Jul 19, 2018

The 2018 Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye is over. We had an amazing vacation.

Every year, I ask my invaders for feedback. This year, I decided to do it a little different. I wanted to help you figure out what were some of the best things to see when you come visit.

So I’m gonna share my Best and Worst things to see on the Isle of Skye, followed by feedback from Invaders, including some of their favorites.

Best of the Isle of Skye.

My favorite thing in Skye was the Quiraing. This is up in Trotternish. It’s June, lush and green with powerful, towering mountains.

Now Skye is a big hiking area. I think most people go to Skye to hike.

Most of our Invaders were not big hikers. We were all happy to hike and explore. But the hardcore hiking was not for us.

Now I’m sure there’s some difficult hiking in the Quiraing, but the two places we visited were fairly easy. A third place looked even easier.

I guess for me there was more room to relax and enjoy the magnificent mountain range in the Quiraing. If you’re looking for one thing to do in Skye, this is my suggestion.

My second favorite thing to do in Skye was the Skye Cruises out of Uig. They offered a three-hour boat tour of the ocean and shoreline. We saw a castle, seals, and even watched puffins flying about.

The captain was very friendly. He and a friend started this cruise a couple years ago. It made for a very pleasant experience.

They provided free snacks and drinks including Skye Beer from the local brewery. They had binoculars available for seeing the sea life too.

Of course, it probably helped that the seas were calm. There was a little bit of rain that fell on us for about ten minutes. Then it was done.

They had some good Celtic music playing in the back of the boat. And up front, I played songs and along with Pace. And happily Danny and Christine Faught of Green Man Clan joined us.

Okay so that was a benefit of me boating out there. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful relaxing trip.

Third in my list of the Best of the Isle of Skye we’re The Fairy Pools.

On day three of our Invasion, we got a tour guide to take us to The Fairy Pools. The guide was kind of a flop. Not much more than a driver sadly. But the Pools were brilliant. Tho a little tricky too.

It was raining when we arrived. We walked down the hill to the starting point.

I say walk, but to be honest l, there was a little sliding. I had my bad shoes. The ground was moist and squishy. So I fell a couple times. That didn’t bode well.

At the bottom of the hill, there was a stream and no way to cross it but get your feet a little wet.

I wasn’t quite in the mood to plunge in. In fact, I was about to skip it. I’m glad I didn’t. I took off my shoes and walked across the small stream.

After that, the walk was a breeze. It was a gentle slope into the valley. A river guides you on the right. And all along it are bunches of small waterfalls and “Fairy Pools”.

I didn’t go all the way into the mountains. I took my time and had fun making videos. I sat with my feet in the freezing water. It was delightful. Again, I’m so happy I went.

The fourth coolest thing for me was the excitement of finding dinosaur tracks.

So we stayed in Staffin Bay Cottages. They are located a 3 minute drive from Staffin Bay Slipway. When we arrived, we learned that there were dinosaur tracks down there.

So one evening, we hiked over to the beach and looked for the tracks. It took some time to find them, but eventually we did. They were covered in seaweed.

They were also difficult to make out. But we went to the local dinosaur museum to confirm.

That was cool and all. But 2-3 months ago, new tracks were discovered at Brother’s Point. On Friday, we finally headed to the point. We arrived just before low tide.

So I should point out that there are no markers for these prints. You have to find them.

Now what I learned at the dinosaur museum was the footprints were found in sedimentary rock.

The first step was to find that. I am no geologist. But I did overhear, that sedimentary rock is layered rock. Most of the rocks out there, I think, are igneous.

I found a big slab of sedimentary rock and started looking. I found some small impressions and called over Pace and Selena. Pace told me that they were about a foot in diameter.

I spent the next thirty minutes staring at the rock. How weird is that!

Eventually I noticed differences. I saw breaks in the rock and looking at puddles, I realized the indentations were different from the breaks. I called over Pace and we jokingly decided we found dinosaur tracks.

I got some pictures and videos but I don’t think you’ll see much of anything.

Pace got a good picture. We decided to take his picture to the dinosaur museum to confirm it. We were thrilled they said yes!

Yay. I’m officially an amateur dinosaur track hunter.

I was trying to settle on my top 5 of Skye but I couldn’t. So for number five, I picked two.

First is the Skye Museum of Island Life. It’s located in the north end of Trotternish. It was a small Croft community. But now it’s a museum.

I guess I liked it because it’s the only bit of history we got on Skye. That’s because this was also the place that Flora McDonald was buried.

Flora is the woman from the song “Skye Boat Song” who carried the Bonnie Prince Charlie to safety after his defeat at Culloden, which marked the end of the Jacobite Revolution.

The museum told that story along with the story of the crofters.

I also loved Neist Point. There’s a lighthouse and soaring cliffs and gorgeous ocean vistas. It was stunning.

I also recorded a couple videos while I was out there.

That was my best of the Isle of Skye.

What was the worst?

I’m sure many would disagree, but my least favorite thing about Skye was Old Man of Storr.

There are some stunning pictures of Storr. As far as I can see, they are either aerial photographs or from way up top on Storr. I don’t have an airplane, and I didn’t have the desire to climb all the way to. I climbed up thru the third gate. About halfway. The view was nice. But not worth the effort. I’d rather go back to the Quiraing.

Kilt Rock a beautifully named with almost pleated rocks. But it’s view is located in a very safe and boring park off the road. It was uninspiring.

I was disappointed with Talisker Distillery. I like the whisky, but there was no tasting room. You had to do the tour.

I’ve done whisky tours before. They’re mildly interesting. It’s the whisky that’s the best thing about them. I bought a bottle but even the store was limited. I think I’m a bit spoiled by Guinness and Bushmills. They’ve got a TON of incredible shops. Plus tastings.

Now it’s not a least favorite location but Skye is pretty windy. When it isn’t windy, at least during the summer, the midges are our in full force. Midges are small biting gnats. Think of tiny barely visible mosquitoes. Unless they’re swarming.

During the summer, restaurants book up. So make sure you get reservations unless you’re fine with eating at 9 or 10 o’clock.

Finally, this is the ultimate in #FirstWorldProblems. But the internet was worse here than pretty everywhere we’ve invaded. Bad internet and bad cell phone.

I know. I know. Whine whine whine. You’re on the Isle of Skye!

But I was wanting to stay in touch with my girls back home and was sorely disappointed. The house internet was slow. The data on my phone didn’t work at all. Our house was a dead zone for phones as well.

I guess the point is you should expect to disconnected.

Alright.  That’s what I thought of Skye. Let’s see what folks thought of the Celtic Invasion of the Isle of Skye.

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I hope you enjoyed my Invader feedback. Again, the Celtic Invasion of Skye was a huge success. I'm excited to share some photos and videos from the trip in the coming months.

Now I just announced the net two locations that I am planning for the future. In 2019, we're gonna have the Celtic Invasion of Star Wars... We're going back to Dingle, Ireland and this time we're gonna visit Skellig Michael. That's the island from The Last Jedi film.

Then in 2020, we're going to Venice, Italy. This is the Origin of Celtic Invasions Vacation. Because the area was conquered by a Celtic tribe called the Veneti that later migrated to Brittany in France, before heading to Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

If you find out more about that history, check out two episodes I released last year: The Secret History of the Celts #231 and History of Celtic Brittany #232.

And head over to CelticInvasion.com if you want to join one of these awesome vacations.

Now I want to ask you to head on over to Spotify and Follow My Music.

You will find links to everything I mentioned in the shownotes at Celtfather.com where you can also subscribe to this podcast and download 21 songs for free.