Woolly says – I woke to the wonderful views of Skye, we had arrived around teatime the night before and having flown over the bridge to access the Isle we managed to find a fish supper, as the Scots call them, to munch on with a fantastic view into the bargain.

The Isle of Skye is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, the island has been occupied since the Mesolithic period, and over its history has been occupied at various times by Celtic tribes including the Picts and the Gaels, Scandinavian Vikings, and most notably the powerful integrated Norse-Gaels clans of MacLeod and MacDonald.

A forty minute drive through the island took us to our wooden wigwam accommodation. Having stirred the others and watched Corgi brain do zoomies on the grass we set off for our first destination of the day. The views were incredible, and I can honestly say that in all of my years of travel I don’t think I’ve seen so much prettiness at every single point.

We pulled onto a busy carpark alongside some large coaches which meant people, lots of people. I scurried straight to the ticket office to get a head start with the humans and mutt on my tail.

Dunvegan Castle is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Probably a fortified site from the earliest times, the castle was first built in the 13th century and developed over the centuries. In the 19th century the whole castle was remodelled in a mock-medieval style. The castle is built on an elevated rock overlooking an inlet on the eastern shore of Loch Dunvegan, a sea loch.

The castle was quite dark in its exterior but inside was warm and welcoming.

The stairs in the blue hallway led us up to the start of the tour, with walls lined with portraits.

Zig zagging round the tourists we popped into a study with a large fireplace and the desk facing the window which was incredibly sensible given the view outside.

The dining room was large and lined with pictures of tartan clad individuals and led strangely into a bedroom. A small, canopied bed took up most of the space available and I dived underneath and back out the other side to avoid being stepped on by the masses.

A long corridor lined with window areas and filled with display cases led us along. One case held items from Africa which made me remember our time there last year.

The drawing room was huge and had a range of areas for people to sit and socialise with each other, massive portraits lined these walls. I wondered how many hours a week everyone of these times had spent being painted, given the number of paintings, it must have been a full time job.

We managed to squeeze into the Dungeon, six humans and one mammoth made for an uncomfortable experience to peer a the gated hole in the floor where prisoners had been thrown to starve to death. Worse than that the dungeon was next to the kitchen so as they were starving the cooking smells would be wafting past them, now that is cruel.

The North room was rammed with humans, I gave up trying to see anything and sat under a chair whilst Jo took some pictures.

There were some really interesting items in the display cases, from Bonnie Prince Charlies waistcoat, bag pipes, swords and all manner of other things, it also gave me a quick glimpse of the sea outside which looked wonderful.

Woolly says – Going down the spiral staircase we arrived int eh cellar which held some strange items and a lady offering me food, I declined in case it was a trick and turned my attention to The Great Sword of Dunvegan which was very fine.

We walked along the servant’s corridor which had a lovely butlers sink before finding ourselves on a terrace at the rear of the castle.

The views were sublime both of the castle and the water.

A few steps more down and we were at the bottom of the garden areas. Handsome Jack had already spent some time wandering them with Zoe and as the women passed the baton or the dog in our case, headed towards the water garden which was beautiful. Gushing waterfalls and streams ran throughout with the planting looking wonderful.

Along a pathway we entered the walled garden which although in much in bloom was a sight to behold. Autumn plants added colour and the pond sprayed water, if it wasn’t quite so windy it would be a beautiful place to picnic.

An undercover terrace took us to a lawned area shaded by trees and an absolute treasure, a revolving pebble. With no signs saying not to climb on it I hoisted myself up and happily spun round until feeling quick sick, sliding down quickly before Jo gave me another telling off.

A short walk along a footpath led us to some more breathtaking views across the bay and to the rear of the castle, the sort of place where you could spend hours just watching the wind in the trees, sadly we didn’t have that much time, having taken a picture or two more we turned tail and headed back to the car for our next point of interest.

Back on the windy roads the views continued to take our breath away, passing points littered the sides as vehicles large and small tried to use the roads. Arriving at a very full car park we managed to find the last space and headed into the wilderness.

Fairy Glen is a protected area in the Highlands, the reserve protects a belt of semi-natural woodland. The Glen is connected to some ancient customs, children of nearby villages used to cast flower’s petals in the burn, in order to encourage the fairies to provide fresh water to their hamlets. It looked like Hobbit land; I bounced along the pathway waving to the many people on the track.

Mounds of mossy grass were everywhere and as we climbed higher and higher we could see a huge rock up ahead, I had no plans for climbing that, however.

Rounding the rock gave views across the mountains, miles into the distance. The mad mutt clearly loved the grass and much to everyone’s enjoyment rolled all over the place.

Below us was a fairy circle, I raced down the path and set off through the circular route reaching the middle just as Jo, Zoe and grassy dog arrived. We headed back along the track continuing to admire the views as we went.

Squeezing out of the car park we wound our way back to the main road and set off into the mountains. A quick stop for lunch and we carried on getting closer and closer to a rather dark foreboding looking mountain.

Another packed car park greeted us but again the parking gods were with us and we managed to secure a spot, I climbed out of the car and ran over to look at the view, I gulped a couple of times as I realised that there was a trail of visitors for as far as my eyes could see, I hadn’t planned on walking that far. Quickly forming a plan, I limped back to the rest of the group and explained how I had tripped over a pebble and sadly would need carrying. Safe and secure in Jo’s jacket we set off.

The Fairy Pools are a series of natural pools and waterfalls in Glen Brittle at the foot of the Cuillin mountains. The habitat of the Fairy Pools hosts a variety of animals, such as red deer, rabbits, and sheep. The area is also host to a large number of birds. Given the number of people about we were unlikely to see a single one today.

On we went crossing small bridges and bubbling.

The higher we started to go the more pools, and small waterfalls started to pound over the rocks. Aqua blue pools of water made it look like a fairy world. It was truly magnificent.

Although only halfway through the ladies decided that we had walked enough and we headed back to the car, we reached the hill that we had come down and I had to use all of my skills of encouragement to get Jo back up again, she made it. Having put me onto the ground I raced towards the car with her voice ringing in my ears ‘Mammoth, how’s your leg?’

What a wonderful day and a place that is beyond beautiful, tomorrow takes us back the mainland and the next place on the itinerary.