Staffin and Edibane
After a couple of days at Portree campsite, Mel and I set off to pastures new – the next 3 nights are to be spent at Staffin which is on the northeast coast of Skye. But northeast isn’t too far away from southwest and we have discovered that what looks a long distance on a map, is only a short distance on Skye. Everything is so close and as we had to leave the previous site well before arriving at Staffin, we had some time to kill.
The weather was not being that kind to us, and it was hard to see the top of the mountains due to the clouds, but we still decided to walk up the Old Man of Storr which is a rock formation just outside of Portree. It got its name because one side of the rock looks like a face apparently. But we couldn’t tell. We hiked up, took some photos and hiked back down. That was it. The weather and the tourists didn’t really make it a spectacular experience, but it killed some time.
Staffin campsite was a small site and impeccably clean and tidy. We were in a hollow with views of the Cuillin mountains and became my favourite site so far. Allegedly there was direct access to the beach, although we soon found out that it wasn’t so easy as suggested.
The next day we set off for the beach full of joy and enthusiasm and whilst I had my walking boots on, Mel was only wearing trainers, but we thought we would be ok – what a mistake that was. What the little site brochure hadn’t told us was that the walk was nearly impossible due to being across a peat bog. Before long, both Mel and I were sinking into dark, gloopy grass/moss/reeds/peat/mud/water. It was not fun at all.
As our feet got steadily wetter, I began to worry about the likelihood of trench foot, but we continued forward in the hope of reaching the beach. One of the difficulties was not being able to see a clear path and we spent much time on paths made by sheep and shouting ‘lambuelles’ every time we saw a lamb. Lambuelles is a family term.
Eventually we made it to some rocks, and this did make it somewhat easier, and we were pleased to see the sea. It was a dramatic sight with imposing cliffs made of granite and I was soon sending photos to Callum challenging him to climb them. I was relieved that he didn’t take up the offer as they looked very dangerous.
The route down from the top of the hill to the beach was treacherous and whilst some helpful person had taken the time to pave the path, with water running over them, they were so slippy, you couldn’t look a way for a second.
When we had left, I hadn’t been feeling 100% but didn’t worry about it but I was now. The focus on the cobbles on the path along with wet feet was making me feel a bit dizzy. I was worried I was going to have a ‘funny turn’ and generally felt pretty shit. My energy vanished. Mel helped me down to the seafront whilst I alternated between hypothermia and heatstroke. I was sure I had finally got covid.
It was impossible to go back the way we came and so ended up having to walk home the long way with Mel encouraging me all the way. I haven’t felt that unwell for a long, long time. When we did make it back to Ethel, I promptly did a test, but it was surprisingly negative. I shivered under a blanket for the evening and when I woke up the next day, I felt fine. No idea what had been wrong.
The only other downside of the Staffin campsite was its location. It was in the middle of nowhere and Skye doesn’t believe in public transport. There weren’t any places to walk to unless you stayed on the roads and so we decided to be proper tourists for the day and went for a boat ride. We found a great place to park Ethel for the day in Portree and headed to the chemist. Mel gets seasick, even in the bath. One look at water and she feels queasy. But she also wants to see the wildlife and the best way to do this is via the water. Fortunately, anti-seasick tablets seem to work for her.
We boarded the boat and listened to a safety talk. There really wasn’t any point him telling us about what to do in an emergency as his instructions were a tad vague. Apparently, the life jackets were somewhere in the front of the cabin thing to the right and the lifeboat was in the roof of the cabin. I didn’t work out how to get the lifeboat out of the ceiling but was relieved to know that they were the self-inflate variety.
Like a small child, as soon as he had finished talking, I dragged Mel to the front of the boat, so we had the best seats. I did suggest we did the titanic ‘thing’ but she didn’t seem that impressed. It was a good trip and we got to see dolphins (well their fins), puffins and some rare eagles. By the time we got back, we were both freezing and went to grab some lunch.
The next day we left for Edibane which is a small village somewhere on Skye. To be honest, as Skye is so small and we have been up and down the same roads many times, I have completely lost my sense of direction unless I look at a map. Again, we had time to kill before we could arrive on site and decided to drive right up to the most northly point of Skye. There is only one road, so it is impossible to get lost, but to ensure we are on the right route, Mel continues to map read.
Many of the roads on Skye are single track with passing places. As the passing places are so close together it allows the free flow of traffic easily. When I say free flow, I mean 3 cars, 10 minutes apart as it seems the only traffic on Skye is tourists. Regardless of this, I think this method on single track roads is brilliant and something England should copy.
We arrive at Edibane and opt for a Lochside pitch. The views were great, but the slope was not. We used chocks under Ethel’s wheels but still a battery rolled off the table at great speed. It wasn’t helped by being on grass and the chocks seemed to sink further and further into the ground. Mel dreamt we rolled into the loch and I couldn’t sleep on the first night as the blood was pooling in my head so the next day we had to turn Ethel around so my feet could be lower than my head.
The next thing to mention is the wind. Everywhere in Skye seems to be windy. I don’t mean a breeze with occasional strong gusts; I mean a full on gale despite the sun shining. Determined to look as if we were on holiday, Mel and I were committed to sitting outside and enjoying the scenery but ended up hiding by the side of Ethel to get protection from the wind. I know it is April and I know we are by the sea, but I would not be able to live here if is always so windy.
Other problem with strong winds is that we can’t use our fancy pants satellite system in case the dish blows off but as I had finally brought the right cables to connect the laptop to the TV we could watch the box as normal. Mind you, this only works with a signal. There wasn’t any 4g at Edibane but there was Wi-Fi which was ok for most of the time.
Other than Mel’s constant beach combing and a meal at the local pub, we were determined to relax and enjoy our time away. The next site is Dunvegan which is a mere 17 minutes from where we were now!
2LadiesTravelling 