A week on Skye

A fortnight ago I had no plans for a holiday but 11 days ago an opportunity presented itself to grab a last minute booking for a week on the Isle of Skye. Within 2 days of booking & paying we were packed and off, quite amazing for me. I'm not one who can commit to planning things way in advance, I'm usually last minute, but I do like a few more days to pack clothes and gather some craft things together to keep me busy. 
It was too good a chance to miss as I've not been to Skye for almost 3 years and with there being a reduced fee on the cottage I grabbed it whilst I could!

It's a long drive from here to Skye, about 10 hours and that's only with one 15 min toilet stop on the motorway, I usually take a comprehensive car picnic to cut down on stoppage time & overpriced motorway snacks. When you think about how far it is, to put it into perspective you could get to the US quicker.

Once above Glasgow & Loch Lomond you really feel like you are making progress. Here's a moody shot driving through the mountains of Glencoe.

Onwards and upwards to Fort William, a quick refuel and you're down to the last couple of hours traveling as you hit the road to the Isles.
And here we are, whizzing across the Skye Bridge in the glorious sunshine.

The holiday cottage was towards the southern tip of Skye, this area is called Sleat and known as the Garden of Skye, very lush and coastal whereas further north is rugged, mountainous and with steep cliffs. I've mainly stayed in the north west before so this was a new experience.
The cottage was only small but it had amazing views out to sea from most of the windows.
Below is the view from the lounge and you may see a ferry coming across in the centre of the shot, this is the Skye ferry which goes back and forth to Mallaig on the mainland about half a dozen times a day.

The view below is from the front of the cottage.

Below is an evening shot, you can see why they call it The Misty Isle as the clouds roll in.

I have so enjoyed the luxury of having coastal views all week, you really feel at one with nature when you can see weather patterns moving across the mountains and over the sea. The week started sunny but it mostly got wetter which in some ways was a shame as Skye has had it's best summer for years and we've had it rubbish down here yet the minute I go north I seem to have taken the rain with me! But it changes so quick up there being an island & the wet did not damp my spirits.

It was about a 10 minute walk from the cottage down to the pier at Armadale where the ferry departs and these are some lovely sunny shots there on the first day.

I have a few more photos of places I visited and things I bought which I will put in another post.