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Published: March 29th 2008
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Tuesday 18 March - After a few blissful days on the Isle of Skye, we decided to venture to an even remoter island, the Isle of Raasay. The island of Raasay only has 200 residents and is a 15 minute ferry ride away from Skye. We were intrigued to go to the island because we knew that it sees very few visitors. Most people spend all of their time on Skye, which is a shame because the island is truly stunning. Raasay lies between Skye and the Applecross peninsula.
'Cha chuirear briathran air biodhce,
Cha deaner dealbh no ceol no dan dhi.'
Extract from the Gaelic poem 'Screapadal' by Sorley MacLean.
In English this means...
'No words can be put on beauty,
no picture words or poem made for it.'
We completely agree with Sorley MacLean, the Isle of Raasay is absolutely stunning and full of so much ever unfolding beauty. There are only a few roads on the island and no petrol stations. We had a fantastic time exploring the island and went in search of the BIG FIVE - Eagles, Red Deer, Whales, Seals and Otters. On safari in Africa a couple of years
ago, we had been lucky to spot four of the big five, so we were wondering how lucky we would be on the Isle of Raasay. Well, we spotted eagles and red deer - but sadly no whales, seals or otters. But seeing four majestic red deer with their impressive antlers make a dash across a lush green meadow as we were hiking on a very remote part of the island, was so mesmerizing. It's an image we will never forget.
The local people were so incredibly friendly. We had to get used to waving at every car that passed us - definitely not something that happens in London. You'd be lucky if someone even said hello to you in the street, let alone waved at you enthusiastically from their car. It was a real eyeopener to how enormously warm and friendly the islanders were, some of them with lovely rosy cheeks. We chatted for some time with two farmers; one of which then tried to sell us his farm and land for the right 'offer'. Lav being bold said to him, "How much is it going for?" (obviously with no intention to buy his farm, but being very
polite) - the farmer with a chuckle said "any offer will do". We are not quite ready for a life on the remote Isle of Raasay...so we passed on his offer.
Our 12 mile very adventurous hike across mountainous Raasay, was a real adventure. We decided to go off the beaten path, so we used an Ordnance Survey map and compass to navigate a route around the island. There were no footpaths, so we tried to follow sheep paths instead. We were blessed with wonderful views across to Skye and had a fantastic time hiking up to Dun Caan (1470ft) where the views from the summit were superb. It is claimed that Boswell "danced a Highland dance" on Dun Caan, during his visit to the island with Dr Johnson in 1773 (Dr Johnson wrote the first English Dictionary).
'We mounted up to the top of Duncaan, where we sat down, ate cold mutton and bread and cheese and drank brandy and punch. Then we had a Highland song...then we danced a reel.' James Boswell describing his famous jig on Dun Caan in 1773.
We have danced in a number of 'Ceilidhs' at a few weddings in the
past, but decided not to follow in Dr Boswell's Highland fling footsteps!
With all of its beauty Raasay is blighted with a very sad past. In the 1850s the Highland Clearances took place, where local people in the remote township of Hallaig, on the east coast of the island, were removed from their land to make way for sheep! It is a very sad part of Scottish history. We went in search of the abandoned town of Hallaig and after hours of hiking, Steve finally found it hidden over a very steep grassy bank. The deserted houses of Hallaig were a poignant and sad reminder of the infamous Highland Clearances.
Unfortunately in all of the excitement of locating the abandoned town of Hallaig, we lost our map!! Which is not great when off the beaten track on a remote island, where we had seen no-one on the mountains all day, except for sheep. So Steve tried to navigate our way off the top of the mountain. At times Lav was quite worried and thought that Mountain Rescue would have to come and find us, but Steve managed to find a 'safe' route off the mountain. Phew! However, this
cost us valuable time and the last ferry back to Skye was due to leave Raasay at 5.30pm - we were still on the mountain at 4.45pm and still had 4 miles to go. So we had to run and run and run - we also had to get past some bulls who refused to move off the road, despite Steve trying to 'shoo' them. We think they were wondering what on earth he was doing and just stared at him in amazement.
Eventually with 2 miles still to go, and only 15 minutes to make it back to the ferry, Lav convinced Steve to leave her behind and run on ahead to stop the ferry from leaving without us. So Steve ran on as fast as his legs could carry him and managed to make it onto the ferry dead on 5.30pm. Once Steve was on board, they started to pull up the drawbridge, and Steve had to say "No, no, my wife is still on her way." Lav finally arrived at 5.36pm - glowing. We still do not know how we made it back to the ferry on time, but we are so glad we did! So
overall we had a real unforgettable adventure on Raasay.
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