Day 9 Shieldaig to Skye

As expected today was going to be horrid. We did hope that the weather man might have got it wrong but nope. We woke up to heavy rain but it did ease when we started taking the tent down so that was a bonus. We set off heading further south around the loop towards Applecross. I have to say despite the rain there were some positives. The waterfalls were cascading of the side of the hills which was incredible to see. Even Becca made a comment in the back along the lines of, ‘wow that’s so cool, I want to live in the highlands’. On the other side the waves were crashing against the rocky cliff edged as we hugged the narrow coastline road. We had massive support today from people, right from the off, someone pulled into a passing place to let us pass and applauded us. That felt amazing. Then lots of beeps and waves. As we passed a carprk on the coast there must have been around 8 people all waving like mad trying to get our attention. Of course we beeped and waved back. Baring in mind this was when the rain was on heavy, so was amazing to see the enthusiasm from everyone. Of we continued into Applecross. Today was damp but it was also bitter cold. Bobby and I wore shorts. If the rain got you, the wind against the wet trousers was worse. We stopped at a wee burger van across from Applecross Inn but the lady at the Inn invited us in to get a bit warmth in the bar area while we ate our food we got from the van. Again incredible kindness. She took some pictures and shared it on her own business page.

We left Applecross heading up the bealach na ba pass but you couldn’t see any of it. The mist and rain got worse the more we climbed. Tilly and Tuker managed the climb fine but it was sketchy at times as you couldn’t see anyone coming around corners ahead due to the mist and rain. Towards the top the winds kicked in throwing us about and driving the rain into the back if the tuktuks. Becca was gutted when she had to put the curtain up, as much as there wasn’t much of a view, she was keen to see the road gradients and declines. When we got to the top, we weren’t even sure if it was the top as couldn’t see. The road down though was incredible. You could see the hairpin bends looping back to back and on a nice day this would have been an incredible view. We still loved it and were over the moon they managed it although I have to say I was chittering with the cold and I think my legs were that red they had gone numb. We then headed south towards Loch Carron. On route we stopped off at a wee phone box as it looked interesting. Turns out it had been changed into a selfie box. It was at kishorn, so if your passing there definitely stop. I thought it was an incredible idea to repurpose an old phone box. As we left there we pulled over to let a car passed and he stopped. Told us he seen us in Ullapool and was over the moon we were still going, words of encouragement for doing the pass road and a donation handed over. Absolutely amazing, we needed it. Onto Loch Carron where they got some attention from all the visiting tourist and locals too. Then we headed straight south towards skye. It was so cold today and still raining we just wanted to get to the campsite so we could warm up with some hot showers. The skye bridge is actually so high and looked strange from a distance but as always the tuktuks pulled there way over it.

We finally arrived at Camping Skye where we would be staying for the night. Looks like a new site and lovely too. Shower facilities are good probably one of the best so far. Showers with a bench area inside and opposite the shower you have a wee vanity sink area with mirror to finish off getting ready. This allowed the shower to be taken by someone else..Well thought out. Headed out to grab a chippy before using there indoor seating area up the top of the campsite to sit out of the rain to eat dinner. We all headed for a shower to heat our bones up before we got a large load of washing on at the laundrette. Then they went in the dryer but to our disappointment after one cycle they were still damp. I was tired and cold still and this did wind me up. Off to try find more change so we could put it on another cycle. Even after that, there was still some clothes a bit damp but I gave up. I got the stuff back to the tent so we could get them all away. We just wanted to sleep but a group of cyclist arrived late and kept us up a bit longer than we hoped. Eventually we dozed off but it would turn out to be our worse night sleep yet!

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