No Faeries but What about those Waterfalls!

We were on the road before sunrise, and wearing my Hunter Wellies I was on a mission to try to catch the good light on the Fairy Pools (which had defeated us two days ago). On the single track road from Carbost to Glenbrittle we stopped to take a picture of a Heilan Coo we saw - she is the 2nd we've seen on Skye (the first was the day we arrived but we were driving and there were cars behind us so we couldn't stop).

It was raining slightly when we got there but it soon stated to pour down, we started the hike in the hope it might clear up along the way, but alas that was not to be. Given the slippery, boggy ground and the total blanket of rain in front of us hiding everything in sight we reluctantly accepted that even if we made the full hike to the top we would not get any good photos in any case, so we headed back.

Feeling somewhat downtrodden and disappointed we headed down to Glenbrittle to check out the beach and a little know waterfall that we had been told about by a local. It was easy to find and we were so excited to see it. The rain stopped and the sun even popped out now and again briefly. Vince took a YaYa Vlog - number 4 I think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i61lBzP1crc

We carried on to the beach in the hope of a coffee and bathroom break - but they were closed for the Winter. it did give us a chance to check out some cheeky sheep along the way and I even manage to spot a large bird of prey. Vince kindly pulled over and I got out my binoculars - it's the first chance I've had to use them and I was so excited to see it was an Eagle!!! Woo Hoo!!! Happy Days!

We went into Carbost opposite Talisker distillery to the little coffee place known as Caora Dhubh Coffee Company, where Vince had a coffee and we shared a brownie. It had some community funded toilets attached at the cost of 25p.

We headed back towards Sligachan and a little way out of Carbost, I spotted a blue boat near a grave yard and we pulled over for a closer look. We had to go through a gated field which may have housed a large bull by the looks of things. Interestingly as we went through I came across many bi-valve shells that had been open.

We then continued on our way to arrive at the small hike to the Sligachan Waterfalls and I'm happy to say my Wellies did me proud - at one point being up to my calves in bog! But it was well worth it with a great pay-off of waterfalls at the end. Vince got some truly awesome shots using my 16mm-35mm wide-angle (much better than mine with my 24mm-70mm - but don’t tell him that!).

Unfortunately, despite taking the utmost care, I did have a little mishap on the upper edge of the waterfall when a rock I stood on was so slippery I went A (arse) over T (tit) and landed on my bum - luckily it's padded quite well, and as I descended I became wedged in between two rocks which actually saved me from a serious fall. Happy to say I saved the camera and lens! Not wanting to tempt fate I tried to get Vince's attention for over 5 minutes - he couldn't hear me for the rush of the waterfall, and was concentrating on his photography. Once alerted he came and took the camera so I could use both hands to free myself from the rocks and clamber back up to safety! Phew. Luckily I was pretty much unhurt - mostly my pride and dignity!

We headed back to Portree and stopped at the Aros Centre. Although it was only 3.00pm we had not eaten lunch so decided to have an early dinner and a snack back in our room later. We had Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding and a drink for a total of around 25 pounds. We had hoped to see Skye Story - the History of Skye but it was not running until tomorrow at 10.00am so we will go back then.

Vince spotted a Needle Felting Kit at the Aros Centre for a Highland Calf and decided Morag needs a Baby Brother - he insisted on buying it for me for Christmas - to keep me occupied on the long wet nights at Willie McLeods he says! It's very cute, but although I am into crafts (sewing and papercrafts) I am not into knitting or crochet (although I did make Morag from a similar kit before leaving Perth) and don't even know what needle felting is! Anyway, I will give it a go, and all going well, in time, she will have her Baby Brother - whom I shall call Marmalade.

We did a few chores at the Boots Chemist before returning home and sorting out our photography stuff. This is our last night at the Pink Guest House in Portree and we although it's been great and we have enjoyed our stay, we are keen to get to Willie McLeods and settle in settle-in to what will be our new home for 4 months.

Christmas and Wedding Stress Update: I'm a bit stressed as a few things for the wedding are going a bit pear shaped - I knew ahead that I couldn't get a hairdresser on NYD but I'm having trouble just getting a wash and blow dry the day before! The shop that sells the Skye Candles (I wanted one to represent Kyle at Christmas at Willie McLeods) won't be open tomorrow as expected and with all the other things that are going on I won't be able to get there before Christmas. But the most major problem we face is that the twice daily (morning and afternoon) Uig Ferry from Skye to Tarbert on Harris is no longer running that shedule and this causes major problems for us to get to the boys Kilt fittings! Neither of the options are not really palatable, do it over the phone and hope for the best or stay the night on Lewis and Harris (if we can get tickets and accommodation) after just checking in to Willie McLeods and returning on Christmas Eve!. On top of that the date they want us to come to allow for alterations is the 23rd and I have already booked to see the Celebrant (Davina McCluskie) and Photographer (Penny Hardie) at 12.00pm that day at the Cullin Hills Hotel - so I am also trying to see if that can be rescheduled. Why is it things can never just go smoothly - the best laid plans hey! Fingers crossed we can get it all worked out soon.

POSTSCRIPT - Okay, now I am REALLY stressed-out! Thankfully, on the good side, I have been able to reschedule meeting with Penny to tomorrow (22nd) and Davina after Christmas on 27th Dec 2019 - they were both very accommodating so that was great! On the bad side, we decided although neither kilt option was what we wanted, the option with the best likelihood of a good outcome for the Wedding would be to go in person and stay overnight at Stornoway. I booked CalMac ferry passage for us all on line, and the payment went through okay (over 200 pounds) but right at the end we got an error message for the booking ID number - so it's not showing as booked. We tried to ring them but they are closed until 8.00am tomorrow! We have booked and paid for accommodation at the Blue House (117.76 pounds for the night) for the four of us which is about 200m down on the same road as Celtic Clothing, where we are hiring the kilts from. It's non-refundable, so hopefully it's just a website issue with CalMac and the voyage can all go ahead. It turns out that the times of the ferries are also not great and it's at least an hours drive from the terminal at Tarbert on Harris to Stornaway on Lewis where we need to be. Who would have though hiring 3 kilts could be so stressful!!! FFS it's Scotland how hard can it be?