After a few beers and a good night's sleep in a chalet at Beinglas campsite we headed north to Skye with a quick side trip to Drumnadrochit for a bit of Loch Ness Monster spotting...
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Urquhart Castle, the locale of the most famous Nessie image ... 'The Surgeon's Picture'
With no monster apparent we left without paying the exorbitant cost of entry to the Castle and grounds. The brilliant A887/A87 got us over to Kyle of Lochalsh, over the sea to Skye (there's a song there somewhere) and up to our next accommodation at the Sligachan Hotel - highly recommended!
Portree, Isle of Skye
The view from the Sligachan Hotel. The Red Cullin on the left and the north end of the Black Cullin on the right.
After a few minutes wait with a beer in hand, the light gets more interesting...
Next day...
...started with ride-by at the Talisker Distillery, Carbost. I don't really drink anymore but if I'm forced into a 'wee dram' the smokey, peaty 18yr old Talisker on the rocks is my tipple of choice.
As we had a lap of Skye in mind we had no time for a Distillery tour, and without Graeme's (Bonneville 1200) SatNav we had to rely on a good old paper map...
From Carbost up to Dunvegan...
Dunvegan Castle
... across to Portree via Edinbane (great campsite there BTW) and down to Armadale ferry terminal...
... where, after a short wait with a posse of bikers from Inverness, the sun came out and we boarded the ferry to Mallaig ...
Armadale > Mallaig Ferry. Thank you CalMac #1
We'd planned to top up the tanks in Mallaig but, being Sunday on the west coast of Scotland, the fuel station had closed at lunchtime. Now, I know I've got a good 200 miles plus in the tank before the TDM goes into countdown mode (so, another 50 miles at least), but Mike and George weren't quite as certain of their range.
We knew we could get fuel at Fort William but decided to take the longer scenic route down through Salen and Strontian and experience the Corran Ferry. We made it. Just. Both the Triumph and the Guzzi were in minus figures on their respective countdowns by the time we got to the ferry.
Side note #1. The element Strontium (Sr, atomic number 32) is named after the village of Strontian we'd just ridden through (where there was fuel! (and a great campsite btw)) - see https://en.m.wikiped.../wiki/Strontium
Corran Ferry. Thank you CalMac #2
Happily we were able to get fuel a couple of miles south of the ferry and enjoyed fast, flowing roads all the way down to our last hotel at Inveraray.
Ballachulish Bridge
The Inveraray Inn was home for the night and after a leisurely amble around downtown Inveraray (a 10 minute time investment) we retired to the hotel for beers and food. To finish off a perfect day's riding, Graeme pulled the trigger on the last cheese-board of the trip.
Side note #2. The Clyde Puffer, Vital Spark, moored at Inveraray, is the star of the Para Handy books by Neil Munroe written in the 1930's - see https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Para_Handy
It was originally named VIC72 but was renamed (and later reregistered) for the making of a TV series 'The Tales of Para Handy' in the 1990's. Munroe was born in Inveraray.
Here ends this RR. The following day we all made our way south in the normal deflated mood that means a great trip is coming to an end.
Edited by Jim, 13 May 2017 - 04:26 pm.