Skye Winter is turning into Skye Spring. Mostly, this just means that the drizzle is slightly warmer and the wind gets a chance to blow daffodils about, and not just blow at dead grasses. But Spring also brings a noticeable increase in traffic on the roads. The visitor season is upon us again. Brand new shiny rental cars trundle in convoy towards the most infamous beauty spots and attractions, vying for space in the tiny car parks, and struggling to pass the inevitable camper vans which lumber along even more tentatively than the rental cars.
Since almost the entire Skye economy is fed by the tourist industry in one way or another, the permanent residents do not complain too much about the summer invasion. Litter, inconsiderate parking and dangerous driving antics are the topics most likely to raise a comment. We know we have our cosy homes to retreat into when the weather is inclement and the B&Bs have pushed their visitors out for the day. We face the queues at the Co-op with a smile, and avoid the now overcrowded pubs and restaurants. Most of us know some secret places where we can get away from all the cameras and foreign voices.
For Sue and I - the visitor season is a pretty busy time. We look after our self-catering cottages ourselves, and that includes all the admin, all the washing and ironing, all the cleaning, and all the gardening and maintenance. As Sue has her homecare job, I take the lion's share of the chores. In a move to reduce my workload in future years, we are planning to offer Rowan Cottage for sale later this year and cut back to running just two cottages of our own. We have no idea how readily we will find a buyer for Rowan - some properties linger unsold for months and even years. I'll write more about the sale in due course.
But, dear readers, don't be put off by what I write! Skye is a wonderful place to visit, with spectacular scenery everywhere, which gets better every bend you go round. Come, experience and enjoy - but be sure to book your accommodation well in advance, and see if you can seek out some special secret parts of Skye for yourselves...!
4 comments:
A rental car stopped dead in front of me this morning to take a photo of some sheep by the road from Dunvegan to Colbost. Good job I was a safe distance back!
Yep - rare thing, sheep. Need to grab every opportunity to get a photograph of one... Pleased to hear you wren't following too close!
Do the Outer Hebrides (Lewis and Harris, North Uist, South Uist) get crowded in the summer too?
Hello Dave, It's all relative. I am the kind of person who deliberately avoids any kind of crowded place, so for me, half a dozen people on a beach is 'too many people here'. If you are the same, then only consider visiting any of the Western Isles in winter, when you'll have the beaches to yourself, but it will be cold...! In summer, there are inevitably more people about. You could not visit any of the better known beauty spots or attractions and be entirely on your own, and you will meet other walkers on the better defined hiking trails. This doesn't matter at all to many visitors. It has now become very popular to visit here in small tour busses, so the people who come in them are never alone.
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