Dull and murky? But very relaxing day.
We had a brilliant night's sleep in Kings Arms Hotel and could still not understand where negative reviews on Tripadvisor came from. So far all good. We assume there has been a change of management as it now seems to be managed by the Bespoke Group.
Hans woke up just before 6am, looked out through our window and realized the fantastic blue morning light would be brilliant for photos.
Here are a couple of pics taken from our room.
Looking back across to the mainland to Kyle of Lochalsh.
Bye Di - who had been woken by Hans - she agreed it was lovely, then rolled over again in bed while he set out for a photo shoot.
Our hotel, Kings Arms, in all its yesteryear "glory".
Our room and window is on the top floor and furthest to the left. It had to be one of the best rooms at Kings Arms Hotel. There are further rooms, as the hotel has about 80 rooms in total, but the rest are at the back pointing away from the water.
The Skye Bridge from outside our hotel.
Looking the other way towards central Kyleakin.
Hans was back in the room for tea with Di at 6.45am.
We went down for breakfast on the dot for its 7.30am start as we had seen a note about a busload of 20 odd punters who would eat there from 8am. It seemed like a good idea to avoid them...
Another very pleasant surprise, the breakfast offering was the best we have had in Scotland to date. This included the usual cooked Scottish offering with toast, but also grapefruit and mandarin pieces, cereals, porridge, croissants, cooked ham and cheddar cheese and a variety of juices. We are clearly missing something from the Tripadvisor reviews or Kings Arms Hotel had upped its act considerably very recently or maybe we were just lucky or less picky than the other punters.
A lazy morning in our room followed as rain was forecast although it was mostly just overcast and misty. In fact the weather forecaster on TV described the likely weather as "dull" and "murky". A bit subjective.
Around 10.30am we headed out to Saucy Mary, the pub / hostel from yesterday. We sat in their backpacker sun lounge, accessed their free wifi and Di took the opportunity to call her friend Bev to say "hi". It was good to chat and it turned out to be a bargain (we checked later).
One weird moment while we were there. A (family?) group of 5 adults at various ages came in off the street into the sun lounge and sat down - and waited. It became apparent they were waiting for table service for food and drinks. We explained this was just a hostel lounge and that the pub was not yet open and they could try the general store next door. They looked confused and headed out again. We hate to say it but we felt they shared one single brain between them and that all 5 had been severely beaten by the ugly stick. The sun lounge was just that - an annex to the pub with no menus, no sign boards, no kitchen, no welcome sign - nothing to indicate it was an eating or even a public place. We just snuck in having found it last night.
Then off for a wander in a light mist around our little town. Every Scottish town seems to have some ruins somewhere. These are quite dramatic and are supposed to be about 1000 years old from a fortress of a chief who married a Viking princess. The locals nicknamed the princess Saucy Mary but we don't know why - she must have been popular... Clearly the name stuck as the pub chose the same name.
A bunch of kayakers were out on the water - but it felt a bit too cold and windy for us to be interested. They were very well rugged up.
At the end of the headland we found this visitors centre so popped in to get some more local tourist information and guidance. Turns out it is not the usual visitors centre...
It was called Brightwater Visitors Centre and is purely focused on the wildlife books and life of Gavin Maxwell, who lived near here with his otter... yes, you read that right.
A note on the otter - apparently Gavin first got it when he lived in a London flat (what?). It did not work out well (wonder why?) and therefore prompted his return to where he was born. Gavin wrote a particular book about his experiences, called "Ring of Bright Water", and hence the name of the visitors centre. We found an information board further along the path.
Despite not being a tourist centre the woman running the centre had quite a bit of tourist info and gave us some useful tips on things to see and do as well as maps and pamphlets. How helpful. So we returned to our room for a cuppa and research.
Around 12:30pm we headed out again as the clouds were lifting and we liked the idea of walking across Skye Bridge. So we dressed warmly (it was predicted as 8 -15 degrees here) and headed out.
We were glad we went due to the great views. Us on the bridge (yes it gets more scenic than this!)
Looking back along the coast to Kyleakin. Our hotel was on the narrow strip near the carved out bay. The water looks really clean and you could easily see through to the underwater rocks.
Looking northwards. Hans looked understandably windswept as Skye Bridge was very exposed. There are times when this bridge is closed due to high winds (nothing to do with Hans breakfast of porridge, eggs and beans...)
Near the end of the bridge we could see a lighthouse that we learned had been built by R.L. Stevenson's grandfather. He also built another one at Dunnets Head which Hans saw a few days ago.
We peered often over the edge of the railing (Di on tippy toes, short ass...) as we had been told the bridge was a good vantage point for seeing otter, dolphin, seal and other wildlife, but not likely today due to choppy water. We persisted but saw nothing except kayakers.
The white house on the right was where Gavin Maxwell wrote some of his books and tried to establish a wildlife colony. It was at a time before the bridges so it was an isolated island which seemed to suit him and his otter.
Scotland is very photogenic even with low clouds. Dull???
A short while later we were in "downtown" Kyle of Lochalsh. Not much to the place, pretty but limited. Even the one pub was not open for lunch. At least the red-bearded guy added some interest. Don't you sometimes feel that somebody is looking over your shoulder?
Then we saw this and had to go down and investigate further.
It was of course the local railway station, end of the line, running onto to a pier over water. The cute 2 carriage train apparently goes between Inverness and Wick, via here and Thurso. Damn - we wanted to take a ride but don't have enough time. The trip from here to Thurso would probably be stunning as we did see part of the line yesterday as we drove.
We found the only cafe in town, Hector's Bothy, which was a popular choice for a late light lunch. We waited for a table to be cleared, looked at the menu and then looked at the serving sizes around us. As a result we shared a BLT club (3 layer) sandwich. It was excellent and certainly enough for us. Hans liked the espresso too. With drinks we paid £8 and for once were not completely stuffed with food. A good value tasty option.
The walk back was again easy with less photos (same views) except for these great signs in both English and Gaelic. We tried to pronounce them. More throat clearing...
Signs of this nature we've seen a few times and Di boasted she could understand each language with her high school skills (or was it the obvious interpretation?). The second line may have come most natural to her. Hans was looking for the Swedish version, but it must have been lost in translation...
An easy stroll down from the bridge back to our hotel, with 7.5km completed all up. Very enjoyable afternoon.
It was 3.30pm and time for tea and relaxation in our room at Kings Arms Hotel. Di questioned why we had to keep getting into the Kings Arms Hotel's dodgy lift? Hans normally would take the stairs but likes this lift, a lot. Well, it is very retro, very very retro. Di thought it was a gamble. C'mon chicken, get in...
After a relaxing afternoon we went back to Saucy Mary's for dinner but no alcohol tonight. We gave our livers a break. Dinner was fine and after updating our blog we went home. A quiet night with a big day planned tomorrow.
Good night.
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