We were checking out of our hotel, before we started our last day of exploring, when a crisis hit. Joe could not find his wallet. He tore his room apart, and then we began to retrace our steps between the hotel and dinner. Portree is really small; the population is only 2,500 people. If we couldn’t find his wallet, we would undoubtedly need to divert to a major city to solve this. Across the street from The Isles Inn is the police station. Joe walked in, and they had his wallet! Someone had found it on the street and turned it in the night before. Small town government to the rescue!
Today’s orientation was the Duirinish peninsula. We made our way to see Dunvegan Castle & Gardens. Dunvegan Castle is the ancestral home of the Clan MacLeod. It has been the seat of the MacLeod chiefs for over 800 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. This is not ruins or a rebuild, it’s an actual castle, and it has a famous artifact called the Fairy Flag. No one really knows where it comes from. There is so much superstition around it, but people really believe this thing is magical. I’m sure that magic is not real, but I do like the theory that it came from Syria or Rhodes, dating back to the 4th and 7th centuries AD. Some think it could be a relic brought back by a MacLeod during the Crusades. Either way, a fairy banner certainly seems like a good omen in my book.
From the castle, we drove to see a lighthouse at Neist Point. Reaching Neist Point requires traveling along a single-track road for several miles, which contributes to its sense of isolation. When you finally get to a place to park your car, the hike down to the lighthouse and sea is not for the faint of heart. It’s renowned for its high cliffs and rugged coastline. It’s breathtaking. It feels like a scene from a movie, and upon further research, I’ve read that it was in a few.
Initially, we had said we would visit the Talisker distillery, but we decided to skip it. In the last few days, Joe realized he didn’t like whisky, and we had a distillery tour coming up in a few days, so we skipped the most prominent distillery on Skye. Tirzah recommended a place called The Old Inn & Waterfront Bunkhouse for a meal, and we decided to have lunch there. I had a fantastic seafood stew, and Samer had some delicious scallops. This was the best meal I had on the entire Isle of Skye.
After lunch, we had one more stop before we left Skye. We headed for the Fairy Pools. The Fairy Pools are a slight uphill hike along the River Brittle at the foot of the Black Cuillin mountains. The Fairy Pools are a series of waterfalls and rock pools known for their crystal-clear waters. Some people go swimming in them, but the water is frigid. It was a lovely hike after a hearty lunch and before our upcoming drive.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the night was a little stressful. We had to arrive in Oban that night. Oban is about 150 miles away; it would take us 3.5 hours. The curse of early restaurant closings and relatively quiet highways meant nothing for us to stop for on the way to Oban. We foraged snacks at a gas station, but even arriving in Oban wasn’t particularly easy. We were staying in an Airbnb and struggled to find the listed address. This long drive was partially my idea, as we had something planned for the following morning. Still, I’d probably suggest a night and a day in Glencoe to help break this up. However, we made it with only a few snipes at one another, and all went to bed as soon as we got in.