16 August 2012

A magical dip in the Fairy Pools - Isle of Skye


[ Quick pit stop to take a photo of us soaking wet but loving life - on our adventure to find the fairy pools]

[ The moment I got in to freezing waters ... to become a fairy ]

[ A view of some of the spectacular scenery of the fairy pools - the mountains in the background are huge in real life ]

[ Ducking for cover in a tiny hole we found .. it didn't do a thing haha ]

[ More fairy pool magic ]

[ "Hunny it's raining & its cold, are we there yet?" ]


[ We got to see extra pretty scenery near the mountains as we'd walk so far past the 
fairy pools themselves ]

This is a story about a boy & a girl, who went on a journey around the world looking for adventure - and got just that. 

The boy didn't like walking far in jeans, oh no... and the girl, well she hated getting rained on when fully clothed, but not even that stopped them for this particular adventure about to be told where both walking in jeans and getting soaked whilst fully clothed features - along with the real story of fairy pool swimming - ergo becoming real fairies, but alas .. I'm getting ahead of myself...let me start from the beginning.

And this is where the story begins.

So there we were. Two adventurers looking for our next 'hit' - and we decided we'd find just whatever it was we were looking for in the Isle of Skye, a beautiful part of Scotland that we knew we couldn't not get too. So off we departed as sensible tourists at 7am early Tuesday morning...the early bird gets the worm as they say .. do they even still say that?

Whether we wound up wherever we were intending on going or not, we knew quick smart it wouldn't have mattered - the breathtaking scenery on the drive alone was worth the 3 hour car ride. We duck and wove in and out of mountains so big, you couldn't tell where the peak ended & the sky began. There was green as far as the eye could see and the sun cast incredible shadows over everything, constantly changing how we viewed our world out the window. 

But end up in our destination we did - Portree. A small town in the Isle of Skye famous for...we're not quite sure what it's famous for but we're sure it's famous for something. 

This un assuming town was where our adventure truly began however.

We had drawn on our map where we had to get to if we wanted to find the Fairy pools - many miles away and with my bangin' navigational skills and Morgs skillful driving we were confident we would get there.
After driving for another 45 minutes or so, feeling like we'd gone in to the depths of Moredore - that's a Lord of the Rings reference for those playing at home - we saw the tiny sign that indicated we were close, so we parked up, grabbed our walking shoes & set off.... In the pouring rain - uh oh.. (& Morgs was wearing jeans.. double uh oh)

Now here is when the lesson for those ever planning to visit the Fairy Pools is learned though. When you read the reviews that say it should only take about 30 minutes to walk there. IT ONLY TAKES HALF AN HOUR TO WALK THERE. When you're still walking / running along muddy, rocky paths (but by god it was fun) in pouring rain an hour later, then you have probably gone too far. Which is exactly what happened to us. 
After an hour of still trekking through rocks and muddy paths our 'fairy god father' John who was coming out of the mountains the other way stopped us to ask us 'if we were going anywhere special'. We laughed thinking it was a joke. 'Well, the fairy pools of course!' we both chimed. 'Ahhh well, that's a pity because you would have passed them over 30 minutes ago, coming from the very direction you just came'....

We laughed. Roared with laughter in fact. We knew the exact spot they would have been as well as we had actually stopped, for fleeting moments to say how beautiful the waterfalls and crystal clear water was but 'we're sure that's not it'. 

Well.... it was it, and we had learnt our lesson. Big time.

Fairy god father John then explained that locals actually go swimming in it, and in that moment right there, Morgs & I knew we were both going to strip down in windy cold conditions, to go swimming in the fairy pools - after a very lengthy walk back to the car mind you to get changed in to bathers to walk all the way back to the pools.

The result? A very fun day, some crazy adventures (including me saying I could technically legally change my name to fairy queen...right?) and a big lesson.

For the record though....They really are beautiful. And not even for the amazing fairy name. There are little waterfalls cascading in to crystal clear blue pools with smooth pebbles lining the bottom - their beauty is enchanting and after sitting and taking in their beauty after our dip sitting on the smooth rocks staring right to the bottom of the pools, it didn't surprise us why we'd been tricked in to skimming down & dipping it.  

The lesson we found at the Fairy pools that day was - to slow down. To soak up every sight and smell and exciting thing around us and to not be in a rush to see bigger and prettier things all the time. We realised the beauty is in fact all around us all the time, and to find it we just need to stop and properly look for it. Simply, to look up, and around us.

We had the most fun, hilarious day getting lost, found again, and then deciding to actually swim in the pools and decided then and there to not ever be spectators in fun 'life' moments again, but active participants. The memories are some we'll remember for a very long time - after all, who else can say they swam in the fairy pools? US! 

... & we have the pics and video to prove it!

7 comments:

  1. Hi guys, as I can see I´m not the only one with poor navigation skills :) And the video is the best, I had a good laugh while watching it. Anyway I´m sure Scotland is just beautiful and rainy of course, I hope you won´t get cold or something. I´m looking forward to another report of your incredible journey :)
    xx Eve.h

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  2. Anna - this looks amazing - and I love the joy that is so evident in this post! Am sitting in the airport about to head back to the US and can't wait to catch up on more of your adventures when I get home. Perth was (as usual) divine xx

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  3. Loved this tale, pity about the weather, but that doesn't even spoil the majestic scenery!

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  4. Love love loveeeee the video!! So adorable!! x

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  5. By the time you leave the UK, you would've covered far more places than I have despite having lived here for 4 years! Can't wait to see where else you'll end up (ok, so I've read your itinerary) but I'm sure you'll have tons of exciting stories to tell. Love the happy faces!

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  6. Wow the fairy pools, sounds sooo magical! I love your video, it gives people the chance to see the real Anna and hear her Australian accent :)

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