In 300 Ft take the 2nd Exit at the Roundabout….

Today we left Aberdeen headed for the Isle of Skye. After yesterday, I am secretly watching to make sure that I get in a Whisky Distillery today as we drive the 100 plus miles to our Hotel in Kyleakin. My only fear is what will the GPS have in store for us today. After yesterday, I am just waiting for it to send us down some sheep trail.

We managed to get our luggage down the 3 flights of narrow stairs without killing ourselves, we loaded them into the car and went off for our breakfast. With that behind us, we climbed in the car and took off. Good news the GPS decided to play nice.  Although I was really getting tired of it telling me to take the 2nd Exit at the Roundabout.  Whatever happened to just going straight? Or stay on the A90, or any normal thing like that? Instead of the incessant Roundabout chatter? Granted it was only in the cities that this really became annoying.  But still, after the 30th or 40th time it just gets old.

While we are driving I am keeping my eyes open for a distillery. Success, there is one just a 1/2 mile off our main path. So I take the turn and tell Helen we are heading to a distillery. She smiles says fine and in seconds we are there.  As we pull up the first thing we notice is that the visitor lot is empty, the next thing I notice is that this distillery doesn’t sell a standalone Scotch. Instead it’s a major contributor to the Chivas Regal blend. BORING!!! So we don’t stop as I know we will passing other distilleries on our way to Loch Ness and Isle of Skye.

Well that turned out to be overly optimistic on my part. We did pass other distilleries, every time we came to a turnoff for one, the sign basically said it would an hour of drive time just to get to it and back on track. With a tour that would be two more hours of driving added to the trip. No Thank You. So today we will not be visiting a distillery, thankfully I have Nessie to look forward to.

As we are approaching Inverness I see a sign for Kilravock Castle, I immediately take the turn, so Helen can take a picture or two for her Hairdresser, Christie. It turns out that her family is part of the heritage for that Castle. So we drive back through the farms and come to the castle, and just like yesterday at Fyvie, the front is not that impressive. But we take the pictures and head on.

So we can tell we are getting close to Loch Ness, Everything is named Ness and telling us to take their boat tour of the loch. This is all okay, it’s what you would expect for a tourist trap. I think it hit rock bottom when about a mile in land from the lake we find the Loch Ness Monster Tourist center. So of course we had to stop, we used the bathrooms, we then climbed back into the car and drove to the castle ruin we saw ahead of us. I guess the other good thing was that I happened to be in the right place at the right time and took a quick snapshot of Nessie, I could become famous!!

We pulled up to Urquehart Castle, in the rain, but decided that we would brave the elements and go give it a look. It was a smart decision on our part. We spent two hours there and with the help of Stuart, one of the staff, we learned a lot. I just wish it had been a lot less rainy and windy. By the time we were done, we were soaked, frozen, and happy we took the chance.

When we left the drive to Skye was through some of the most incredibly beautiful country we had seen in a while.

I am hoping on our return trip that we will be able to stop and take some incredible pictures. We at least enjoyed the drive and when we made it to The White Heather Hotel, it’s a B&B in Kyleakin run by Gillian and Craig, two great people running a great establishment.