Oban to The Isle of Skye

Good day yesterday....but rain and clouds for the most part. Saw Neptune's Ladder, the Glenfinnan Monument and Viaduct (the bridge tht the Hogwart's Express went over), then to Mallaig and a ferry to Skye. A quick run up to Talisker Distillery then to our B&B and off to dinner at Saucy Mary's. Very spotty Wi-Fi here and long to upload photos so I'll try again tonight. Cheers!

Low tide and cloudy

Along the route on the A828, we came around the corner and I saw a castle out in the middle of a loch, which turns out to be Loch Linnhe. Out there was Castle Stalker.....so very incredible to see!!

Artistic version....

We hit Fort William around 11:00 and then took the A830*, also known as "The Road to the Isles" on our way to Mallaig. On our way we stopped at Neptune's Ladder which is a system of "locks" to move ships through the area.

*DICLAIMER - there's a very good chance that I have the roads messed up in these descriptions. I'll go through and correct any mistakes at a later time....sorry.

Annette, Gin and Jeff on the lower lock

Boats at the bottom of the lock....notice the

rain coming in the distance.

a view from the top

Annette and Jeff in front Loch Shiel

Gin and I at Loch Shiel

The Glenfinnan Monument

The hike up to see the viaduct and railway

The Glenfinnan Viaduct - where the Hogwart's Express runs....

After our visit to Glenfinnan, we were off to Mallaig to catch our ferry to the Isle of Skye, the largest of the Scottish islands. There were some photo opportunities along the way....

...but not so many that we would be late to our ferry. We arrived an hour plus early so were were able to switch to an earlier ride across to Skye. While waiting, we had a quick bite and a pint at The Garden Restaurant.

Many, many blooms....

Our ferry to The Isle of Skye

Annette driving on to the ferry

30 minutes away is the Isle of Skye!

The start of our trip on the ferry.....

About ten minutes in.....

Since we were early we decided to try and make our way NW to visit the Talisker Distillery. It closed at 5:00PM and it was going to be close.....and the drive there was quite interesting. From the "main" road (which was a tight two lane road, we turned onto a one lane road with small "passing areas" where you'd pull over and wait for the other car (our tour bus) to pass....not a road I'd like to take in the dark! I will try and post a video or the drive in the next day or so. We made it with 15 minutes to spare, so no time for a tour, but we were able to use out Classic Malts passports to get a sample tasting before they closed for the evening.

Talisker....a wonderful whisky.

From the distillery we made our way to our home for the evening....The Blairdhu House. We checked in and made a ten minute walk to town (in the rain) to Saucy Mary's for dinner which was MUCH better than the night before. I had LocharonVenison Sausages and Mash with an Onion Gravy with a pint of Cullin Black Cask Ale, and Gin had a bowl of Skye Seafood Chowder and Sweet Chili and Lemon Mussels.....SOOOOO tasty!