Monday 5thApril2010
Rise and shine!! Took the 7.15am train to Mallaig/Malaig (Gaelic spelling). Malaig means 'small bay'. I slept most of the train ride away despite the picturesque landscapes. Waking up at 5.30am was 5 and a half hours too early for me.
When we finally reached our destination, we got off the train in excitement, anticipating adventure and more! Our very first stop, marking the start of our journey! Unfortunately, Malaig greeted us grumpily with strong winds and dark skies. We were told that it was very unlikely for the ferry to cross the Sound of Sleat that day. That meant staying the night at Mallaig and losing exploration time in Skye. BADBAD NEWS. The ticketing lady told us that there was a very very small chance that the ferry might operate at 4.30pm, should the weather improve. We kept out hopes up and waited in the ticketing office waiting area. We prepared our baguette+ham+salsa lunch and made ourselves at feel at home in the waiting area. It was a funny sight.
Come 4.30pm, we were told 'Go get drunk' by the ticketing lady. It was finalised. We were not going to cross the the narrow sea channel today.
We walked around the port-village looking for accommodation. We finally had to split 4-2. 4 of us in Backpackers Lodge and 2 in Marine hotel.
We had a satisfying seafood dinner in Cornerstone Seafood followed by dessert in Fishmarket Restaurant. (The white chocolate & bailey cheesecake had caught Miss WZ's eye whilst we were browsing restaurants to decide on our dinner venue). The local langoustine served cold with dips, shared between me,tc and wg was an excellent appetizer choice! So was the oven baked haddock in lemon butter.
For dessert, we had white choc&bailey cheesecake, warm butter cake with poached plums and traditional raspberry cranachan. The cranachan, for those who don't know, is basically oats, honey and whisky whisked. Because we were sharing and not getting an item each, we were told that we couldn't sit in. -_- fine. Take away then.
The Backpackers Lodge is highly recommended! Only £15 a night with excellent toilet, kitchen and lounging facilities. The bunks bed were comfortable and clean too.
We spent the wet and windy night indoors, relaxing and playing a game of Scrabble. 3 teams:
Red team - wz wg
Black - tc mn
Mixed - kt mt
The highlight of the game was when Red team gained 189(?) points in one round by extending "stereo" into "stereotypic". -_-
Lights out was early at 11.30pm. So, we retired early.
Praypraypraypraypray for good weather!
Tuesday 6thApril2010
HOOORAH! Better weather!!
We woke up at 8.30am, had breakfast and ferried across using the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry service. The ferry ride was quite rough. The air was still slightly damp and sky, cloudy.
At the Armadale pier, we were welcomed by the Flora MacDonald Hostel owner. After loading the bags into her car boot, she dropped us at the Visitor Centre. Lovely lady she was, she took our bags to the accommodation and left us to explore the island, bag-free.
Armadale is a village on the Sleat Peninsula of the Isle of Skye. While exploring the Museum of the Isles in the Clan Donald Skye's 20 000-acre estate, I learned that:
- Isle of Skye is the second largest island in the collection of the Hebride islands.
- Skye, An t-eilean sgitheanach in Gaelic and means winged isle.
- Macdonald is the biggest clan in Scotland
As I read Clan Donald's Incitement to Battle, mounted on the wall of the museum exhibition, I felt the words reeling me in. It was an interesting feeling.
Children of conn, remember hardihood in the time of battle
We explored the estate further, admiring the Armadale Castle ruins and the lawn surrounding it. We then lunched in the Stables Restaurant.
After having strolled around the estate, we realised that there was nothing much else we could do in Armadale besides hill-walking or hiking. So, we tried to get some information about the bus services in the village. I must say, this visitor centre has got to be the "best" I've ever seen.
M: Hi, could you please tell me what is the name of the bus stop that is right outside this building? (there was a time table but it was useless without knowing the name of the stop)
Lady: -don’t know-
M: Do you know what time the bus comes?
Lady: -don’t know-
M: Which side of the road do we wait on?
Lady: -unsure- -finally decided that it was the side closer to the building-
M: How much?
Lady: -don't know-
Oooookay. Great.
So we stood under the rain and in the cold, waiting at the bus stop, completely clueless about what the bus looked like, when and if it would come, and how much it costed to travel to Portree. About 30 minutes later, we decided that it was time to give up. After walking for about 10metres, a geometrical blue vehicle appeared around the bend, travelling in our direction and it said "Portree" on the front. OMGGGGGGGG. TURN AROUND AND RUN TOWARDS THE BUS STOP. WAVE WAVE WAVE.
It was £6.70 for a return ticket and was a 1hour and 10minutes journey to Portree. We passed Broadford, another coastal village, on the way. To imagine the bus ride, think of a road as windy the one leading to Batu Ferringhi in Penang, travelling at 70km/h and the bus swaying from left to right on coastal roads.
It was mostly crofting landscape with many sheep and cattle (Highland cows specifically) grazing the land. Though spring has come, the hills were still largely covered in brownness. There were also hill patches covered in reddish-green autumn-like trees.
Portree was explored in 1 hour and 15minutes :
1. Tourist information centre (much better one) -where I got Mr Sheepy
2. The Lump (where they play the highland games like tug-o-war, the hammer throw and tossing the caber every year in August)
3. The Gathering Hall craft shop
4. Harbour
5. Grocery shopping for dinner in Somerfield
On the bus ride back to Armadale from Portree, we saw pyramid-shaped snow-capped mountains in the distance. The sight of the sun beaming in through the clouds, bathing parts of the mountain range was simply breathtaking. The base of the peaks seemed more timid, taking cover behind the clouds.
Sunlight really makes all the difference. The weather on the way to Portree was wet and gloomy. However, the view was still serene and pretty. When we were travelling back to Armadale, the sun decided to make an appearance. The landscape that passed us by looked so different in brightness that it felt like we were teleported to an entirely new island. With that said, I cannot imagine land without the illumination of the magnificent sun.
Later, we went hillwalking on Armadale Hill. Unfortunately, we did not reach the peak. The sky was growing dark and our tummies, hungry. It was nice though, walking through an open grassland and passing a moorland on the way up.
We had a simple hostel-cooked dinner of instant noodles w chicken crabstick, vege and egg.
Wednesday 7thApril2010
Happy birthday Michelle Ng!!
Next stop: Inverness
Mode of transportation: Bus
Woke up, packed, quick breakfast and hurried to the bus stop to catch the 8.40am bus which would transport us to Armadale Road End, which mind you, wasn't in Armadale but was in Broadford.-_- Our tickets were for the 9.53am coach to Inverness from that bus stop. What we didn’t know was that the schedule we were following only came into effect after July. By then, we were already running late. STICKY SITUATION. NOT GOOD.
We started considering our options: (by hook or by crook, we had to board that bus!)
1. Walk 19miles to Broadford. Average walking speed 20 mins per mile. 20x19= 380 mins = 6.3 hours. (NO)
2.Hitch hike (yes we actually started signing the cars passingby) (Failed miserably)
3. Taxi there (the last time we tried that, we coulnt find any companies on this island)
4. Call Mrs MacDonald and beg her to take us there (Wait a minute.. she can't. She doesn't have a six seater)
5. Call macdonald ask her for advice
Number 5 served most fruitful. She gave us a local taxi contact number. It was REALLY local. As local as the taxi driver's accommodation just being in the same vicinity the hostel was in. 5 minutes later, a "Macneacail Tacsi" came to our rescue. £24, 25 minutes, 60mph. Not bad at all! She dropped us off at the Broadford Hospital Road End bus stop and told us that we could catch the same bus from this bus stop.
-no time to proof read
-no time to write the rest
this shall do for now.
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