Oinch, Scotland, May 2019

Hardly had we returned from Vietnam before we found ourselves busy packing. We were going to the Outer Hebrides to see the standing stones at Callanish, wow!

From Dublin we went up to Belfast and sailed with Stenaline to Cairnryan. Then we drove all the way up passed Loch Lomond to Glencoe. We took the little ferry to Ardgour. Here we are at Oinch near Glencoe before sailing with the 4 minutes ferry to Ardgour.

Click each photo to enlarge

We stayed for the night at the Ardgour Inn. We had a nice view up the Great Glen.
Dr. Trinity was with us and he delighted to see Scotland. He was excited about being a member of the Travelling Bears now and staying at a nice inn - even though it had been a long day of being squashed hour after hour in a bag. He said he'd heard that one of the senior bears once claimed anything out of the bag was 5 star to him.
"That's right." Roger said. "That was Tom. Being squashed is unfortunately a downside of being a travelling bear..."

Loch Garry, May 2019

Next morning we headed north. On the way to Skye we stopped on the A87 to enjoy the Scottish highlands landscape at Loch Garry.

On the way we passed Eileen Donan Castle. McBear had been here before - at Easter 2000 when he was on his pioneering tour around the highlands.
"It's an amazing castle," Roger said "but the ugly seaweed... not so much!"
"The tide is low," McBear noticed.

Skye, May 2019

Just after Eilean Donan Castle we crossed the bridge to the Isle of Skye. Skye is the largest island of the Inner Hebrides.
Our first stop was the Talisker Distillery in Carbost. Tom insisted that we could not leave Skye without a taste of some genuine Skye whisky. Roger decided to have a sip as well.
"It's really tasty, isn't it?" Tom asked.
Roger was close to choking.
"Cough... yeah... cough-cough... I've never tasted anything like this..." he replied.

We also went to Dunvegan Castle, where the MacLeod clan once ruled.

Skye, May 2019

We finally reached Uig on the Isle of Sky and found our Bed and Breakfast, the Woodbine Guest House.

In the evening we started planning what we were going to see and do the next day. We enjoyed a bag of bear sized Walker's shortbread - McBear's favourite shortbread brand.

Skye, May 2019

The next day we drove around the Trotternish Peninsula and we met some highland cows on a field. In 2016 we toured the highlands and saw highland cows many places and said hello to one on the island of Mull, but we never got a group photo. This time we did...

We went to the main town on Skye, Portree.
"I hope people won't notice we're actually sitting on top of a recycle bin..." Roger pointed out.

Skye, May 2019

We wished to see the Old Man of Storr. It's a huge standing rock, - called a pinnacle - nearly 50 meters tall. Phew, it was tough to walk uphill! For once Tom didn't mind a lift in our human's bag even though it meant he was getting a bit squashed.

On Skye our humans bought a highland cow. We named her Skye.
From Skye we sailed to Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Outer Hebrides. Some say that Lewis and Harris are two islands that once joined in a narrow sound. Others say that Lewis is the northern, flat part while Harris is the mountainous part.
The weather was rather poor, unfortunately. Here's McBear and Skye on the main road in the mountainous area just north of Tarbert.

Lewis and Harris, May 2019

We toured Lewis and Harris and went north through remote and desolate areas.

We went all the way to Port of Ness, almost the northern point of Lewis.

Stornoway, May 2019

The main town on Lewis is Stornoway, a cosy and sleepy town.

Then we went to see the standing stones at Callanish. These standing stones were set up 5000 thousand years ago and are said to be Scotland's best preserved Neolithic monument.

Stornoway, May 2019

We only had a few days to explore Lewis and Harris before we had to leave. Here we are leaving Stornoway on way to Ullapool on the Scottish mainland.

It was getting late when we reached our bed and Breakfast, the Peatcutters Croft, in Badralloch.

Badralloch, May 2019

Our welcome committee was a big black cat, but it turned out it was a gorgeous and very sociable cat.

Then it was time to head south, back to Dublin. We left Badralloch and stopped for the night at the Lodge on Loch Lomond.

Loch Lomond, May 2019

Loch Lomond is said to be the Scots's favourite Loch. We enjoyed our last night in Scotland with our new friend, Skye from Skye.