After our amazing trip to Skye last year we knew that we wanted to have another trip up there again this year. While we were browsing the internet for somewhere to stay we came across the web site for the Isle of Rona It sounded totally idyllic, no cars, no roads, no TV's and best of all virtually no people, well apart from Bill the caretaker and the few other guests. The interesting part was trying to work out exactly what to take with us, as there weren't going to be any shops to pop out to if we'd forgotten anything. Well we eventually managed to cram all of our gear into several large bags, it looked like we were going for more than a week, but the thought of running out of wine was just far too much to bear! LOL The first part of the journey to Rona was the long drive (about 9 hours) up to Portree on Skye. It's a very long drive but you drive through some amazing scenery to get there  time seems to fly be. I hope you enjoy the photo's, just click on the smaller images to see the full sized ones!

The second part of the trip to the island involves catching a boat which takes you out across the Sound of Rassay. Now this was the bit I wasn't looking forward to, as I have a bit of a phobia about boats. I know why book at holiday on an island, yes, but I wanted see if I could start and get over my fears. To be honest the trip over was amazing, the weather couldn't have been better, brilliant blue skies light winds and hardly any swell. I was still quite pleased, along with Tim dog, when we reached dry land, and we were both first off the boat!

Life on Rona was very very relaxed, no need to rush on a morning to get ready to head off for the day, it was heaven. We did explore the island, but at a very leisurely pace. I think if we had really pushed ourselves we could have 'done' the island in a couple of days, but that would have been a shame. One thing we did spend ages doing was exploring Dry Harbour, especially the rock pools and shoreline. Sheena even had me putting out the creels to see if I could catch a crab or lobster. I'm convinced that they had holes in them though, as every morning my bait had gone and there was no sign of anything in there! LOL

Of course we couldn't forget about Tim dog could we? He just loved been on the island, well once he'd recovered from the boat trip! He loves playing in any form of water, so he was into the sea at every opportunity, as you can see from the photo's below. The only real problem we had with him were ticks, he was covered in them, one of the problems at this time of the year. We had protected him with a tick repellent before we left home and a nightly check seemed to help as we only had to remove a dozen or so from him with the tick tweezers!

All to soon our week on Rona came to an end, so we had to pack bags and say goodbye to Dry Harbour, before walking back over to Rona Lodge to get the boat back to Portree. The island has made a lasting impression on both myself and Sheena, there is something really special about the place. I haven't yet been able to put my finger on it, but I know for sure that a return visit is definitely on the books. Maybe not this year or next, but there is still so much for us to seen and do on Rona, and as we found out this visit, why rush just take your time and enjoy it!

Click on the images below to see the rest of our photos from the trip, as there were far too many for one page, I've split them into themed galleries which are hopefully self-explanatory ...