Right - back to the report
Day 9 - Uig to Sligachan (42 km)We awoke to a sunny morning, on our campsite overlooking the sea at Uig
However the wind was starting to get up, and rain was forecast for later, so we packed up and headed South into the heart of Skye. The road starts with a long, steady climb out of the cove where Uig and the port sit, at the top giving a final view out over the bay before setting off into the cloudy interior.
The wind was starting to increase, and the Cuillin hills far off in front of us faded into the grey approaching. At an Audax hotel a little north of Portree we decided to stop for a food and wind break, when a family in a car stopped at the side of the bus stop to ask directions. I had no idea where they were after, but had access to a map, so after fighting with the wind as I unpacked it, I basically stuffed the whole unfolded map in the car and told the young lady inside to look for where they were going. It turned out to be miles away at the other end of the island.
We then rode into Portree and had a proper tea/coffee stop. This took a little longer than planned as all the cafes in the town square had queues of School pupils out of the doors. We eventually found a cafe without a queue opposite the YMCA, and after lunch, and then stocking up on supplies, we resumed our ride down the A87 as the rain started falling around us to Sligachan campsite.
The rain wasn't too bad when we arrived, but then we got onto pitching tents, and a full storm roared up. We found that a major advantage of touring as a pair was that one person could hold down a tent while the other pegged down everything possible to stop it blowing away. Tents up two very wet cyclists then ritired across the road to the Sligachan Inn, and it's wood fire, in front of which we spent the rest of the evening, before finally retiring into tents bellowing and bending in the wind.
Day 10 - Afternoon Trip to Raasay (26km)
It was still raining in the morning, and, after finding out that a fellow camper's tent had broken in the night, and he had switched to his backup (which was a bigger version of Ruthie's tent) we again sought shelter inside the inn while this passed over. We decided that today would be a day off to do some washing and have a rest. As the rain stopped in the early afternoon however, there was still time to get out and do a bit of exploring. Ruthie demonstrated her well honed camp culinary skills preparing a very tasty stir fry, and then we set out on what felt like skittish little racing bikes to Sconser and the ferry port.
The ferry over had outside seating, so we could see the Island approaching as we followed what felt like a rather drunken route round the deep water channel to Raasay, passing a swimming cormorant (but no dolphins) on the way
Raasay is a wonderful little island. There's only a small population, mainly based around the village next to the Ferry terminal, but it's sheltered deciduous woodland made it feel a bit like riding in English country lanes. After climbing out of the woodlands though, the scenery was breathtaking
We rode along the steeply undulating higher road north on the island with an idea that we might ride up to the abandoned villages at the north end, but the morning rain had stolen too much of the day, and eventually we turned back to make sure we got back in time for the ferry. Definitely somewhere to get out and do more exploring in the future.
We arrived back in time to get a drink at Rassay House, served by a friendly but pretty useless barista (he managed to scald himself, had three goes at making enough milk for Ruthie's latte, which he then spilt when trying to hand over and then forgot what he'd just served when pricing up).
Then we wandered down to the mermaids on the dock, and caught the ferry back into the fading light and back to the campsite.
