GOVERNMENT WEALTH WARNING - This post may contain pictures of a BMW R1200GS which can cause R100GS, R1100GS & R1150GS owners to have uncontrolable urges to upgrade their bike.
My eight year old daughter, SKYE, was named after the island (much to the annoyance of my ex-inlaws ) and I thought the SKYE PAIRTY would be a great opportunity for her to eventually visit her namesake Island.
After getting Royal approval from H.R.H. OONYACK and H.R.H. Nashskye for our visit the packing began.
Some further modifications were needed to our riding gear to prepare us for the journey North in Midge infested lands
We had planned on leaving on the Friday and heading straight to Skye but some sunny weather saw us packed and ready to leave by midday Thursday
Called into BMW at Bishopbriggs for a cup of coffee (based on a value of £0.50 a cup I only have another 18,000 odd to go and my bike will have actually been free )
Staff waved us off on the next leg of our trip which took us through the great Dukes Pass which was dry and sunny. No traffic so a good run along it, even weighed down with all our gear. From there we headed up to Tyndrum where I was going to show all the bikes parked outside the Green Welly. Ended up we were parked by ourselves.
Treated ourselves to a couple of ice creams and watched the traffic go by.
From there we headed up to Fort William. I had made a mental note where G.C.s place was and after a few minutes we were pulling up outside the Ben Nevis Inn were we were greeted by quite a few other Tossers. Parked the bike and as Skye was hungry (what's new!!!!) we managed to get a table. We had just finished our tasty meal as the other came in to sit down for their meal. Shep relaxed with a newspaper which spontaneously combusted. We decided that was probably a good time to go on the hunt for a campsite.
ON the other side of the river we got fixed up with a pitch at the Ben Nevis camp site. Nice and clean site and soon had the tent up and Skye settled watching Still Game. Plenty pitter patter of raindrops through the night so getting up was postponed till the rain eased off. We eventually left Fort William around 1pm and headed to Skye. Roadworks made it a slow haul for the first stretch. Some odd hitchhickers Did anyone else spot the three guys dressed in old fashioned black velvet suits with top hats, what were they all about?? Once on the A87 we made good progress. We were joined by Mike on his 1200 Adventure. By the time we reached Kyle of Lochalsh, Skye was hungry again. Lost Mike in the one way system and ended up having a very tasty bacon buttie in the cafe beside the carpark. We then headed over the Bridge and into Skye.
Enjoyable run up through Broadford and then on via the lovely sweeping coastal road before arriving at Portree where we took the road towards Dunvegan. We spotted the Waternish signpost and before long were on a single track road nearing the end of our journey. We spotted the campiste in the distance and headed down to Stein. Skye decided that she would have Crazy Frog playing through our speakers for our arrival. Not quite sure how that went down with some of the locals. Within minutes we were greeted by Tash from one of the Royal Limos. We followed her up to Castle Oonyack where we had been granted Royal permission to erect our tent within the grounds. Skye quickly made friends with the Royal dog and while she occupied it I got the tent up.
Later we jumped on the bike and headed down to Stein to meet the others and get some food. The food was excellent and we went for another run on the bike exploring Waternish. The Royal Taxi then took us to the Ceilidh which was the first time Skye had been to one. It looked like half the Island was there and as if that is what they did every weekend. We later found out that the last Ceilidh was about a year before that. Skye was pleased to win a special Vase in the raffle thanks to a tciket bought for her by Tuned
Next morning I eventually managed to get Skye on the move and after topping up with petrol at Dunvegan, I coaxed her Northwards to return to a walk I had done years ago up to the Quirang. She needed some bribery with a bacon roll first in Uig where she managed to pick up a SKYE baseball cap. We climbed up into the mountains and before long we were parked ready to head for the Quirang.
and off we go, Skye complete with her new baseball cap.
the sheep found it easier to climb than we did in trainers and motorcycle boots
After getting back to the bike and the chance of a photo of the two of us we headed to get some supplies in Portree.
The "A" road down to Portree was so fast, smooth and wide in places and then the next minute you were on a single track road
While getting supplies in Portree I managed to loose my bike keys. kept retracing my steps and emptying my pockets but no sign. Skye was starting to panic and I was gald to see the freindly face of Novice come round the corner. He reassured Skye that all would be well and he said that he would check back on us after we checked out the Police station in case they had been handed in. What a relief to be asked to describe the keys in the Police station and then to have them pulled out of a drawer. Spare plastic key is now carried with me all the time.
We still managed to arrive back in time to catch the end of the Gala day
See Gala Day thread for more photos
More of our adventure to come soon
Iain & Skye
My eight year old daughter, SKYE, was named after the island (much to the annoyance of my ex-inlaws ) and I thought the SKYE PAIRTY would be a great opportunity for her to eventually visit her namesake Island.
After getting Royal approval from H.R.H. OONYACK and H.R.H. Nashskye for our visit the packing began.
Some further modifications were needed to our riding gear to prepare us for the journey North in Midge infested lands
We had planned on leaving on the Friday and heading straight to Skye but some sunny weather saw us packed and ready to leave by midday Thursday
Called into BMW at Bishopbriggs for a cup of coffee (based on a value of £0.50 a cup I only have another 18,000 odd to go and my bike will have actually been free )
Staff waved us off on the next leg of our trip which took us through the great Dukes Pass which was dry and sunny. No traffic so a good run along it, even weighed down with all our gear. From there we headed up to Tyndrum where I was going to show all the bikes parked outside the Green Welly. Ended up we were parked by ourselves.
Treated ourselves to a couple of ice creams and watched the traffic go by.
From there we headed up to Fort William. I had made a mental note where G.C.s place was and after a few minutes we were pulling up outside the Ben Nevis Inn were we were greeted by quite a few other Tossers. Parked the bike and as Skye was hungry (what's new!!!!) we managed to get a table. We had just finished our tasty meal as the other came in to sit down for their meal. Shep relaxed with a newspaper which spontaneously combusted. We decided that was probably a good time to go on the hunt for a campsite.
ON the other side of the river we got fixed up with a pitch at the Ben Nevis camp site. Nice and clean site and soon had the tent up and Skye settled watching Still Game. Plenty pitter patter of raindrops through the night so getting up was postponed till the rain eased off. We eventually left Fort William around 1pm and headed to Skye. Roadworks made it a slow haul for the first stretch. Some odd hitchhickers Did anyone else spot the three guys dressed in old fashioned black velvet suits with top hats, what were they all about?? Once on the A87 we made good progress. We were joined by Mike on his 1200 Adventure. By the time we reached Kyle of Lochalsh, Skye was hungry again. Lost Mike in the one way system and ended up having a very tasty bacon buttie in the cafe beside the carpark. We then headed over the Bridge and into Skye.
Enjoyable run up through Broadford and then on via the lovely sweeping coastal road before arriving at Portree where we took the road towards Dunvegan. We spotted the Waternish signpost and before long were on a single track road nearing the end of our journey. We spotted the campiste in the distance and headed down to Stein. Skye decided that she would have Crazy Frog playing through our speakers for our arrival. Not quite sure how that went down with some of the locals. Within minutes we were greeted by Tash from one of the Royal Limos. We followed her up to Castle Oonyack where we had been granted Royal permission to erect our tent within the grounds. Skye quickly made friends with the Royal dog and while she occupied it I got the tent up.
Later we jumped on the bike and headed down to Stein to meet the others and get some food. The food was excellent and we went for another run on the bike exploring Waternish. The Royal Taxi then took us to the Ceilidh which was the first time Skye had been to one. It looked like half the Island was there and as if that is what they did every weekend. We later found out that the last Ceilidh was about a year before that. Skye was pleased to win a special Vase in the raffle thanks to a tciket bought for her by Tuned
Next morning I eventually managed to get Skye on the move and after topping up with petrol at Dunvegan, I coaxed her Northwards to return to a walk I had done years ago up to the Quirang. She needed some bribery with a bacon roll first in Uig where she managed to pick up a SKYE baseball cap. We climbed up into the mountains and before long we were parked ready to head for the Quirang.
and off we go, Skye complete with her new baseball cap.
the sheep found it easier to climb than we did in trainers and motorcycle boots
After getting back to the bike and the chance of a photo of the two of us we headed to get some supplies in Portree.
The "A" road down to Portree was so fast, smooth and wide in places and then the next minute you were on a single track road
While getting supplies in Portree I managed to loose my bike keys. kept retracing my steps and emptying my pockets but no sign. Skye was starting to panic and I was gald to see the freindly face of Novice come round the corner. He reassured Skye that all would be well and he said that he would check back on us after we checked out the Police station in case they had been handed in. What a relief to be asked to describe the keys in the Police station and then to have them pulled out of a drawer. Spare plastic key is now carried with me all the time.
We still managed to arrive back in time to catch the end of the Gala day
See Gala Day thread for more photos
More of our adventure to come soon
Iain & Skye