From our wildcamping spot last evening we could see the sky clearing from the west and eventually we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Isles of Lewis and Harris on the horizon.

Sunset over the Outer Hebrides

Evening Scene near our wild camping spot

Evening Scene near our wild camping spot

When we got up this morning the bad weather had lifted completely and we were able to see the lovely surrounding scenery and the Outer Hebrides in the distance.

Our ferry was 6.30 in the evening and so we decided we would drive around the Totternish Peninsular in the reverse of our previous day’s drive, hoping this time the spectacular geography would be visible to us. We have to say that it was a slight anti climax. The drive follows the coast and so there are always views out to seeaand the mountains have a slightly craggy and unusual aspect, but no where near as much as the Cuillin Mountains on Skye which are far more spectacular.

We saw the Old Man of Storr, a rock pinnacle on a mountain slope. As we approached there were literally hundreds of cars parked all over the road, including, by the hundred on double yellow lines, to undertake the the one and a half hour hike up to the pinnacle. This was a theme of today – crowds. Earlier this week, presumably because of the bad weather, Skye seemed relatively quiet. Not today.

Old Man of Storr (on the left)

Making progress of the single track roads was painfully slow. Portree was packed, with a huge cruise ship in the harbour. Every small tourist attraction was thronged. Skye is no longer a beautiful remote place, but a tourist hub.

It was without much enthusiasm that we set out to see, from the outside, Dunvegan Castle, which we visited 30 years ago. When we arrived the castle owners have cleverly devised a system where you have to pay to get anywhere near the castle, you cannot even get a peak of the exterior without paying. My recollection from our previous visit was that you only had to pay to get in, but things have moved on.

McLeod’s Tables Dunvegan

Finally we made for Uig and our ferry. We are currently parked in a queue for the ferry. It is running 40 minutes late, but having been reading about the Outer Hebrides I am genuinely excited to see what they are like. I rang a campsite on Harris to try to arrange our first night but the owner just said “turn up”! So whether we are on a campsite or wildcamping tonight, time will tell.