Some days just seemed wasted. Today was one of those days. After a second disturbed night because of the very strong wind, this morning we got up, dressed, packed up and drove a short distance down the road to Uig village store for hot drinks, and a really awful sausage roll, that contained no meat, but slurry. We know what you're thinking, we thought about it as well. We were near the Fairy Glen, and after vowing we wouldn't start revsiting all the must see spots on Skye, having seen them before, we decided to return here as we'd enjoyed it so much on our first visit.
The sun was out that day, not today, it was grey, rainy and a lot colder than yesterday. It's said, that you should never revisit faces or places, we don't necessarily agree with that, but some occasions like today we did.
The Fairy Glen just didn't seem magical like it did on our first visit. Whilst at the Glen, John climbed up to the high point, Angela couldn't, someone had to take the photograph. A few days ago John commented that if he passed away first Angela would go on to have a 'whale of a time'. As she watched him walk close to the edge of the rock above her, she honestly wasn't thinking about galavanting. Next stop the Quirang, or perhaps not. A road closure meant a detour of an hour and a half. With the wind gusting, blowing clouds laden with rain across the island we decided to visit another time. With sunshine and showers come amazing rainbows, and we've certainly seen many of these in the last few days.
So after yet more driving, stopping at the Bride's Veil Falls for lunch, before moving on past the Old Man of Storr on the Trotternish Ridge and then up to Staffin beach we became very conscious that we needed to find somewhere to hunker down out of tonight's wind.
There was only one place, Portree, so we turned around and retraced our steps, and luckily at Portree there was just one overnight space out of the four available. We don't know what the politics are here in Portree, but for some reason the four original parking spaces which are really too small for motorhomes to park in, and are certainly too close together, no six metre spacing rule for safety here, are all that's available in the large carpark. Why? Portree is the main town on the island, the shops, cafes and restaurants we are sure would welcome more trade from overnight vans. Nearly everywhere on Skye parking had to be paid for, £3.00 minimum for four hours parking at the Fairy Glen this morning, most people require less than an hour. On the internet, pricing here for visitors is referred to 'as the Scottish price'! Because they are so hot on ticketing vehicles in parking areas here, Angela was worried that Marge would not be considered a campervan in line with the signage, because of her tent style pop up roof, so we asked a parking attendant who said she was a 'grey area'. Charming. After inspecting Marge, he reluctantly agreed on this occasion she could park overnight. Funny she's a campervan when we have to pay at campsites. Some days are not so much fun, and the gusting wind these last few days has been a real spoiler. But let's look at the positives, some beautiful sunshine, stunning views, fantastic rainbows arching through the skies, and tonight an excellent Chinese takeaway from the Fat Panda nearby, oh and a brush with a few sheep earlier.
So tonight, we are not really where we would have liked to have parked up, in a town, very close to our Italian neighbours, (two vans), and adjacent to the recycling bins. Marge deserves better, but the wind is still blowing strong from the south and here in Portree we are sheltered, so beggars can't be choosers. Tomorrow, we will look into our onward travels, unsettled weather is rolling in from the Atlantic, so probably best to start thinking about making tracks. One thing we've learnt today, sometimes it's best not to revisit some places, because time changes environments, people and you.
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