Head west lassies

Loch Ness is way bigger than I realised,
it goes on and on and on

One of the good roads on
the drive to the Isle of Skye

These have to be the biggest mountains I have ever see

Love these signs

Eilean Donan Castle

Skye Bridge from Plock Viewpoint

Portree Harbour

Portree

Elderflower and Lemon cake
(Karen, I finally found it!)

 Jane is happy there is a jigsaw in the cottage

We are in Big Bertha and ready, its time to wave goodbye to Inverness and head west. We are skirting around the edge of Loch Ness it goes on and on, finally the GPS wakes up and its right turn at Invermoriston. Now it gets really interesting, the hills just keep looming larger and larger and greener and greener. These are the biggest mountains I have ever seen. Flickers on, turn into yet another parking area for photos and on and on it goes. 

Fast forward two hours and finally we arrive, Eilean Donan Castle it is touted as the most beautiful castle in Scotland, I would have to agree. We are lucky it is so sunny today (again). The castle was rebuilt in its current format in the early 20th century by the MacRae-Gilstrap family and is still privately owned by the family. Outside is just divine, inside it is the homeliest castle with photos and paintings and the kitchen recreation is so lifelike with even dead birds hanging in the larder. We explore every nook and cranny, up and down the stairs, across turrets and into little alcoves. The guides are so knowledgeable and share lots of interesting stories about the owners and the restoration. Bagpipes are being played across the water and instead of grating, they add an atmosphere to the day.

Now our next mission is to get petrol, a task that I never have to do at home! The service station is tiny and Big Bertha just fits in. Now I have typed instructions for Jane to follow to get us to ‘Plock Viewpoint’ she never knows where we are going to end up next. Some twists and turns and fast driving up one lane hills before other cars come down and we are here. A perfect view of the bridge we are about to cross from the mainland to the Isle of Skye. Snap. Tick. Moving on.

Go Pro on, over the Skye bridge we go. Opened in 1995 the bridge replaced two ferries and made the island so much more accessible. I am nervous now, what will the roads be like? Starts off as a lane each way, at stone bridges goes down to one car only, but we mostly get lucky and don’t strike trucks and buses. Finally, we see some amazing rock formations in the distance and then some houses as we roll into Portree desperate for a cup of tea and some cake. The trip has officially been renamed Outlander Odyssey with cake. There is one cake I have been waiting and waiting to try is Elderflower and Lemon (Harry and Meghan’s wedding cake flavour) and lo and behold here it is in out of the way Portree. Tick. 

A walk around the harbour and then its back in Big Bertha to head to our new base. Jane handles the directions expertly and we are here. Vistas from every window, this is perfect.