Friday 21 February
Set off to Scone to break up the journey and visit Scone Palace and the Hermitage which we'd seen on the Susan Calman programmes about Scotland.
A grey and rainy day.
Nice meal at the pub in the evening then an early night.
Saturday 22 February
The weather got more wintry and it was too wet to walk to the Hermitage so we found a Tesco and did a shop and set off for the 4 hour/130 mile drive.
Nice accommodation with partial views out onto the water.
A short stroll along the high street. This place seems to be in its own little microclimate with palm trees and none of the snow of the surrounding areas.
Some beautiful views but we hopped out of the car and then back in very quickly as it was fleeingly cold and very windy.
Tuesday 25 February
A local walk around the area - the pier and tiny harbour.
A walk up to the view point and trig point.
Then a walk to Duncraig castle. The finger post said it was one mile - it lied! It was a lot longer - but still a nice walk though around the estuary. As it had started raining we caught the train back. We were lucky with our timing as there are only three trains per day.
Wednesday 26 February
A bright start to the day so we decided to explore more of Skye. We'd been up the right hand side so decided to go up as far as Dunvegan castle up to the left.
The castle was closed so we went on past it and eventually ended up at the car park at Claigan which had another tiny coral beach. We had a lovely (but very cold!) walk along a shore side track.
Beautiful light and cloudscapes.
Thursday 27 February
A sprinkle of snow overnight - the only bit we'd seen in Plockton although there were loads of weather reports telling us about snow all over the country.
Another day on Skye - on one of the southern peninsulas this time. Along the coast to Armadale Castle. Another one closed for winter but the grounds were open so we went for a walk round and saw the castle anyway!
Then we went further along the coast to where the road petered out at the Aird of Sleat. A hair raising switchback single track road - quite an experience but stunning scenery.
The weather was kind to us - more sunshine than showers today!
Out to the pub in the evening for a meal and the ceilidh we'd been told about. They were ok but it seemed to be more a group of friends having a get together and a chat with an occasional tune thrown in so we stayed for a while then walked the 30 seconds back over the road to our accommodation.
Friday 28 February
A change in the weather today - back to grey and drizzly. We decided that a walk in the car would be the best option so we set off for a drive round the loch to Stroke castle ruins.
Saturday 29 February
A long drive back so we set off early.
After dire weather warnings all through the week about snow and wind we were expecting the worst - especially as our journey up had included flooded roads and snow.
We went through the Cairngorms with clear roads
Set off to Scone to break up the journey and visit Scone Palace and the Hermitage which we'd seen on the Susan Calman programmes about Scotland.
A grey and rainy day.
Nice meal at the pub in the evening then an early night.
Saturday 22 February
The weather got more wintry and it was too wet to walk to the Hermitage so we found a Tesco and did a shop and set off for the 4 hour/130 mile drive.
Nice accommodation with partial views out onto the water.
A short stroll along the high street. This place seems to be in its own little microclimate with palm trees and none of the snow of the surrounding areas.
Sunday 23 February
A lazy day - very wet and windy so we walked to the beach between showers - but got caught out with the rain!
The Coral Beach had lots of tiny soft corals - very pretty!
Monday 24 February
The weather was still pretty windy and cold but we decided to have a day out on Skye.
Some beautiful views but we hopped out of the car and then back in very quickly as it was fleeingly cold and very windy.
Tuesday 25 February
A local walk around the area - the pier and tiny harbour.
A walk up to the view point and trig point.
Then a walk to Duncraig castle. The finger post said it was one mile - it lied! It was a lot longer - but still a nice walk though around the estuary. As it had started raining we caught the train back. We were lucky with our timing as there are only three trains per day.
Wednesday 26 February
A bright start to the day so we decided to explore more of Skye. We'd been up the right hand side so decided to go up as far as Dunvegan castle up to the left.
The castle was closed so we went on past it and eventually ended up at the car park at Claigan which had another tiny coral beach. We had a lovely (but very cold!) walk along a shore side track.
We'd not even seen the castle on the way out but we spotted it on the coast so we stopped to take a few photos on the way back.
We have learned that if you see a photo opportunity then you need to seize it immediately as the light and weather changes so quickly that it can be gone in seconds.
Beautiful light and cloudscapes.
Thursday 27 February
A sprinkle of snow overnight - the only bit we'd seen in Plockton although there were loads of weather reports telling us about snow all over the country.
Another day on Skye - on one of the southern peninsulas this time. Along the coast to Armadale Castle. Another one closed for winter but the grounds were open so we went for a walk round and saw the castle anyway!
Then we went further along the coast to where the road petered out at the Aird of Sleat. A hair raising switchback single track road - quite an experience but stunning scenery.
The weather was kind to us - more sunshine than showers today!
Out to the pub in the evening for a meal and the ceilidh we'd been told about. They were ok but it seemed to be more a group of friends having a get together and a chat with an occasional tune thrown in so we stayed for a while then walked the 30 seconds back over the road to our accommodation.
Friday 28 February
A change in the weather today - back to grey and drizzly. We decided that a walk in the car would be the best option so we set off for a drive round the loch to Stroke castle ruins.
Saturday 29 February
A long drive back so we set off early.
After dire weather warnings all through the week about snow and wind we were expecting the worst - especially as our journey up had included flooded roads and snow.
We went through the Cairngorms with clear roads
