Two weeks in Scotland in June seems to have become a regular and this time we headed for Loch Ness and the Sleat peninsula on Skye. We chose these because they were both places neither of us had really been to before – well Derek never and David only when passing through.
Both weeks were a lot of fun – though the weather was more challenging on Skye, and the cottage’s garden, although fenced, was down numerous steps and completely waterlogged. We especially enjoyed walking to Plodda Falls, which required a drive up a dirt road first (more like Oregon than Scotland) and then the walk felt very like being in Oregon. It was only later we discovered that the trees around us were mainly Douglas firs (imported from Oregon by Lord Tweedmouth, 150 years ago). And Plodda Falls themselves are just like a Columbia Gorge waterfall, except with the unique feature of falling straight into another (bigger) river at the bottom of the falls.
Skye was very beautiful indeed, but we were a bit surprised how many tourists there were at places that used to be well off the beaten path (Coral Beach, Fairy Pools and the Quiraing, for example). Sleat – especially its western side – seemed to be a very quiet corner.