More Skye - Castles, hikes, and kayaking!

Our trip to Skye has been amazing. We have been here almost a week and the time has flown by. We have also been blessed with amazing weather and great rhythms of activity and rest. After taking a day off to relax from our two previous hikes, we spent a day on the water doing Sea Kayaking. Both Jenny and I had done fresh water, river kayaking before, but we learned sea kayaking is much different. To our delight we spent the day in Plockton, a really cool town that had a great pub and a lot of local residents who grew up on the water and loved spending time outside.

In Plockton, people's homes are on one side of the road, while their private gardens, garages, and boat docks are on the opposite side of the road.

We spent 5 hours on the water practicing all sorts of different maneuvers and strengthening our skills. Our teacher was amazing. He actually was a professor who taught in a program that focused on outdoor adventure tourism. It was a fun challenge to kayak across tidal waters in windy and rainy conditions. We also had seals follow us as we navigated between islands.

Our adventures in Skye wouldn't be complete without another hike! For our last outing we hiked the Fairy Pools - a series of beautiful waterfalls and pools with an amazing Skye landscape as a backdrop. What made the normally easy hike a little more challenging were the 40 mph gusts, but it didn't stop the locals from swimming.

And of course...more Castles! Dunvegan Castle is on the west coast of Skye and is the home of the MacLeod clan. Similar to the other amazing homes we have seen Dunvegan is a castle that is still lived in today and the collections are amazing. Dunvegan also has an extensive garden with multiple smaller spaces. A great way to finish our visit in Skye!