Isle of Skye 2007

Thursday - Sunny send off

Mon - Tue - Wed - Thu - Fri

06:30 We all woke early, maybe it was the lack of rain bouncing off the windows... But while we'd slept someone had brushed away the clouds and left us this view from the bunkhouse window... Lovely.

06:50 Everyone's up and having breakfast (well, amongst us that is!)

Taken from the beer garden next door overlooking Loch Harport. It's quite cool but the scenery is superb now the Sun is out.

08:38 Neil and Gee packing, were heading for a hostel in the Trossachs tonight via the Armadale - Mallaig ferry.

Setting off from Carbost, the temperature monitor still wasn't feeding the GPS, but after 8 miles it suddenly burst in to life showing 12 deg, confirming it was chilly. I really shouldn't have taken my jacket lining out. But the 40 mile ride to the ferry at Armadale was a scenic revelation after our experiences over the previous three days.

09:27 Arriving at Armadale this is the view roughly north over the Sound of Sleat. We had 30 minutes to wait here for the ferry to Mallaig and the mainland.

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The MV Coruisk slowly coming in to dock. She's a very modern boat, built in Devon in 2003 and capable of carrying 40 cars & 249 passengers.

N57 03.872 W5 53.714 (map)

We were loaded first to what was now the front of the boat on the right hand side, then the crew secured them down with a cushion over the saddle and a ratchet strap, seemed a little 'over the top' the water looked as flat as a billiard table!

Once underway though the boat started rolling and we were all glad they were well strapped down! The crossing took just 30 minutes, just time for a quick coffee and bun from the little cafe on board if you wanted one.

10:43 Rolling off the ferry in Mallaig we didn't stop, but pressed on for a coffee stop at Glenfinnan Railway Station. The road varies from fast A road to what you might think is some old B road its that winding and rough, makes for an interesting ride though!

Neil and Patto on a faster stretch of the A830 heading for Fort William.

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11:22 We turned off at Glenfinnan Station (map) but found it was closed due to Network Rail carrying out engineering works, now that was a real shame :-( Oh well, we'll just have to stop at the Glenfinnan Monument half a mile further on, its not the same atmosphere, but it will have to do.

Glenfinnan Monument with the head of Loch Shiel in the background. The monument was erected in 1815 in tribute to the clansmen who fought and died for Prince Charles Edward Stuart "Bonnie Prince Charlie" in his last efforts to reinstate the Stuarts to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland. Quite a nice modern visitors centre here, but the cafe isn't very roomy or comfy.

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We pressed on through Fort William and its traffic only stopping for 5 minutes to picking up fuel before heading south on the A82. Glen Coe looked just lovely in the sunshine, but we didn't stop until we reached the burger van over looking Loch Tulla. The proprietor here had half tamed a wild deer. Well... tamed it enough to hand feed it anyway. But it was now the start of the rutting season and it's hormones had kicked in making it a little aggressive.

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Taken from the burger van car park over looking Loch Tulla and although you probably can't see it, our road south the A82.

N56 34.077 W4 45.251 (map)

From the burger van layby we rode on passed the Green Welly to Crianlarich where we went straight on joining the A85 Killin road. After passing by the left turn for Killin, Patto who was leading soon turned up a lane to another burger van, so soon Patto! (map) As we rode in, we noted two unmarked police bikes, two police cars and a number of officers by the wagon, Ooh, err, we've found the Police's secret hidey hole! Stopping, Patto told us there was a very nice waterfall in Killin, did we want to go back and have a look? Well it seemed a good idea, it was only 14:30 and we were nearly at our last hostel, so it would fill in time nicely. As we rode out for some strange reason I felt compelled to tell the watching officers where we were going, well, just in case they thought we were put off from stopping or something...

14:40 The falls of Dochart, another of my crazy panoramas. This one's made up from four images all stitched together by PTgui panorama joiner. Please don't get the wrong idea, PTgui can produce superb results (like the picture at the very top of this page) if, you give it the right images! :-)

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And this is The falls of Dochart Inn, where we paid a fortune for four coffees, but it was nice sitting out in the spring sunshine.

N56 27.774 W4 19.199 (map)

From the Falls we rode back to the A85 then on toward Callander and our last hostel The Trossachs Backpackers. On the way I had one of those 'biker moments' involving a wide load approaching me as I was going in to a right hand bend, suffice to say I fell back a little to regain my composure, whilst the others ploughed on ahead. Imagine my surprise when I arrived 20 minutes before them at the hostel! I was just starting my second cup when they arrived, its the mystery of GPS yer know! ... :-)

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And I really can recommend this hostel, its totally modern, nice rooms, lovely kitchen, dinning room and lounge and if that isn't enough, free tea, coffee and continental breakfast, all in with the £15 per night price!

We had a night out in Callander, a very friendly taxi driver picked us up from the hostel and dropped us off in the centre of this grey town, kindly, he also told us where the best place was to eat. We tried all the pubs and met the 'resident drunk' who everyone seemed to know, then ignored the taxi drivers advise and had fish & chips from a shop in the high street. They weren't too bad, but nowhere near as good as Inghams in Filey. In retrospect I think it would have been nice to 'sit out' back at the hostel with a few cans.

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Todays route in yellow, Carbost, Isle of Skye to Calander in the Trossachs 176 miles.

Today's temperature graph. The peak just before the loss of data was caused by the warmth of the ferries enclosed car deck, then turning off the bikes ignition also turns off the temperature sensor, causing loss of temperature data while crossing to Mallaig.

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