We stopped at a stream called Sligachan, between the Black and Red Cullien Mountains. Graeme told us a mythical story about how we could all get eternal beauty from sticking our faces into the stream for 7 seconds.
I think some of believed he was doing this for his own laughs, but after a convincing few minutes, we went in groups of 3 to stick our faces in the cold, fresh stream.
After this episode, we were left to our own devices in the quaint seaside town of Portree to re-fueld before our big climb up to the Old Man of Storr.
While it was a clear day, our climb to the Old Man of Storr was met with strong winds as we got further up the mountain.
Right at the top, the wind was so strong most of us chose to relinquished our opportunity to touch the Old Man, perched precariously on the mountain top.
After sitting down to take a breather, Graeme had more in store for us. Instead of going back down the same way we came, we trekked across the mountain in winds which almost blew us away.
We paused at the edge of a grassy hill and Graeme told us about the Scottish’s approach to battles, that included nothing less than ruthlessness and a lot of whiskey. We listened, grateful for the break until Graeme disappeared off the edge of the hill! We were all left stunned for a moment, wondering what we were to do next. It was pretty clear our only option was to follow Graeme’s ‘Highland Charge’ down the grassy hill.
At the bottom we were met with yet another hill, this time not as high, but so much steeper that some of us ended up sliding down the hill on our bums.
If you remember some of the characters from our first post about Scotland, you might remember Prada, who yes, charged and slid down those hills all the way in knee-high patent black boots!
One of our final stops for the day was Kilt Rock. A waterfall tipping off the tartan-patterned cliffs on the coastline.
By this stage, of the trip, we were all becoming hypnotised by Graeme’s story-telling ability. We listened to the fight over land and love between the McDonald’s and MacArthur’s clans, and the little site that commemorates their stories.
We had time to reflect on our adventures and the stories over the last two days at a peaceful place called Fairy Glen, scattered with pretty Rowan Trees.
Towards the end of our half hour there, the sprinkling of rain began and it was time to pile back in the bus and return to our last night in Kyelakin.
