Sights and Sounds One Hundred and Two

Days 5-8

Finally have some time to type and catch up. The last few days as seen us travel allover the place. I’ll attempt to recap. 

We packed up on Thursday and said farewell to Knaresborough. It’s always fun to visit the town and of course see mum and dad. We drove down the M1 to Barnsley the cut across the Pennines through Glossup to Buxton. The drive took quite a while but the views of the Peak District were pretty cool.

After a brief lunch dad said his farewells and headed home. Julian, Dusti and I took Mak out to The Roaches for an afternoon walk. The Roaches is a rock formation in Staffordshire about 20 minutes from Buxton. The last time we visited it was freezing cold. This time it was glorious sunshine. There were loads of hikers and climber out. The walk up offers some really awesome views. You can see all the way to Wales. Mak got in his exercise (along with the rest of us). The way he freely navigates the rocks and trails was awesome and was a good preparation for what he is experiencing here on Ronay.

In the evening we went for a dinner out at the Buxton Tap House followed by a stop off at Monk (Victoria’s boyfriend’s bar) for a couple of cocktails then it was on to Victoria’s Salsa class. Dusti and Sarah participated and Julian and i watched and cheered them on :)

We go back to the house and slept hard (if only for a short time).

On Friday morning the alarms went off around the house about 5:30 or so. We managed too all be ready and packed by 6:30 to start our mega trip to Scotland. Victoria and Manny drove on their own. Sarah’s Dad and mum took Kate and Frankie and Sarah’s brother Matthew drove his daughter Sofia. We all left at different times and would meet up at different stages and continue on together.

julian had planned out a coupe of stops for us on the way as Mak certainly need to stretch his legs a few times on our lengthy journey. The first stop was Hadrian’s Wall just outside Carlisle. It was build by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to keep out the Scottish clans way back in the day. It stretches across North England and i had visited the Eastern side before as a kid and it was not so impressive in fact in places the wall was only a couple of feet high but this section of the wall was pretty cool. We walked along for about half an hour and ran into a couple of women hikers from the US who were walking the whole wall. Mak chased his frisbee and i think we wore him about just enough for the next leg of the trip.



We continued north in Scotland and around Glasgow. The rain began and didn’t stop for a long time. The ride was very twisty and turn along with  offering some spectacular scenes it also offered some traffic headaches. At one point two truck traveling in opposite directions couldn’t get passed each other. It wasn’t until a guy from one of the cars stuck in the queue helped guide them. We also saw a car overturned from skidding off the road. 

Some of the mountains were awesome it really was a shame it was such poor weather. Our next Stop was Fort William to get a bite to eat. We chose what looked like the best option which was like a welcome center (tourist trap). Once inside we found out they weren’t serving hot food anymore and only offered cold sandwiches and drinks. We each had a cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit and got back on the road. It seemed for the next hour or so all we kept seeing was places to eat that served “hot food all day” and it became a bit of a joke. We eventually made a last turn on to the road which would send us to our accommodations for the night in the village of Glenelg. The rain  stopped as we drove up a mountain side and Julian pulled over at “viewing area” and we saw the spectacular Scottish landscape.


After a few pictures and we were ready to eat get to the cottage. Once there Matthew and Sofia showed up about 10 minutes later. It was a cool little house that was stuck in 1950. It reminded of my grandmothers house with peculiar ornaments and old fashioned furniture. It served it’s purpose though and we had a huge field behind us where Mak could run around. In fact he made friends with a couple of other local border collies pretty quickly.

After we were settled in we headed out to dinner. Luckily Sarah was able to book us a table at the Glenelg Inn. It was a short 5 minute drive from our location. We arrived at 8pm and as we walked in we were greeted by a roaring fire and the sounds of gaelic music. It was like walking in to a scene of a movie. All the tables were filed with people eating and drinking the local varieties and ales and food. It was really cool. We all ordered drinks then decided to order several plates of food which we passed around so everyone got a taste. Included in our meal was traditional fish and chip, local scallops, venison stew and venison steaks and langoustines (which a like huge crawfish). Followed by a dessert  of Sticky Toffee Puddings which we didn’t share! Afterwards we headed back for a good nights sleep.



Saturday morning we got up and prepared for the last day of travel which would have us end up on the Island of Ronay. This proved to be quite an adventurous day. The rain started as we pulled out of the drive. Our first stop was only 10 minutes away as we were to take a small ferry to the Isle of Skye. The Kylerhea Ferry was small little boat that could only hold about four cars. The center of the boat had a circular ramp that rotated over the dock so the cars could drive on to it. We stayed in the cars as turntable rotated back into place and the boats engines cranked up. I have to admit it was a bit nervous sat in the car as we cruised over. Thankfully it was a pretty smooth crossing.



 The rain was pouring down as we drove off the ferry and headed up the mountain on the Skye side. The scenery was unreal. It looked so prehistoric and there were hundred of waterfalls cascading down the mountain side. No video or picture can recreate the grandeur of the sights we were seeing. The rain was lashing horizontally in the style of a South Carolina storm but the temperature was a little different! We followed Matthew in his Mini weaving around the side of the mountain on the tiniest road i’ve ever seen. Fortunately we only saw one car coming in the opposite direction and we timed it well as we met at a small passing shoulder where we could let them by.

We drove onto the major road that runs through Skye and headed towards Portree which the capital. The clouds were not giving up and the rain was intense. We stopped in Portree for our food supplies for Ronay and then it was on to Uig to catch the big ferry to the Outer Hebrides.
We did have chance for a photo pop on the drive when the skies suddenly opened and the sun shone on one of Skye’s famous scenes. It was fantastic.



In Uig we met up with Sarah’s parents Tony and Celia and also with Kate and her boyfriend Frankie. We had to wait about an hour before we could drive on to the ferry so we wandered around the harbour to take a few photos. Once the traffic started moving we found ourselves quickly parked in the bottom of the Ferry. Kate and Frankie were registered as walkers so they could take Mak with them otherwise he would have to stay in the car which would not have been fun for him. Once on the boat we gathered on deck as we left the port. The sun was out and the view was very cool. Despite being extremely windy it was really good crossing. Dusti struggled  with a little bit of see sickness but managed. 




Once on the Outer Hebrides we were started our final leg of the journey. A ten mile drive to Ceallan where we would meet our host who would ferry us over to the island. We pulled up at the dock and met the final members our party, Victoria and Manny. A gentleman named David was going to help Neil (the property manager) carry us over to Ronay as he had a larger boat. There was 12 of us and we were toting a weeks worth of food, drink and other supplies. We found out later that David is the owner of the whole of North and South Uist and has OBE and was an Earl! He was really nice guy and you would never have known it. I did get the impression he was posh though whilst chatting with him. 

Each car took turns backing down the boat ramp to unload everything onto the boat. Matthew and Manny rode over with Neil and the rest of us took the Earl’s boat!
It was a short ride of about 10 minutes to get to Ronay. We were told it’s pronounced Rona and on some maps it’s spelled Ronaigh. There is only one house on the island (the one were are staying in) and Sarah had seen an ad for this place in the Sunday Times newspaper and organized the whole trip. The excitement on her face was plain to see as we turned into the bay where the house dock was. We were all very excited it had been a very long trip but judging by the initial sight it was going to be well worth it. 

From the outside the house looked small. I was sitting below a rocky cliff in a pretty dramatic fashion. We unloaded all the supplies and luggage and Sarah gave us orders to our rooms.
I was eager to unpack quickly so i could shoot some photos. The light was awesome. The sun was out and the clouds were dramatic. 

Julian, Dusti, Mak and myself headed out on a pre dinner walk to ease of the island. It was spectacular and to top it off although we were caught in a brief rain shower we were treated to a rainbow or the mountain top towards the sea. The scenery was stunning. It’s going to be a really cool week of photo ops. 

One of the arrangements for this week is that each couple has been designated a night to cook. This first night was Victoria and Manny’s turn. We were treated to two meat pies and a homity pie, boiled potatoes and Kale with some Stilton Cheese and a Ham. It was quite the spread. The meal was delicious.

After dinner i tried to catch the sunset. I went up the closest mountain with Kate, Frankie, Victoria and Manny. Unfortunately, we whereabouts 10 minutes too late. Hopefully we’ll catch one later in the week.