Part 3: In pursuit of great writers, lochs, whisky, wildcats and love… Scotland

Snow poles line the roads - we imagine
deep snow falls through this area...

 OBAN Mon 5.  Our drive to Oban takes us around the shores of Loch Lomond, opposite to the hill we walked the day before.

It’s a big lake with scenery that reminds us of home – tall sloping hills and mountains, and wide roads.

We also start to recognise place, road and river names that take us directly back to our own birthplace of Invercargill, Southland, NZ. Clyde, Dee, Esk, Spey, Glengarry, and many more as we travel, take us straight home. We love the Scottish accent too.

We travel toward the Argyll and Bute district, through valleys and hills planted with extensive forestry plantations.

Oban is a port town with two big Caledonian MacBrayne ferries that travel daily across to the Isle of Mull and out to the Western Isles. Our plan for the next day is to take a trip to the Isle of Mull and on to the little island of Iona.

Full of the flu...

Our YHA is in a lovely big old building, which to our delight has just been refurbished. Unfortunately, I have come down with the flu – sore throat and massive head cold. We manage to secure a double room instead of being in the dorm – it’s in the older part but we are told we will be in the new building the second night.

The next morning we wake to cold miserable weather – it’s blowing a gale and wet, wet, wet. And I am feeling worse but if the trip is on, I’m off! It’s not.

There is an amber alert which means the weather is foul and the boats can be cancelled at any time.



View from our window...

We are told that we may get to the Isle of Mull but no promises that we will get back to the mainland again and we hear that the little ferry to Iona is canceled. So we decide to stay put, rug up, store all our gear back in the car, and take the short walk into the village.

It’s so windy, my umbrella blows inside out and breaks in two.



Max attempts to fix the umbrella... Raincoat, warm hat
and umbrella is a must while travelling in Scotland.



We explore the shops, intrigued by the various tartans and Scottish souvenirs. I have an exciting family find, coming across a little booklet – The Origins of the Watts and their Place in History! Our motto is ‘by fidelity and confidence’ and our crest is ‘a falcon, hooded and belled’. A Watt can also wear the Buchanan Tartan.

Some YHAs shut you out during the day when they're cleaning but thankfully, the Oban YHA allow us to hang out in the lounge until our room is ready.

The new room gives us a stormy view of the bay where we watch the waves roll in and the ferry come in.

Simon, the assistant manager, kindly makes me a lemon, honey and ginger drink to help my cold. Very sweet - the drink is ok too!

ISLE OF SKYE Weds 7.  After a good breakfast at the YHA, cooked by Simon, we pack our bags again, and head off for the Isle of Skye in the West Highlands.

Our destination is Uig, a remote village on the north-west coast of Skye. We travel through hilly mountainsides draped in green velvet, vast forest plantations, and acres of heather that create a pink/purple haze across the landscape.



Ribbons of water cascade down hillsides, carving deep crevices into the earth as it tumbles over rocks into fast moving streams. It rains on and off. We drive around the sea lochs as they reach inland and the road curls up and over hills taking us to the outer coast.

Stopping briefly at Fort William, where B & Bs line the road leading into the village, we take a coffee break and meet two young people (a Kiwi & an Aussie), who are based in London. They both have colds!

We cross the expansive and curved (like a rainbow) Sky Bridge and venture on to Uig.

Uig is a small sheltered bay on the north-west side of Skye. It has many ancient sites and is a port for ferries to Lochmaddy and Tarbert.

Uig is often warm and dry when it’s raining down south. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day that is cold, windy and wet. The YHA does not open until 5pm so we head to the village pub and console ourselves with a drink.

By the time we are cooking our evening meal there is quite a collection of people in the hostel – it’s busy for such a remote place! Our room is basic but comfortable.

The view from the hostel is stunning. It sits high above the bay and gives a good view of the windswept hill-scape dotted with white washed cottages. And we watch the ferry come and go.

After a reasonable night’s sleep, and still rough weather, we decide to forgo another night’s stay and head off to Inverness.

Before we leave the Isle of Skye, we have an important place to visit –Taliskers Whisky Distillery. This is for Jared. We take a tour through the distillery with an excellent guide who takes us on an animated journey of the production of whisky.

At the end we have a tasting – a new whisky called 57 North – Taliskers are located at 57deg North, the whisky is 57 percent and Max was born in ’57 so felt he should give it a try.

I take a quick sip, hoping it will help my raging sore throat – yes, it helps, a little!

One of the few thatched roofs we have seen in Scotland,
too wet no doubt... notice the rocks hanging from the
eaves to keep the roof in place...