Glenelg to Kylerhea Ferry

We had a relatively quiet day today - our first on holiday. We had a couple of sips too many of red wine yesterday, so as a consequence although we up and at them (too much light) rather early, we've both had periods during the day when we just wanted to close our eyes. We took a pretty little walk around Duirinish station this morning (the railway theme continues), with great views across to Skye, Raasay and the Applecross peninsula. Thereafter we went to Plockton and had a cup of tea in a rather Monty Python-esque cafe, which none the less did good scones. Finally, we cut down to the south of Kyle and went across onto the next peninsula and eventually wound up watching the ferry arrive and depart. The Glenachulish is, as they will proudly tell you, the world's only hand operated turntable ferry in service. And it probably has the only collie dog minder for such a service. This community owned service with a tremendous history and pedigree is run in a refreshingly informal way.

We hadn't initially planned to go back to Kyle that way, but in the end - after another cup of tea in the garden of the Glenelg Inn - we went back to the ferry to discover that previous queues had abated and we didn't have to wait at all long to embark ourselves and enjoy the short crossing. The trip then back across the Sleat peninsula to the A87 Kyleakin to Portree road, which we joined just south of Broadford, was an absolute treat with wonderful views of the Cuillins. We crossed the bridge, and hey presto we were back at the cottage.

Since then, we've been regaled by the arrival of a very large train, the Royal Scotsman, run by the same luxury brand that own the Orient Express. It was conveying passengers paying just a snip under £4.5k to enjoy the ultimate in luxury travel for five days and four nights, including this evening's formal dinner with views of Loch Alsh. The whole thing was so monstrously large, with its two Class 37 locomotives, that it made our little signal box shudder and shake.

We're also being regaled by sunshine. This might just be the night to get a sunset. We'll be going out in about an hour to see whether this is the case.