Fairy Glen, Kyle’s Memorial Lunch and Neist Point 24th

It’s been an up and down kind of day - I started the day in tears - as it’s been four years today since my son Kyle died in a motorbike accident. I’d sent some money to my daughter, Christina, asking her to get a dozen yellow roses to take to Pinneroo Memorial Park where we have a rock for him. I usually go myself, but obviously with our trip moving back due to my second surgery on my broken leg - I’m here in Skye, not home in Perth, Australia.

She sent me some photos on WhatsApp of my Grandies putting the flowers in his urn. It made me cry more. I also had a missed video call so I called back - it took a few goes but eventually I got through and was able to talk with the family - the Grandies always cheer me up!

Vince had organised a special lunch at the Skeabost Hotel as a way of celebrating Kyle’s life and the time we had together. But before that I managed to see a beautiful sunrise over Pointy Mountain and grab a quick photo whilst Vince got the drone up. So I was starting to feel a bit brighter.

I made Spurtle Porridge for our breakfast and we were soon on the road for the 1 hour drive to Skeabost and we planned to stop enrolee at the Fairy/Faery Glen - so Vince could use the drone and I took some different kinds of shots around the area and did a bit of sketching.

Then we were back on our way for lunch. We arrived about a half hour early so took the opportunity to take some photos over the lake nearby. I took my long lens and binoculars in the hope of otter spotting but the closest I got was mistaking a ducks bum for an otter head!

We saw Fiona (who helped organise our wedding reception dinner) and said hello. Lunch was served in the dinning room by Elizabeth, who looked resplendent in her black and white uniform, looking very “Downton Abbeyish". We treat ourselves to a steak and Vince ordered the 18 year old Glen Morangie, and I ordered a glass of Moet Chandon. It’s been my favourite for years and Kyle would joke that it tasted like “cat piss” but he would still drink in with me.

I got a bit emotional over lunch, as we reminisced about Kyle's life - the good and the bad. The staff were very polite presenting not to notice my tears - but Vince explained to them when he was paying the bill.

Then it was off for an hours drive to Neist Point. The weather was closing in and we had hoped to stay and try and catch a sunset, but it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen. We took a hike up the muddy hill to the top of an adjacent cliff face so we could try to get a good shot. Vince was using my 16-35mm so I tried my luck with the Beast (14 mm) but I wasn't very happy with the shots. It was quite a dangerous place, the wind was quite strong and the ground muddy and very slippery, so I was a bit concerned about safety the whole time. Once the weather really started to come in we thought it prudent to head back to the car and go home.

I needed the toilet - Skye has a discernible lack of public toilets given the distances and remoteness of places - but I hung on until we got to Dunvegan and we managed to find a public toilet (only the second I have seen on Skye, the other being at Portree). Then it was off home.

We had a lot of cleaning up - as on the way back to the car Vince had got stuck in the bog up to his thigh. I was ahead and didn't even realise his predicament at the time - so feeling bad about that I offered to clean up everything - his clothes, his wet weather gear and of course his shoes - what a mess!

Dinner was just a quick TV dinner followed by some of my chocolate cake and chocolate ice-cream we picked up at Rankins on the way home.