Day 678: High in the Skye

03/06/2023

This morning when we all woke up Super Mum’s side of the bed was fully packed and Dad had magically appeared in Eloise’s bed.

After listening to Postman Pat nonstop on our road trip so far, Lachlan was excited he managed to catch the episode on TV this morning.

We had an action packed day planned, it was time to leave the safety of our cabin and continue working on Liam’s watch tan and midge bites.

The compulsory wake up call was deployed, and Eloise was loaded with ribbons as a midge countermeasure.

Today we were dividing forces to conquer the Isle of Skye. Nali and Grandpa Dave had an exciting three hour Isle of Skye cruise and island run around booked.

We hit the road and headed for a walk, it was a beautiful day. As we headed towards the Old Man of Storr, “probably the most famous walk on the Island and definitely the busiest”, it was covered in clouds.

Priority one though was to deal with these midges. Grandpa DAVE had taken his 80% Deet which he had smuggled into the country so we had to go buy the next best thing “Smidge the Midge” spray.

Lachlan was still taking no chances and deployed the ribbon countermeasure. Lachlan is so fast and always on the move that midges are not really a threat to him. Eloise also has a deafening squeal that can stun a midge midflight.

As we approached and the clouds lifted we could see the Old Man of Storr appear.

Eloise was keen to walk and Mr No-I-will-do-it was enthusiastic to give it a crack. Eloise did a great job encouraging Lachlan and helping him up the first section. Dad was then shouted at to return to the car as we had forgotten their beloved hiking poles.

Lachlan was quick off the line and was setting an impressive Lachnado pace.

Lachlan was struggling with the slope a bit but no amount of falls was going to stop him. Eloise tried her best to help him up but then lost patience and stepped through the gears.

It was an impressive first climb by Lachlan, he had got much further than we had expected. He then happily retired to the hiking carrier.

Eloise was still going strong and marching along singing with Super Mum.

Halfway up the second steep section Eloise was done too, it was a tricky slippery climb, plus we were struggling with the heat. We were so high that we started punching through the clouds which was incredible to experience.

With the Osprey Offspring happily singing along as they were bounced up the hill it got steeper and turned into a serious workout. Perhaps we were starting to struggle from oxygen deprivation.

We then got our first good view of the Old Man of Storr, the tall column rock on the left.

The view in the opposite direction was equally impressive, it was surreal being able to see the tops of mountains above the sheets of clouds.

After being annihilated by the sun, we topped our wee Glaswegian up with the good stuff and started the descent to thicker air.

Eloise sure does love a good nature seat.

Eloise was not happy at the pace Dad was carrying her and sprung out dual-wielding hiking poles, no stopping her now. There were some large steps and drops but none of this phased her.

On the way down Eloise got lots of compliments on how she was going and everybody loved her Vegemite playsuit. She had done exceptionally well, walking all the way back to the car from the clouds.

Emma’s Elsa shoes had done wonders, Eloise convinced us she needs some hiking boots though.

We were happy with ourselves once we got back to the car. It is actually only a two boot rated hike on walkinghighlands.com but it was tricker than we had expected, especially with the rug rats on our backs and the sun. To be honest we did not actually climb that high, we certainly were high in elevation but we started quite high. There is also a four boot rated, five hour hike over the top of The Storr but we did not have the time or the babysitter for that one. The view back to Portree is epic though.

For those that are extremely game, a “man [was] photographed in superhero stance at the top of Old Man of Storr” in 2016. Probably Lachlan in twenty years time.

The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The hill presents a steep rocky eastern face overlooking the Sound of Raasay, contrasting with gentler grassy slopes to the west. The Storr is a prime example of the Trotternish landslip, the longest such feature in Great Britain. It is the type locality for the mineral gyrolite. The area in front of the cliffs of the Storr is known as the Sanctuary. This has a number of weirdly shaped rock pinnacles, the remnants of ancient landslips.

Meanwhile, Nali and Grandpa DAVE had a fantastic time on their Misty Isle Boat Trips cruising on Loch a’ Ghlinne and exploring small islands. Nali even made a new friend sadly not a puffin though.

Our kids had no complaints jumping in the car after that climb, we picked up sandwiches to go and dashed across to the other side of the Isle of Skye to Neist Point. We were looking forward to this one, pretty much all photos you see of Isle of Skye are from here.

Turns out, to our surprise, you cannot drive out to the Neist Point Lighthouse, back to the Osprey Offspring. Luckily we were all feeling well rested and hadn’t just climbed through the clouds.

This walk, borderline hike, was again more involved than we had bargained for with a series of large peaks to pass over.

Lachlan has having a grand ol’ time in the “Juju juuujuu juj jujjuujj ujuu” carrier, he kept singing her name as we bounced along. It sits him up a bit higher.

After the first peak we spotted the Neist Point Lighthouse. We had made great time, almost jogging along. Perhaps it was just because we had seen some of the World’s most incredible landscape but the walk itself was a bit disappointing, perhaps if we started here before the NC500 we would have been blown away.

Perhaps this was a job for Darryl, maybe this whole scene would look better 120m up?

It was alright, perhaps not worth the effort to get all the way out there. The next problem, we had to get up and out again. The legs were feeling worse for wear at this stage.

We managed to push through and get back up to the car. At least the kids had a fun time. C’mon it must be better than that. Liam took a quick run around the coast to check. Alright perhaps we were being harsh on Neist Point.

Neist Point is a viewpoint on the most westerly point of Skye. Neist Point Lighthouse has been located there since 1909. Neist Point is the most westerly point on the Duirinish peninsula on the Isle of Skye. It projects into The Minch and provides a walk and viewpoint. Basalt at Neist Point is very similar to that at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. A steep path leads down from the road. Whales, dolphins, porpoises and basking shark can be seen from the point. Common seabirds include gannets, black guillemots, razorbills and European shags. Several rare plants, including saxifrages are found on the point.

We were all fully cooked by this stage and we needed somewhere to cool down, we thought the perfect spot was Fairy Pools. However, as we arrived to rendezvous with Nali and Grandpa DAVE we noticed they were not exactly close to the car park and we did not have enough energy for round three. Eloise was quick to suggest ice cream.

When we arrived in Portree we found Grandpa DAVE but he was by himself, Eloise was concerned that we had lost Nali but then knew just where to find her.

We spotted a nice mural, long time no see.

Ice cream was well earnt by all today. Jamila I think you may have sent us too many Frankie videos, Lachlan eats ice cream like a cat. Although he has not had as much practice as Eloise.

We had covered a serious amount of area today on land, boat and foot. We will be sleeping well tonight. Touch wood.

In Scottish footballing news, “Celtic proved too strong for second-tier Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they claimed the Scottish Cup and a fifth domestic treble in seven seasons”.