Sunday, January 7, 2018

Skye Shenanigans

My friend Marcie and I just booked travel to Iceland during one week of our spring break.  It has been on my bucket list for some time so I am really looking forward to it.  I'd better hurry up with Scotland already!
So when I last left you, we were at Neist Point.  The wind was just too much for me to make it down to the lighthouse, so I was left with about an hour to get myself into trouble.  
First off, our guide told me that there were some good views of the lighthouse if I could make my way around the cliffs and get myself far enough around to see them.  I started my trek off to the right and got about 50 feet when I ran into a very muddy spot where the rain accumulated making a little stream down the hill.  I tried my hardest to find my way around it, but pretty much wherever I went I found deep muddy patches.  With all my work trying to keep out of the mud, I walked myself right into one that was so deep it covered my whole foot, up to my ankle.  It wasn't just mud either it was BLACK mucky mud. I tried to wipe the mud off my shoe by dragging it around in the grass but it didn't help.  One shoe was blue and the other was black.   It took me weeks (after getting home) to get them clean and even still one is slightly grayer than the other.   
 With not much else to do other than deal with it, I decided to leave the lighthouse behind and head off in the other direction, back on the road we had come in on.  It was a nice stable road.  We had passed quite a few sheep while driving in and I could see them on the road out.  After a ways, I looked up to the rocks above me and there was a very large sheep looking down at me.  
 I took its picture and it starting coming down the hill.
 It got closer and then started to "baaa"at me,
 And then all of a sudden, it jogged down the hill right at me.  At first I chuckled, and then  I realized it was coming after me.  The sheep chased me down the road for a bit.  Finally, it stopped, turned around and headed off in the other direction.  I've never been chased by a sheep before!
I continued on my walk for a ways.
It started to get very dark and cloudy again.
 But I managed to see some sheep that didn't want to attack me.
 This baby was just darling.
I turned around to walk back to the van and the rest of tour.  And that's when the rain started.  At first it was just big drops and within minutes it was coming down in sheets, and the wind whipped.  I was maybe 15 minutes from the group.  By the time I made it back, everyone was waiting warm and dry on the van and I was sopping wet...with a black foot.  Mike hadn't even realized I hadn't made the trek down the lighthouse.  "What happened to you?" he asked when I sat down next to  him in the van.  
We drove for a bit and stopped in Dunvegan for lunch.  We walked in to this little cafe, me looking like the creature from the black lagoon and freezing, and ordered warm soup.  While we waited I tried to ring myself out in the bathroom.  
 We found a cute bakery across the street that had the most amazing desserts.
 Mike got a chocolate cupcake
 and I got one of these truffle balls that was the size of my fist.  That made me feel better!
By the time we left, I was mostly dry and enjoyed the remainder of the day.  We continued our drive around the Island stopping for some quick photo ops every so often.
 Skye Museum of Island Life in Kilmuir - some restored, some built new to show a common township of thatched cottages.
 We also made stops at Staffin and Trotternish for some pretty views AND some sun!
 Kilt Rock in Trotternish.
 Phew, that was a whirlwind first day on Skye!


7 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you picked back up the narrative from your trip! (and how exciting about the Icelandic adventure!!)

    So many gorgeous photos here, but you can guess which one is my favorite. I love how you captured that rogue sheep in mid-bleat!! Great shot!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yes, he was funny...until he wasn't! Ha ha! ;)
      I'll try to get some more up soon.

      Delete
  2. Great to hear the "rest of the story" at the lighthouse. Perhaps by the time you finish this write up it will be spring break time again! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice to have you back to blogging.. hadn't seen you around in a bit and I had disappeared for most of December.
    Those pictures look great.. oh god that giant truffle ball!!
    We'd like to get to Iceland one day too..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! The first few months of the new school year always find me useless in pretty much anything but school, but this year was particularly hard.
      I'm really looking forward to going.

      Delete
  4. The distances involved up there can be quite deceiving. And locals can give directions with good hearts but can also be frankly delusional. They have the same mindset in Kerry, Connemara and Donegal. 'Over the road a bit', can be 25 fricking miles.
    The bothies look nice. Did you see any longhouses.

    ReplyDelete