Today I took a boat trip to the Isle of Rona.
I had high expectations about how beautiful Scotland would be. So far my expectations have been met or exceeded.
Today they were exceeded yet again.
The day I arrived in Portree I walked around the town. Down at the harbor I came across a number of signs promoting various boat tours. One of the signs was this one:
And since I had Wednesday (today) wide open, I thought I’d check into this tour. So I found their website and signed up.
Our crew consisted of Ewen and Jordan, and there were five of us on the tour: a couple from Indiana, and (I believe) a mother and daughter from somewhere in Scotland.
It seemed like the weather would not cooperate. It was spitting rain in the morning when we left, and it actually got worse shortly after we docked at Rona. Ewen and Jordan put up a canopy over the boat deck right when we left Portree, and they added a side panel to block the wind while we ate lunch.
Lunch
Ewen’s father and brother are both fishermen. His brother caught the langoustines that were part of our lunch, and they were still alive this morning. In addition, there was smoked salmon from Mallaig, and this was some of the best smoked salmon I’ve ever eaten.
After lunch the rain was still coming down, so I had a cup of coffee and we all waited a bit. And then, like magic (which is characteristic of Scotland from what I can tell), the sun made an appearance.
Hiking on Rona
So we set off for a hike. We all went on our own, but there weren’t a lot of options, so the others were nearby, and we all caught up to each other at one point.
I decided to head up to the highest point on the island. I like the challenge of finding somewhere a little hard to get to, and I love a good view. This did not disappoint!
By the way, as you can tell, the sun didn’t insist on sticking around, but there was no more rain while we were hiking.
Heading back to Portree
The ride back to Portree was nice because it was not as cold as in the morning, and the sun kept toying with us. So I climbed onto the upper deck of the boat, where I could really enjoy the views.
I even got to drive the boat!
This was probably the perfect way to spend a day here. If I could have imagined a day like this when I was planning this trip, I would have planned this trip exactly as I did!
More adventures on Skye tomorrow!
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