

We then retraced our steps and arrived at Carbost, a beautiful village sitting alongside Loch Harport with dramatic views of the far range, the Cuillins. The tide was out and it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

To our surprise and lack of any planning we came across the large Talisker Distillery sitting beside the loch. 

We booked into an hour tour of the distillery which included tastings. Our Scottish guide grew up in Brisbane before returning to the Isle of Skye and she did a great job taking us through the distillery describing the processes. As Henk doesn’t drink alcohol and I’m the designated driver we didn’t try the whiskey so we were given little bottles of three different whiskeys to take away with us. 

On our return to Portree we visited an old, stone disused bridge, the Sligachan Bridge. It dates back to about 1820. Legend has it if you put your face into the water under the bridge for seven seconds and let it dry off naturally, you’ll be granted eternal beauty. We didn’t try it!

We arrived back at the apartment at four o’clock and we each had an afternoon nap. Dinner was low key tonight with takeaway fish and chips from Portree’s popular The Chippy. 

Being a Friday evening the place was very busy so we had to wait a while for our order. I took the opportunity to walk to the harbour and have another look around. There was a small cruise ship in the harbour.

After our fish and chips we walked up to The Lump. It was good to see it on a sunny day in contrast to the overcast day last Tuesday. We could see clearly the Old Man of Storr in the distance.

It was an early night for us after our big day of touring.