Barbara's retirement year: The island of Skye and Edinburgh

Imagine waking up and going to breakfast, a huge Scottish breakfast, with this stunning view over the Sound of Rassay. It was such an amazing start to what was a wonderful day, packed with all the sights of Skye plus more. Our Bed and Breakfast here in Portree, Almondbank, run by a lovely lady, Effie, was perfect.

We had a full day ahead and it was great that George listened to all our requests and delivered all of them. He is an incredible driver and a real personality. We didn't listen to much music because he had so many hilarious tales to tell, though most ended in some sort of gruesome death.

Although I had been on Skye before, it was still fabulous to revisit favourite places and to see things from a different direction. Old Man of Storr could be seen perfectly this morning and this was the first of dozens of stops.

Just a little way round the corner we had a sensational view back along the Sound of Rassay in the magnificent morning light.

We were at an area of spectacular, perpendicular cliffs known as Kilt Rock because of the folds in the rock ressembling the folds of a kilt. We were about 200 feet up so I felt very brave taking the photo below!

When I was here last year there was just a dribble of water, but thanks to the weeks of rain recently, the waterfall was much more impressive.

I had asked George if we could go to my all time favourite place on Skye, The Quirang. We approached it from the other side this time, so it seemed completely different, but no less stunning. What a fantastic landscape - we were so lucky to see it in such fine weather.

Unfortunately, not for the first time on this trip, time was against us, particularly as we had to take the long way round the island because someone had driven off the side of the road into the peat bog when trying to let someone past. Apparently this is an extremely regular occurence since Skye became over- crowded with tourists , and campervans in particular . It seems many of the most spectacular countries with wilderness areas are attracting too many visitors and do not have the infrastructure in place to deal with them. Scotland, with so many hundreds of kilometres of single- track road, is especially badly hit.

Anyway, for me the detour was a bonus because we took a new road and enjoyed hearing the tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie's escape, assisted by a local girl, Flora MacDonald. It was a long story, but anyway, when she died, thousands turned out to the funeral and she was given a pretty magnificent gravestone. There is a replacement there now because tourists kept taking small pieces away with them, until it fell down! Unbelievable.

At the request of two ladies on the bus, we drove on to Dunvegan Castle. Not a castle George was too keen on, but the area around it was very pretty and we could see the castle in the distance from this lookout.

Then another person wanted to visit an old Scottish Piping School. George was determined to find it and we went off on a real wild goose chase down the narrowest of lanes, with no passing bays and luckily few people, until we reached a dead end. Then, We ended up driving along an old peat cutters' lane, no longer used, with grass growing in the middle of the road. Quite an adventure but with a confident and careful driver it was fun.

Several wanted to do some whisky tasting so we dropped in to the Talisker Whisky Distillery. I preferred to enjoy the lovely surroundings. The wind had really come up and the white caps even in the sheltered sea loch made me feel very pleased I was not at sea today. We were really lucky yesterday with our wonderfully calm crossing.

Last year we had a fantastic walk to some pretty waterfalls in the hills. The Fairy Pools have now become so popular, you cannott find a car park close by, even late in the afternoon, so George had plan B up his sleeve, a smaller, lesser- known Fairy Pool just down the road. Inside knowledge is great! Not only could we park easily, but we only had to walk a matter of minutes to it instead of one hour, which considering how windy it was, was perfect.

It was perhaps not quite as grand, but still very beautiful.

We did afterwards return to The Fairy Pools car park where by now the crowds had cleared as the weather totally packed in and almost hurricane force winds were making it quite hard to stand up. The Black Cuillin ranges were conpletely swamped by the thick cloud pouring over them. It was dramatic, but also a bit scary to be outside. Panorama photos were impossible - you could not hold the camera steady!

George was fantastic. Although it had been an exceptionally long day with some tough driving, he granted me my second wish to go back to see the Black and Red Cuillins at Sligachan. It looks as if it would be amazing to go hiking there, but certainly not tonight! From the photo conditions look relatively acceptable, but there is no way I would have walked more than a short distance in that wind!

Time to leave Skye and head back to Edinburgh.

As we had done last year, we made a stop at the very picturesque Eilean Donan Castle, used in many a film over the past decades. The weather was not great but Guni and I decided nonetheless to have a walk rather than visit the castle. It is a stunning location but sadly the mist rolled in after I took this photo, followed by persistent rain - a little unusual on this trip!

It was a worthwhile walk in the rain to a viewpoint of the castle, not because of the view but because we saw an otter at the lakeside, not far from us. Apparently, they are quite plentiful in Scotland and I had been looking for them all the trip, but this was the first. Nice surprise on this rather miserable day.

As we approached the War Memorial near Glen Coe we were treated to a remarkably black sky. It looked so heavy and desperate to shed its load, but amazingly it was dry as I took the photo.

George took us a bit off the beaten track once again, this time to a great wee pub near Glen Coe. It was a really pretty setting and the food and service was marvelous too. We were even fortunate enough to be there during the finest and driest part of the day.

The stone walls covered in moss and lichen.are so colourful, even on an overcast day.

Glen Coe also looked spectacular with its lowish cloud cover, just such fitting weather for a place with such a dark history. It doesn't matter how often I visit this valley, it never ceases to send a little chill up my spine thinking of what happened there hundreds of years ago,

We had an extremely wet journey home, but luckily it was through an area I had already seen recently in good weather with Dennis.

A trip to Edinburgh would certainly not be quite the same without a stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens . I did go there a few times as a 21-year- old but I think I had other values at that time and did not appreciate it as much as I should have. There are so many similarities with the Christchurch Gardens. Both huge , tranquil, leafy havens in the midst of a bustling city. When I left Christchurch in May, it was looking pretty similar to this!

We have a wonderful glasshouse in Christchurch, but nothing compared to the 10 they have in Edinburgh, showing you the fantastic plant and tree life in various different zones. I have to say that I found these glasshouses much more spectacular and just as informative as those of the Eden Project, and not nearly so overpriced!

I loved the Rainforest greenhouse, which made me feel quite homesick for the West Coast of NZ. It was so lush and even the concrete paths had fern imprints, along with dinosaur footprints ( they have found dinosaur footprints in many areas of Scotland they say).

What an incredible flower this is. I do not know the name but it looked like a hanging Portuguese Man of War jellyfish! Stunning colours.

Time to say ' farewell' to Guni. I decided to visit some of the better known landmarks of the city, especially as the sun was back making the colourful Grassmarket far more vibrant. I really enjoyed some hours there reading all the tales of witches, hangings, etc, and watching the people go by. So many nationalities!

Then, before I met up with Sam , my long time colleague and friend from Zuoz, I took a last wander through the Gardens in Princes Street, reminiscing a little and enjoying the fabulous skyline of the Castle and old houses of the Royal Mile. What a sight. I marvelled at it when I lived in Edinburgh 45 years ago and I still find it an awesome sight.

It was such a brilliant three weeks in Scotland, certainly one of my favourite countries. I will really try to get back there again, especially to the far north.

It was an early start for my flight back to Wales and the family.