Bruce and Elly do the Misty Isle

An earlier breakfast, without Tigh-assistance. Elly even managed to get Bruce to appear to concur with the merits of getting wet.

Having 'done' Duirinish and Waternish yesterday, we'd decided to see what we could see in the next big peninsula, Trotternish. Our first stop (after a slight overshoot because Bruce wasn't really paying attention) was the Fairy Glen, just east of Uig.

Careful retracing of our route and paying attention to the map led us to the the start of the side-road to the Fairy Glen. The road was a Skye non-euclidian speciality: twists and turns through more than three dimensions all at once. However, Glob seemed to be equal to the task and we fetched up in a weird valley lined with grassy earthen pyramids and dales. Bruce of course didn't see the path to the top of the Fairy Castle and so wanted to climb up its sheer side. Fortunately, other visitors pointed out the easier scramble to the top of the castle and so Bruce went up to commune with the fairies. He didn't see any, for all his dancing on their peak.

We missed our planned turn-off north into the wilds of Trotternish and carried on down the inside of a bowel-shaped inlet in which Uig harbour nestles. Uig has several good things: public toilets with bilingual no-smoking signs (of which there is digital evidence), ferries to Lochmaddy and Tarbert, and the Skye brewery. One of us has never been shy of trying local alcoholic produce, so this was a wee extra treat.

There is memory of a crazy climb out of Uig onto an single-track A-road going north from Uig and of us stopping at a recently-discovered souterrain at Kilvaxter. Bruce wanted to explore in it but the lack of height and deep puddles meant he couldn't even begin to get along it. It's hard to imagine even thinking of going down there without a reliable source of light but this is what the iron-age owners would have had to do to visit their larder/strong-room.

A few miles further on was the Museum of Island Life: while there is passing mention of Flora Macdonald's adventures, most of the museum examined and presented interpretations of Skye crofter and fisher-folk lives. We're not quite sure where the Charles and Diana mug fitted in, apart from adding to a sense of unreality about the whole affair. A little trudge took us to a graveyard where Ms M took top billing. However, the cold was starting to eat into us so we beat a hasty retreat back to Glob so he could take us in search of lunch. We were sadly disappointed by the Duntulm hotel: despite a sign offering 'food all day', there was no sign of life. Perhaps it had contracted Marie Celeste disease. Anyway, playing a duet scored for rumble-tum, we headed south to Staffin. An organisation there, Columba 1400, offers leadership courses for people from 'tough realities' and a good café: veggie haggis was one of our choices.

And so fortified, we went on to Portree to see out Skye's cinema and Stone of Destiny. See it for yourself: all we'll give away here is that Robert Carlyle looks dangerously underweight.

Finally, more miles on Skye roads back to Feriniquarrie and bed.