Scotland Motorcycle Tour - Day 6
Rest day: Stein Inn, Skye
Distance: 56 miles
Today we had a well earned lie in until 8:30 followed by our best 'Full breakfast' yet at the Stein Inn. Even though it was a rest day it was inevitable that we would get out on the bike as we wanted to see some of the island.
We decided to check out Portree, the largest town on the island and it's cultural hub, where we expected to find a few craft places and galleries. There were a few shops, and a nice harbour, but nothing much in the way of galleries and craft. So after a little bit of an explore we picked up a local guide and headed out of town to a couple of specific craft destinations.
First was the Edinbane Pottery which is known for its wood-fired and salt glazed pottery. Alisa purchased a lovely bowl here (between pottery and bottles of scotch we really are taking our chances with breakages on the trip).
After which we found the gallery at Orbost, near Dunvegan where we purchased an oil painting of the local mountains. While the pottery is fairly sturdy and 'should' survive the trip in the top box, the painting will be posted to us later.
We had lunch and some wifi time at the waterside cafe-bistro. I was worried about my very worn back tyre and rang around to see where I could get a replacement. Nothing in Skye, nothing available in as far as Inverness and nothing in Northern Scotland, even Glasgow proved difficult, but I eventually found a place in Glasgow willing to change the tyre in a few days time.
I will have to nurse the back tyre which is already down to the wear bars for at least 600 more miles before I can get a new one fitted. This will take some gentle riding :-(
By late afternoon we were back on the Stein Inn where we had a disco nap before taking a taxi to the 'Three Chimneys' near Dunvagan for a posh meal. It's one of our off-the-bike highlights for this trip and has a great reputation. It proved to be an inspired choice by Alisa, their tasting menu was the best meal of our Scotland trip.