Well we are now heading off of Skye and bound for the Isles of Lewis & Harris. The day’s drive will take us to Ullapool where we join a ferry for the 3 hour transit across to Lewis. Allthego thought that it would be good idea to go back to the mainland from Skye by way of a ferry. If you can’t go ‘over the sea to Skye’ anymore then one should ‘go from Skye over the sea’ if you can. And, yes, you can do this. There is an historic ferry that goes from Skye to the small town of Glenelg on the Scottish mainland.

Ferry to Glenelg

Turntable ferry to Glenelg

The Broch ruins near Glenelg

The ferry it seems is the last ‘rotating deck’ ferry in the world. It carries no more than 6 cars. It crosses a short channel at the southern end of Skye to Glenelg. In order to catch the ferry we need to traverse several miles of up and down single track road. It is not a very wide single track road and the passing bays seem to be a little further apart than the usual 200 metres. Allthego soon learns a trick though! Cars coming the other way come in batches of 6, being the capacity of the ferry. So we are able to get along at a reasonable pace and count cars. The road is a little steep in sections and not really for the faint hearted. But we made it and the ferry crossing successfully.

One of the many lochs we drove up and then down on the way north.

A glen not far from Ullapool

Some roadway among the mountains.

In Glenelg we sought out the local Broch ( pronounced ‘broc’). There are lots of these relics scattered around Northern Scotland, many of them just heaps of stones. The broch at Glenelg is one of the best examples of these structures remaining somewhat intact. They were a ‘flattened’ conical shape, about 5-10 metres high, with rooms for work, animals and living quarters in the sides of the structure. They were built extensively in the Highlands from about 2000BC to 100AD. The structures were defensive but were also demonstrative of the social status of those who lived within them.

The Caledonian Hotel in Ullapool.

Waterfront at Ullapool.

Leaving Ullapool on the ferry for Lewis & Harris.

The road from Glenelg then took us along the coast, with many great views of beaches and headlands before reaching Ullapool, where we stayed for 2 nights. Ullapool is a port town surviving very much on tourism and the ferry service to Lewis & Harris where we were now headed for 3 days.