Back from the Isles - where next?

 Just thinking 

Still on our way home

 The day looks fair after the deluge last night. 

Once again a delicious breakfast is served. Full Scottish for one and fruit, yogurt and porridge with Ben Nevis whiskey for the other.  Better not be the driver this morning then!

Not sure I fancy that!

                       

That’s more like it.

Passing through Glencoe today was not such a pleasant experience as on the way up. The prospect of more rain doesn’t seem to have put the many, many hikers and tourists that have descended on The Glen.  Luckily we are still in relaxed holiday mode and enjoy the scenery on offer.

Manage to get to Dumbarton before we need to top the fuel up.  Rather a good sculpture on the roundabout outside the supermarket filling station.

 

Well we’re part way home but there’s still a long way to go.

Day 6 - Homeward Bound

 Day 6 - Homeward Bound

Well today we have a ferry booked for a 4pm departure. The wind and rain last night was in epic proportions and the ‘check the ferry status app’ says that the route we are on is subject to disruption and sudden cancellation.  We will have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather abates slightly by this afternoon.

On a more positive note, after breakfast we spy a Sea Eagle, through the telescope, across the other side of the Loch. Excellent. 

Bit of a burry digiscope photo - but it is there honest, 

In fact there were two and then three of them soaring above the ridge at one point.

A quick and heavy rain shower followed by bright sunshine produces a rainbow.

Eric decides it’s quite a long journey ahead so he needs a bit of a nap.

After a lazy morning around the cottage, lunch and a tidy up, we set off for the ferry.  

A last look at the view before we go.

We have had a text message from CalMac to say not to turn up before 2pm as there are big lorries doing port renovations, and the entrance will be blocked.  Pootle down towards Tarbert (or Tairbeart in Gaelic). 

Have been meaning to put in a photo of one of these all week - see below.  These are bus stops, with a place to stand out of the wind and rain no matter which direction it is coming from. We did wonder how you would see the bus coming if you were sheltering around the back.  Some of them on the peninsula to the east of Stornoway had little Perspex portholes in each ‘Wall’ to achieve this, but in most places they were like the one below.

We spy a glass art, embroidery and gifts shop along the way, and it’s open. Deciding to go and have a look at what’s on offer as we are about ten minutes ahead of schedule for the ferry. Park up and put our masks on. Walking up to the gallery it felt as though we were bank robbers about to do a heist. Hand sanitiser at the door and 2m distancing in operation we browse the goodies on offer, which are multiple and very desirable. Emerge from shop fifteen minutes later with multiple packages and, metaphorically if not literally, a lighter wallet.  

Turning into Tairbeart, there is already a queue for the ferry stretching along what appears to be the main road into the town.  Another text from CalMac; due to volume of traffic at Loch Maddy the ferry is delayed (again), but at least it appears that it is running, which is a relief.  Directed into queuing lanes, looks like we are going to be on the mezzanine deck again.  Nearly an hour later we are on board. 

Eric has joined us on the observation deck - 

which way up is this boat? I thought that boats go on the water not up into the sky. 

Don’t panic Eric, they are still loading the cars and vans through the bow.

Phew, that's a relief.

The ferry manages to leave port in just under the ninety minute window where you can claim compensation.  Weather conditions are rather windy today, so crossing The Minch is a little rougher than before. 

No Dolphin or Whale today, that we can see anyway. Still plenty of gannet about. 

Departing the boat at seven-thirty in the evening, NavMi gives us an estimated arrival time at Fort William of 9:45, not too bad. Only managed to drive as far as Borve on Skye before the heavens open and biblical proportions of rain fell.  Between that, the darkness that has now fallen, very bendy bits of road, and an  extremely cautious driver in front (understandable in the circumstances), plus the odd deer leaping out into the road; we did not arrive at our B&B until just after 10:30pm. Luckily we had let them know we would be late and our kind hosts left the door open for us and told us which room we were in. Had booked a late breakfast slot earlier in the day. 

Day 5 - Golden Eagle Irony

Our plan for today is to visit the Golden Eagle observatory on the Huisinis road in North Harris. As we load up the car Albert passes on his morning constitutional. We relay our plan to Albert, who then informs us that two Golden Eagle were seen above the cottage the previous afternoon while we were out, hovering over the ridge behind the cottage and gliding over the bay to the front! 

Spoiler alert - we did actually see a Golden Eagle today.

Hey! Ho! we set off for the observatory which, after about an hour drive (including 20 minutes along a single track stretch), requires a 2km gentle walk to the hide. Pass a number of other people en-route who are returning from the viewing area. They happily inform us that, although the resident Eagle were about yesterday, there haven’t been any sightings today.  

We arrive at the hide just ahead of a downpour but with enough time for a picture.

Eric wonders why we are saying we can’t see any Golden Eagle when there is clearly one in front of that building up there. 

As the rain starts we don our Covid masks and enter the hide, which is already occupied by a number of Eagle spotters.

After a few minutes we are able to go back outside and spend some time hopeful of a sighting, but to no avail.  Walking the two kilometres back to the car we pass a steady stream of people on their way to the hide.  One pair of walkers clearly know what is required if you want to see the Golden Eagle - they are toting a telescope and a shopping bag full of food and drink - think they may be going to settle in for a good few hours observation. We obviously don’t have the staying power.

Next stop is the beach at Hushinish, but that is reckoning without a particularly stroppy highland calf and it’s mother. You would think approaching very slowly the offenders would eventually decide to get out of the way, but no. We drive gently forward and I’m not convinced there wasn’t actual contact (no animals were hurt in the taking of this photo), but still no attempt to let us pass. Bearing in mind the road is barely wider than the car we have no way around them.

Stroppy but very cute.

After a bit of a standoff we have to exit the car and manually urge them to leave the road and let us pass. They do so both slowly and begrudgingly, and with a bit of help from the man in the Scottish Water van who was behind us.

We make it to beach car park and have a picnic lunch while watching the gannet and razorbill in the bay.  It’s the first place I’ve seen that has a very posh indoor picnic area, with big picture windows overlooking the bay. Good if it was raining (which it is) but because of Covid restrictions it is all locked up. Luckily we haven’t walked there for a picnic and so enjoy our lunch in the dry in the car.  Plus, we give the odd glance at the lady in the vehicle next to us, who is painting! A watercolour of the scene magically gradually appears on her pad as we sit there. It ends up looking really good too.

We use our more modern technology to record the view.

Razorbill from behind, who was occasionally diving under the oncoming waves.

Our version of what the lady's watercolour made much more atmospheric (and clear). 

The rather crowded beach (which, if you are painting a watercolour, you are able to leave the people out!)

Gannet

After our lunch we head back, luckily to find the Harris highland cows are letting us pass through - do we detect a disapproving look?

At least this part of the road was on the straight and narrow.

On the way back we manage to photograph a building that took us rather by surprise on the way out. The 'private - no parking' signs clearly meant they didn’t want the likes of us gaping at their apartments. We actually drove past the front door! Not to be thwarted we are prepared on our return. Although they could do with tidying away their bins to make it a bit more picturesque for passing tourists.

The rather imposing entrance on the return journey.

 

'The Castle'  itself

      

No ordinary water feature for this lot.

Not what you’d expect to see this far along a pretty remote track, we feel like we have almost driven through their living room.

From here it is on to the southern-most point of Harris, passing some more of those stunning beaches on the way.

And with views of St.Clements church on a headland. Made the mistake of using the phone rather than the camera for a picture.  This was built around 1520 and is believed to be the best medieval building anywhere in the Western Isles.  More information and better photographs on the link here https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/harris/stclements/index.html

 

The return journey along what is referred to as The Golden Road has some splendid scenery, but we didn’t see any Otter. A lady we spoke to this morning on the way to the hide had told us she’d seen some along here, a pair of them playing in front of where she was. 

It’s a pity our photography skills (plus the rain) don’t do the scenery justice  Also, we failed to capture a picture of a Golden Eagle that passed close above us as we drive back, but at least we did see one.

We arrived back at the cottage to glorious sunshine, but it only lasted about an hour before the rain set in again. 

As we are catching the ferry tomorrow afternoon, as much packing as possible is done tonight so we can have another mooch around the local area in the morning before lunch and leaving. 

Day 4 - Loch Mharabhig and Tiumpan Lighthouse

The day started very brightly from both the weather and birding perspective. Aimlessly looking over the Loch as we were getting up for breakfast and a Sea Eagle glides past about 30 feet from the window. Absolutely amazing. 

We have a heavy rain shower and then it brightens again and gives us a rainbow.

As it’s so pleasant we decide that we shall venture out for a quick stroll to the other side of the Loch (hoping to spy the Eagle again), but being the sensible people we are and having referred to the weather app. it makes sense to put on the waterproofs. The OS map calls it Loch Mharabhig but on Google maps it calls it ‘The Atlantic Ocean’. 

Our first stop is at this spot

                             Eric asks who Rob is, and is ‘fell here’ an euphemism for ‘died her’?

The story here is that Rob was a local whisky connoisseur (though more derogatory terms are also used to describe him) who made a habit of visiting all his local neighbours to sample their whisky. On one particular night he didn’t arrive home, and was found in the ditch at this spot the following day, with a large gash on his head.  Happily it all turned out well, just a bit of a sore head but otherwise feeling very relaxed and relatively unharmed. The memorial was created some time later and is regularly renovated. So the ‘fell here’ was literal, and perhaps rather a strange thing to memorialise!

We wander on along the road towards the harbour/jetty area gaining a slightly different perspective on the Loch.  

Perhaps we didn’t need those waterproofs after all.

  

Eric is very impressed with the view from his rock.

There are some interesting shrubs by the wayside - Rhododendron????

We sit on the wall overlooking the harbour for a while, hoping to spot those elusive Otter, or even the Eagle, but no luck.  Sitting on one of the small islands there are what we think we called Cormorant earlier in the blog, but now, with a closer view, think that they are Shag.

As we head back to the cottage for a spot of lunch the rain starts again, so our waterproofs were not wasted.  Part way back we spot some interesting looking Coprophilic fungi popping out of some squashed sheep poo in the middle of the road.  Very opportunistic lifestyle they must have.

Close to the cottage there is a small flock of birds twittering away. Manage to catch a pic of one as it lands on the wires. Meadow Pipit. 

Lunch is followed by a drive in the car interspersed with short walks to view interesting tourist attractions.

First stop is Lews Castle and Grounds in Stornoway itself.  The rain is still in short sharp showers. 

We walk within the Castle Grounds that includes the harbour wall as the first part of the stroll, passing a Heron hoping for some fish.

What a lot of boats for a town centre.

Lews Castle, currently both the Grounds and the Castle are being renovated.

Our next foray is the to the Tiumpan Lighthouse on the tip of the Eye Peninsula to the East of Stornoway.

  Always a sucker for a good lighthouse. 

There are rather a lot of workmen here too. 

Adjacent to the lighthouse is an information board from the Marine Conservation Society on where to watch for Cetaceans around the Western Isles.  We’d really like to see (some more) of those! Perhaps this is a story of what we don’t see, as no fins or spouting whales appear in the sea before us - damn it. 

 

Onwards and Northwards to Tolastadh Beach. Walking to the sands there is a rather lovely pool, with Water Lilies and Bog Bean growing in it. 

Quick, come and look at this lovely beach, with turquoise waters. 

In such a relaxed mood that we wandered back towards the car park and then - we realised to our horror that we had lost the dog - until we spotted a lonely Eric still contemplating the beach.  

Retrieving the pooch we return along the same single track road, oohing and aahing at the beach views like we’d never seen a beach before in our lives!  Daft so and so’s. 

The photo above and below are looking across to where we were at the lighthouse earlier. You may just be able to make it out in the haze! In real life the sun was shining on the lighthouse, illuminating it in an artistic way we thought worth capturing but that turns out is no way represented by these photographs. 

Returning back through the outskirts of Stornoway we spot a petrol station that has diesel for 112.9p a litre. At that price we stopped to top the tank up (is that like hoarding?)

 As we approach the left hand turn off to The South Lochs area, or The Pairc as it is also known, where our accommodation is, some more photo opportunities arise. These give an idea of what the Cnoc (or hills) and lochs landscape of The Pairc is like.

On the way back along the single track road to Marbhig we thought it a good idea to do a time lapse video of the journey- we shall have to wait and see how that turns out. 

Cold tonight, but luckily our host has pre-laid the wood burning stove so that all it requires is a match to light it.  Aaaah 😔