Oronsay, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring
We’ve only been to the tiny isle of Oronsay once before.
We’ve only been to the tiny isle of Oronsay once before.
This was back in autumn 2020, before the 2nd pandemic lockdown happened.
Conditions on that occasion were cloudy, flat, and grey. But still, the scenery and views were stunning and we vowed to return again.
And so we did, this time with bright spring skies. A world of difference!
Oronsay can be found in Loch Bracadale, along with lots of other little islands, sandwiched in between the Duirinish and Minginish peninsulas. It’s possible to access Oronsay on foot via a tidal causeway consisting of ankle-breaking fist-sized rocks.
Though only 44 acres in size, it features cliffs 240 ft high, which means it offers incredible views to either the cliffs and hills of the Duirinish peninsula, or the cliffs and Cuillins of the Minginish peninsula.
We didn’t see another soul.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Pentax SMC 28mm F3.5 prime and Vivitar “Series 1” 70–210mm f2.8–4.0 zoom lenses. RAWs developed in Lightroom using RNI Films’ Kodachrome film profiles, edited and finalised in Photoshop.
Oronsay, Isle of Skye, Scotland, Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Oronsay, Isle of Skye, Autumn
The Isle of Skye is, of course, an island, but it’s also home to lots of satellite isles in its waters.
The Isle of Skye is, of course, an island, but it’s also home to lots of satellite isles in its waters.
Most of these tiny isles can be found in Loch Bracadale, a sea loch off the coast of Northwestern Skye. It contains isles such as Harlosh Island, Tarner Island, and Wiay. In addition, there is a fourth island that’s actually accessible by foot from the mainland of Skye, but only at low tide.
This is Oronsay.
We ventured to this tidal island from the nearby settlement of Ullinish after a wonderfully hearty Sunday Roast at Bog Myrtle Café. We crossed the shallow gravel bank that links Oronsay to Ullinish at low tide and went exploring this uninhabited island.
The eastern part of Oronsay consists of low lying grassland, and there were definitely plenty of sheep around taking advantage of this. The land then rises up towards the southwest, summiting at 74 m/242 ft and dropping as sheer cliffs down into the sea.
The hike to and around Oronsay was definitely one of the highlights of this particular stay on Skye.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses. Taken using a customised Pro Negative Standard film profile.