I started out this day by driving the 13 miles to the town of Portree to find some breakfast and pickup a takeout sandwich, as I knew there were very, very few places to eat along my drive today. Found a fantastic bakery and ordered a ham sandwich on one of their very fresh bread rolls.
There are two main "lobes" to this island, which is the largest of the Scottish Inner Hebrides Islands. The largest town and capital is Portree, which in the middle towards the north. The blue dot shows where I am staying in a bed and breakfast, and you can see how there are two loops to driving.
You cannot see from this map, but the road from Portree to Staffin, and to Uig are mostly single-tracks, which look like the photo below and is indicative of the weather most of today.--grey clouds and drops of rain on the windshield. What you cannot see is that the temps are about 50 F and the wind is very strong.
Luckily, there was not a lot of traffic on these country roads and the island has done a good job of putting slightly wider spots every few hundred feet so that if another vehicle is coming toward you, one of you will have a place to pull over so that the other one can pass. There are also parking areas every quarter mile or so, so lots of places to pull over and stop to take photos.
There was a large parking area at this viewpoint showing Mealt Falls. I walked around only long enough to read the signs and take a couple of photos then got back in where it was not as cold and windy. Brrr.
A few miles farther on, I noticed this pond and crofter cottage ruin, so I parked and took the next two photos. Most of the original roofs on cottages were thatch, but it looks like someone tried to patch this one up, and then it also gave way to time.
If you had ancestors in England or Scotland who were sheepherders or laborers on farms, they likely lived in small stone houses like this one, except with a thatch roof. The family would have had a garden, as well as tasks taking care of sheep or cattle.
There was a hiking trail that you can barely see here. In order to allow people to get over the fence, steps like these are common.
Could not believe this commuter bus on such a narrow road, but there it was, along with an occasional bus stop way out here for the few homes in the area.
And a local postbox. These and the bus stops were often located at the ends of roads that gave access to local homes.
If you look carefully, you can see that this road goes to the left and up a hill in the far distance.
And a few of the local residents. While sheep are the most common animals out here, cattle are also present. These are good examples of Highland Cattle, which are bred to handle cold and wet weather.
They are most well known for their long hair, especially over their faces. They are bred for meat and tend to be stocky compared to other cattle. Based on early descriptions and drawings, it is likely they have been around as a breed since Neolithic times. They would normally have large horns, but these were probably removed to make it easier to raise them in a herd.
Another thing that seemed out of place to me. While many of these red phone booths in the UK have been converted to contain heart defibrillators, this one still had a phone in it. (Some red phone booths have also been converted to being lending libraries, as well.)
Just more photos of the scenery on this drive.
I missed taking a photo of the entrance sign because I had traffic behind me and had to turn quickly, but this was the Skye Museum of Island Life. Nice oasis in a wild and unique area. Click on the link to access their website.
The stones were holding down a net that was holding down the thatching in this very windy place.
Have you read any old novels about men removing their collars? Originally, collars came separately from shirts and could be removed and replaced when they were dirty.
Incredibly, another bus came by from the opposite direction. I assume that a lot of people living in this isolated area use these buses to go to work in towns such as Portree. And by the way, there are electric lines running all over this area, and I could get good cell service in most places, so people are not really isolated here.
A long, empty road, but notice the widened passing and parking areas near this home.
Tomorrow, i am going to drive the eastern loop on similar roads. And while I did a little bit of walking in Portree and a bit of walking the rest of the day, mostly I was driving, so my Fitbit said I took 4,155 steps and walked 1.63 miles. That seems like a lot, so I wonder if the bumpy parts of the road affected its measurement??
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