To ‘Skye’ and back

So with the Icelandic Volcano (whose name I will not try and spell) causing travel havoc in the UK I was unsure whether my mate Quinn, who had planned to come to Scotland this weekend from NZ was going to make it. Turns out he was stranded in L.A. but managed to get on one of the first flights after the air space re-opened. So the weekend was still on...! I picked him up from the Dundee train station Friday night, had a quiet night Friday catching up over a home cooked curry, a few beers, and an average DVD (Do not watch Mall Cop!) Saturday we were away by 10 a.m. Headed away from some average Dundee weather due west. We stopped in a small village with some bikers for lunch, fish and chips was on the menu. We then through some dramatic countryside of barren hills, snow capped peaks, waterfalls, lakes and rugged valleys. We stopped just before Glencoe at the information centre and went on a short forest walk to try and burn off the fish and chips. We drove straight through Fort William and straight up to the Ben Nevis centre. We looked into hiring mountain bikes, but it was too early in the season, with a lot of snow still around. We did however go up the gondola and went for a 40 minute walk which offered good views of Nevis, the world famous mountain bike tracks and the lochs. Back in Fort William we checked into a backpackers with a pink flower gift for the owner ;-) Then we took to the high street, time for a few drinks in some of the local pubs... We sat down for a burger at what seemed a popular local pub/restaurant. On the way back to the backpackers we were asked for directions by French tourists to the restaurant we were just in, we felt like experienced locals! A few more beers over cards at the hostel and a guitar jam / sing along before we took to the Fort William nightlife. A couple of the pubs had live music, one was quite folky, but they were both good craic. Slow start on Sunday, we picked up breakfast at Morrison’s before getting on the road. We followed the great glen / Caledonian canal north, then trekked east to the skye bridge, with a quick stop at the spot where the battle of glen shiel took place between the Jacobites and the English. Skye was a nice place, very laid back, typical island living. The hills, fields and coastal villages were pretty cool as well. We stopped at Portree, the largest town on the Isle. The first thing we heard was someone playing the bagpipes in the valley, we felt like we were truly on Scotland now. We booked into the Bayview backpackers as the weather looked a bit dodgy for camping. Then we went for a wander round Portree, there was a nice sandwich bar there, so a bought the continental chicken sandwich and a smoothie. Then we went to the port to sit on the wharf with the seagulls and eat our lunch. Little did I know that my lunch would also be on the Menu for our feathered friends. I was mid-bite with half a sandwich remaining when a large seagull swooped in and snatched the rest of my sandwich clean out of my hand! Grrrr! In the afternoon we saw impressive cliffs, waterfalls (one impressive, the other a bit of a fizzer), rock formations (Old man storr), forests, quaint local villages and black faced sheep with horns. The excitement was too much fun and he started falling asleep in the car! The weather started to close in so we sat in the car to eat our Icecreams in the port town of Uig. Back in Portree we picked up pasta for dinner the local co-op. At the hostel we had a quiet night. A few beers, dinner, games and quizzes and we also yarned to an Aussie backpacker. The following day we had breakfast on the other side of the Island before heading back to the mainland. On the Journey Quinn wasted me in a game of car cricket! We stopped at Urquhart Castle for a look and a bite to eat. As far as castles go I would give it a 5 out of 10. We next stopped at the loch ness centre for a photo with the mythical monster of the deep. Unfortunately we did not spot the real thing! Up to Inverness for a wander round and some lunch. Friendly place, Inverness, it was quite nice with the river flowing through it and the still in use castle. Lunch was really good, soup and Thai green curry and I washed it down with a pint. Back on the road, it was a bit of a haul down to Dundee. We drove through Aviemore and the highlands. One highlight of the trip down was a tornado jet screaming over us, very cool. We cut out Perth, through Couper Angus and into Dundee by about 6. We went out in Dundee to show Quinn around, Laings garden bar for a pint a dirty Kebab for dinner and another pint watching the football. Good end to a great weekend.