Last Hurrah in the Highlands, part II: Isle of Skye, Where the Fairies are Abundant but the Hairy Coos are Elusive

We started the day on the Isle of Skye with no real plans but to explore the scenery. And truly, the landscapes here are some of the most stunningly beautiful, dramatic sights I’ve ever seen. Like the Bachelor says, “the most DRAMATIC Rose Ceremony ever!” but this time with sweeping cliffs overlooking the sea, hidden waterfalls and bright green moss-covered hills.

First stop was known as the Fairy Glen. There are many places across the island that reference fairies, and fairies are a big part of the folklore. The Fairy Glen is an interesting area of land, with uniquely-shaped grass hills, formed by a series of landslides and then subsequent glacier movement. Or fairies, which is honestly more fun to imagine. The result is fairly other-worldly, with unique formations of hills and sprawling curves of land. It’s a fairly popular tourist site, but what we liked about it was that there wasn’t one “right” way to experience it. It’s an area of land, and you just come explore and wander. In that sense, it was a perfect playground for the boys. We let them run free, climb most of the hills, get farther away from us without hovering. They were dressed in their best Scottish gear that day and I tried to snap a few photos of them and then let them off again to run. These boys.

There’s also a tall rock tower there, known as Castle Ewan, which we climbed together to take in the view. It’s a rough scramble up to the top, but stable on top and lets you feel like you are a giant among the fairies. We spent some relaxed time here, saying hello to the sheep grazing nearby, running over stones set as steps along the creek. It was nature at its finest.

The next stop was Coral Beach, which was supposed to be a beautiful site with turquoise blue water around a white-sand-looking beach. We pointed our car in that direction and soon passed by Dunvegan Castle, another well-known castle that’s a popular spot to visit. We decided against it because just the grounds were open, not the castle, and the boys shockingly didn’t seem that bothered. As we continued past though, we found a pretty view looking back on it and I hopped out for a quick photo.

The road to Coral Beach became increasingly narrow, and we ran into an island traffic jam when we were almost there. We watched from a waiting spot as some men worked to try to free a car from the side of the road. The narrow paths aren’t easy to navigate and in this case, one tire too far off of the road had put the car in deep enough mud or grass that they couldn’t get out. Eventually, a truck and bystanders got the car out, and traffic resumed in a single-file line, slowly and carefully. We finally parked in a little dirt lot and started the path that would lead to Coral Beach.

What we didn’t know was how long the walk would be. It wasn’t cold, but it was brisk and windy (not exactly beach weather). We enjoyed the water view – while on the coast, it’s technically set on Loch Dunvegan, which works its way out to the sea. Eventually, we popped over a hill and saw the white beaches, and it was pretty spectacular. The white “sand” isn’t even crushed coral, it’s dried, calcified Red Coralline seaweed known as Maërl – but the name Coral Beach has stuck. I’ve heard there are many beaches within the Hebride Islands that are almost Caribbean-looking, and this one looked pretty good to us, a stark contrast to moody gray waters of most of England and Scotland’s beaches.

There’s also a large flat-top hill directly above the beach, named Ghrobain, which makes for the perfect spot to climb and enjoy the view (while trying not to blow over on a windy day!) The boys played on the beach, picking up sticks and throwing stones into the water. Nate lost his Scottish flat-top hat version 1 (there would be another), and we started the walk back. We were losing steam, and as we debated driving over to the west side of the island to the Nesit Point Lighthouse, we wisely decided it was too much. We headed back to our cottage, which was in a really beautiful spot along the sea, took some much needed chill time, and then head to dinner.

We drove to the hotel and restaurant in Uig for our dinner out. It was Grant’s birthday, and we were having a celebratory dinner for our boy. We took a few photos of the sun setting over the bay before we went in for dinner. Then, back to our place for birthday cake and singing. Happy #3, Grant. We miss you and love you so much.

The next morning was our final on the Isle of Skye, so we attempted to do a few more things on our list before working our way off of the island and on to the next stop. We headed out from the cottage and drove around the northern end of the island, on our way to a waterfall. I kept my eyes peeled for hairy coos, or highland cows, or whatever you call them. I just wanted to meet one. I’d been looking since the first day on our drive into the Highlands, and though I’m certain there are herds all over, somewhere, they are apparently living on actual farms and not conveniently posed by the side of well-traveled roads, eagerly awaiting tourists to pull over and take photos. RUDE.

So, when we saw some hairy cows (I mean, not AS hairy as I would have wanted, and missing the big, curved horns) I hemmed and hawed before Tim stopped the car and told me just to get out and take a photo. As luck would have it, the farmer pulled up in his tractor, dropping off some hay for them. I was embarrassed but told myself he probably didn’t care, and I would surely never see him again. As I walked by, he looked at me from the cab of the tractor. I smiled and pointed to the cows and my camera. He gave a nonchalant nod, maybe a subtle eye roll, and went back to looking at his phone. (I get it, I’m from the country…who would ever imagine people pulling over for photos of your cows).

But these gorgeous cows served me glamorous Highland LOOKS. Truly, Scotland’s Next Top Models. I knew in that moment I wasn’t the first to snap their photo. 😉 Nearby was a red telephone booth and as the clouds blew over the sweeping cliffs beyond, I again hopped out of the car to try to capture just a fraction of the beauty of what I was seeing in real life. I’m pretty lucky to have guys in my car that will patiently watch as I climb through grass to try and take a photo, though I’m nowhere near a great photographer.

Oh, and I later found this guy (gal? I dunno). Just needs some time to grow out those bangs and will be a stunner.

We then headed to the Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls, on the eastern shore of the island. Kilt Rock is given its name because it’s lined cliffs are said to resemble a pleated Scottish kilt, and honestly I can see it.

Mealt Falls plunges from the cliffs of Kilt Rock to the Sound of Raasay below. It’s a quick stop; we parked and walked around for just a few minutes, taking in the sites of the panoramic seaside. It’s said to be a good place to catch dolphins in the water as well, though we weren’t lucky enough to see any that day. It is a beautiful waterfall, though one you have to view from the side.

We continued our journey to the town of Portree, driving by the popular attraction of The Old Man of Storr. It’s a large pinnacle of rock located at the top of a large hill, that resembles the face of an old man. That and an area known as Quiraing are two popular areas of natural beauty/walks that we didn’t get to in our time there. I did another car hop-out to try to catch a shot of the Old Man of Storr as the clouds intermittently covered and revealed it.

We arrived in the town of Portree around lunchtime, with not much on the agenda but just find some lunch. We parked and wandered down to the bay area, and while the boys played and looked at the boats, we ordered fresh seafood to go. (Fresh seafood everywhere was a highlight, and we’re lucky the boys like it too!) I loved the brightly-colored row of buildings overlooking the bay.

We left Portree and decided to take our trek to the Fairy Pools. The Fairy Pools are a series of waterfalls and beautiful crystal-clear little pools, snaking through stunning landscape. I tried to find a good answer as to why they are called the Fairy Pools, but I couldn’t find any clear origin, and so maybe it’s just that they look magical, or perhaps it just seems that this would be an ideal place for fairies to lounge after hopping around the glens. We started the walk from the car, and while it was fairly busy with other visitors, we didn’t find it hard to spread out or explore. Apparently they are popular for swimming too (?) but no one was brave enough for the cold this day.

The boys wandered the rocks close to the pool and we climbed for a long time, getting muddy and taking it in. In all honestly, I don’t know how much farther it went on, because we explored for a little over an hour while there and decided it was time to head back. The boys climbed one more big rock (with the help of Tim) as I had a sentimental moment about what this trip had meant for us as a family – how grown they were getting, how meaningful it was to celebrate Grant together in a place so beautiful, and knowing that it was one of our last explorations during our time here. Good thing the mist covered my tears. 🙂

There was just one more stop at the edge of the Isle of Skye, back to Eilean Donan Castle. If you recall from the last post, we were scheduled to take a tour of the castle today, Monday of our trip. We were having so much fun exploring, that we had missed our tour time. We were fine with that, knowing we had seen it once before and we could pass by it again on our way off of the island. Our friend had let us borrow a classic tweed jacket that fit Bennett perfectly, so we took some photos in it, and stopped back at the castle one last time.

While we were there, we discovered that the castle was now closed because there was a wedding. Weddings were pretty restricted at the time, so it must have been very small. The rain cleared, a rainbow appeared, and the bagpiper walked the bride in over the bridge. It was a moment to remember. I tried to capture here, though it’s a little hard to hear:

Farewell, Isle of Skye, to all of the fairies and the hairy coos too. Magical indeed. On to the last leg!