While on the bus tour of the highlands with Deb and her Family, we had a one day tour with a local operator called Puffin Express. They did a great job and I highly recommend them. It was in a van (rather than a coach) so we could ask questions and the driver gave a great commentary. It was clear she really knew what she was talking about rather than reading off a sheet.

Skye was wonderful. Its a large island and we only covered a small peninsula on its south west tip, Sleat Peninsula. To get onto the island, we took a relatively new toll bridge owned, strangely enough, by Bank of America. The toll is a whopping £6 ($10) each way for a car and £25 ($45) for our mini bus. For lunch we stopped at the Clan Donald Centre where there is a large garden and a small museum.

We stopped at several photo op's including a beach on the west side of the Sleat Peninsula. To return to the mainland, we took a small 4 car turntable ferry, which loads the cars head on and then rotates the car deck 180 degrees so the cars can drive right off.

The island was created by volcanoes and has an area of 643 square miles. Its population is very low with only 9,000 residents. For a time in the 11th century it was held by the Norwegian King Haakon, but was taken for the Scots by the Scottish King Alexander III in 1263. Many of the place names on Skye are still of Norwegian decent

Flora MacDonald - At the end of the rebellion, Flora disguised Prince Charles as her lady's maid and took him to Skye, thus letting him escape from the English troops (she was married at the castle at the Clan Donald Centre). Their night time voyage to Skye is immortalized in the beautiful "Skye Boat Song" which can be heard on many celtic music CDs. To hear a simple version of the song click try this site. The chorus is written:

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king
Over the sea to Skye