Skye - Portree.

 On our last day on Skye we drove into Portree, the town we could see from our house.

Thus far we had only driven in to pick up groceries at the CoOp.

Seaside towns have the same troubles as lake side towns.

The harbour is, of course, the big draw with its old wharf-side buildings

a couple of fishing boats

and more out on the buoys.

Thrift stores, gift shops, ice cream and boat trips.

Don noticed that even though we were no longer in the Lake District we still could not get away from Beatrix Potter (on a 50 pence piece)

Heather loves Monkey Puzzle Trees and we found a couple this day. This monster

had what looked liked flowers, that we learned (thanks google) would become pine cones.

A gentleman directed us to the entrance of the path that went around, what he called, "The Lump",

the hill between the harbour and the next bay.

A good view of the Lifesaving boat and the catamaran that goes whale and seal watching.

The tower/folly on the top

gave us fabulous views of how protected the harbour was.

Along the way there was some bird watching.... a Grey Heron,

Oyster Catcher and

a Hooded Crow (I had mistakenly identified these as Jackdaws, in a previous post)

Gate to the area where the Clans gather for Highland Games.

We spent some time wandering the downtown, souvenir shopping and had an excellent pizza for lunch but then the weather was beginning to close in so we headed home

stopping to snap photos of a brilliant double rainbow.

Home to an evening of eating up leftovers and packing.