Skye, Day 7: I Leave

Today was a day of mixed blessings. I awoke to no rain and felt good. I packed up, intending to catch the 9:45 bus to Portree and explore that town a little bit. As I finished striking camp it started to hail a little bit. I thought it was a little funny and started making weather puns to myself on my way to the bus stop (hail yes, I did). Once I got there, I waited but the bus didn't show up. I checked the timetable again and saw that the bus was Tuesday only. In my defense, the timetable was poorly organized, clearly incomplete, and who the hail makes a bus run only on Tuesday? (I'm not ashamed. Let your hate rain down--it won't cloud my pride) With the help of the post office, I found out when the next bus was. I waited, saw it, and and saw that it had Linmore, not Portree, on the front as it drove past. The hail was stronger now and was accompanied by buffeting winds. I went back down to the post office to find out then the next bus to Portree was, and they said the bus would return on its way there, and soon. I booked it back to the bus station, no small feat in gale-force winds, hail, and with 30 extra pounds of equipment, and caught the bus just as it pulled into the station. Phew. I boarded and was on my way.

Portree is a pretty small town, but bigger by far than the other ones I'd gone through. Some nice views of the harbor, a cool  little tower, and... well, that was about it. So I ended up going to a local bakery (where I got a piece of cake for 66p!) and hat two pots of Earl Grey at a local cafe. It was a nice rest as I waited for the bus to Kyle of Lochalsh. Then the bus came and now I am no longer on the Isle of Skye. Tomorrow I'll be going back to my real life with... other people... I'll refrain from final thoughts for now. Until I'm back in London, my trip isn't really over.

Side note: I hailed about seven separate times today. How weird is that?

                                           THINGS I LEARNED

• Don't try to predict the weather on Skye. It's always gonna be a Hail Mary. There's snow chance you'll get it right. Rain in your eagerness--there's a sleet chance at best that you'll be correct.
• Although after a week of walking you may end up a 30-minute bus ride from where you started, some things really are all about the journey.
• Skye is beautiful at sunset.
• I could live quite happily off of Earl Grey tea and scones.

The wind was too forceful and cold for me to finish this sketch.

Instead, this cup of tea.