For our last morning on the Isle of Skye we decided to try to get to the fairy pools again. The first day we arrived on Skye amidst severe weather warnings the first river crossing to the pools was completely flooded with a rather rapidly flowing creek. It was not possible to cross without being washed off the bridge and downstream – and all Aussies know “if it’s flooded, forget it”.
It still wasn’t the picture perfect blue skies I was hoping for instead rather grey and grim with a stereotypical drizzle, but the river crossing was now passable so we decided to check it out.
It was such a nice walk alongside the river, banked in purple flowering heather with waterfalls and deep clear pools and the backdrop of the towering Black Cuillins in the distance.
It was honestly the clearest water I had ever seen! You could see straight to the bottom at all the green and pink smooth round stones. So appealing I was starting to really regret not wearing my swimmers underneath my clothes.
After wandering along admiring the clear water it was all getting too much. We decided we really couldn’t leave without jumping in! Let me emphasise – it was not a warm day, the prospect of fresh mountain water even colder still but I was determined to not pass the opportunity. Rather than walk all the way back to the car for swimsuits and by the time we got there be at risk of changing our minds, I declared I would jump in fully clothed (minus a few layers of course!)
Boy it was brisk! Will estimated 9oC or less – true body numbing cold!
But oh so refreshing, and the adrenaline helps to keep you warm! We jumped off the rock a few more times before deciding it was time to go. It was a very cold and wet walk back to the car, where we stripped off and jumped into sleeping bags. I’m sure everyone in the carpark thought we were lunatics, but at that stage I couldn’t care less. Freezing cold but feeling sublimely clean and refreshed and grinning from ear to ear. I can’t even imagine how heavenly it would be to swim in the Fairy Pools on a lovely warm sunny day – why can’t we have one of these in London too!
A perfect ending to our time on Skye; we left half clothed, shivering, smiling and ready for the next part of our Scottish adventure.
from tally to the thames 
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