Inverewe & Eilean Donan

In place of an early wake-up call, the bow-thrusters of Lord of the Glens served to remind us all to come on up to view the magnificent scenery of the Sound of Sleat, the narrow passage of water between the Isle of Skye and the mainland that explains the etymology of our final port of call, Kyle of Lochalsh, kyle being an anglicisation of the Gaelic word for a narrows or strait. As it happened, our berth was still occupied by another ship when we arrived so we had the added bonus of an additional half hour’s sail under the new Skye bridge and back again. The bridge to Skye caused considerable controversy in the Highlands, since it both charged heavy tolls and ended the former ferry service so that local people felt trapped into paying the tolls with no alternative available to them. One of the first acts of the new Scottish parliament was to abolish the tolls on the Skye bridge.

There were two options for the final day: one a castle, the other a garden. But not just any castle or garden. Eilean Donan is an icon of a castle, one of the most photographed monuments in Scotland, much in demand as a film set. It was originally built in 1214 as a defense against the Danes and was restored in 1932 by the head of the MacRae clan to serve as a clan memorial and museum. Inverewe is one of the most celebrated gardens in the British Isles, a bleak hillside transformed into a sub-tropical paradise by the vision and enterprise of Osgood Mackenzie. We saw it at its best, the extraordinary collection of rhododendrons and azaleas being in full bloom. Although the drive to the from the garden was of several hours duration, it afforded us the opportunity to see some of Scotland’s most majestic scenery, the Torridon mountain range, austere and uncompromising and currently being conserved to preserve and propagate the ancient natural Caledonian woodland.