A Change in Plans; Life Marches On - October 2

Today we were to depart Harris and continue our adventure on the Isle of Skye and then Glencoe.  However, this morning we received the sad news that Rick's mother passed away and so this adventure must come to an end so that we may return to be with family and attend her funeral.  She has been having health issues, but her death came as surprise as we did not suspect she was that ill. 

We are thankful for the time that we had together on Harris and return to family with full hearts to provide the love and support needed during this difficult time.

Until we meet again Scotland, Slainte, and thank you.

Isle of Harris, Day 4 - October 1

A sunrise of gentle colors portended what turned out to be a day of dynamic whether resulting in endless photographic opportunities of every climatic condition set in this bold and daunting, landscape of mountains, glens, and beaches.  Storms were moving in which made for great wave action, but the sky was not socked in yet so we had wonderful cloud formations set against brilliant blue and great dappling of light.

We didn't get a few hundred feet down the road before we had to stop and photograph the shoreline adjacent to one of the 400 freshwater lakes that dot Harris' landscape.

Our goal for the day was to visit Luskentyre, Harris' largest and arguably most well known white sandy beach. Its size has the capacity to swallow the human form as good as any mountain scene.

And yet as we drove along the coastline we found beautiful intimate scenes and rocky inlets colored with red grasses, purple heather, yellow and orange lichen, and shallow aquamarine waters.  We drove to the end of this road, as we have done on many others on this island, passing through a collection of homes, one of which contains the workshop of the weaver who produced the lovely heather colored harris tweed fabric used to make my recently purchased coat.  We could see him working in his shop, but as his sign was not out (we were told to look for that) we sensed he did not want to be disturbed so we let him be and moved on.

Work Studio of My Harris Coat Weaver

Near the end of the road was a cemetary, most beatifully set against the backdrop of white beach, beach grassess and the waters of the sea.  We hiked down to the large beach, despite the high tide coming in.  By this time, it was afternoon so we stopped at a camping spot and had a picnic of wine, cheese, crackers, and fruit, while we gazed at the landscape before us.  Afterwards we tipped back our seats, opened the windows and took a nap in the breeze and the sound of the lapping tides.

Our Picnic Spot

Afterwards we decided to change things ups and explore Lewis' largest city, Stornoway, up in northeast Lewis.  It is an idyllic port town, with its own college, set in Lewis' castle (under renovations), college, and golf course.  We briefly wandered amongst the shops and then decided to head back to Harris in search of more photographic opportunities.  We got 'em.

We drove west, through storm after storm, and consequently, rainbow after rainbow.  We couldn't photograph them all.  We debated where to attempt sunset and decided to return where we began, the rocks looking towards Traigh Mor.

It looked like it was going to be another dissappointing sunset, with clouds socked into the west, but a couple of hours before sunset, the clouds broke apart setting upon us storm after storm, soaking us to the bone and almost blowing us from the rocks, but the storms also opportunity after opportunty of fabulous light on the mountains and beaches of Harris to the north.  Standing on those rocks seeing this beautiful repeat movie of beauty is a most profound experience and I was so thankful that I was able to share it with my husband and life partner.

The day ended with a return to the Pierhouse in Tarbert for yet another dinner of langostinos, scallops, and Sancerre.  Yes, a repeat performance of the dinner we had two nights previously, but let's face, it dining options were limited and given the quality of the food, we didn't mind in the least.

We came back to sit in our living room, lights out, taking in the shadows of the landscape and starry sky while listening to a music mix of Bon Iver, Explosions in the Sky, and Sigur Ros.  The end to one of life's perfect days.

Isle of Harris, Day 3 - September 30, 2014

Woke up again to stormy conditions.  Felt a touch of a cold coming on so made some tea with whiskey and lemon, and felt better :-)  Stayed in the broch until about 10:00 waiting for the storm to pass.  It did, but left behind grey skies.   One thing we've learned is that the weather can change on a dime so you might as well venture out.

Had breakfast at the Temple Cafe and then stopped by a little establishment called Croft 36 that delivers home-cooked suppers.   The couple invited us into their kitchen and we placed an order for beef bourguignon, fish curry, fish soup, and orange/peach whiskey swedish pancakes and ice cream for dessert.  Outside of their home they have a stand where you can buy all sorts of prepared goods and you pay on the honor system.  They had dressed crab, pasties, fresh bread, tarts, drinks, all sitting in baskets for sale.  Rick purchased a fresh-baked role, and I bought a Indian curry vegetable pastie.  OH YUM!  I've always said that wherever I live, there must be good Indian food.  Who would have thought that I would have found it here on the Isle of Harris?

The Isolation of West Harris' Moonscape

We proceeded south to Leverbaugh, where we picked up some petrol.  When paying for it, the gentleman operting the cash register, started quizzing me about the the nicknames for all the US states.  First capitols in Glasgow, and now nicknames, I'm learning more about my own country than Scotland.  He asked us what Oregon's nickname which I guessed (correctly) was the Beaver State.   He was pleased.

Harris Tweed Company , Grosebay

We then set off to finish our exploration of the lunar landscape of east Harris.  Some of these communities and homes are so isolated.   We then headed over to yet another Harris tweed shop where we met Bonnie, the 5-month old Newfoundland pup (who apparently broke the outdoor mirror) and Chip, the sweet sheepdog who loved to be gently petted.  In addition to dogs, the place had fine Harris tweed clothing and woolen knitwear.  We made a couple of purchases unable to resist the fine quality of goods as well as the fine salesman ship of Jane and her colleague Collin, who looks a bit like Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory".

Amhuinnsuidhe Castle

Cow jams

Then we headed up as far as we could the west coast of Harris, battling cow and sheep jams,ending at Huishnish Beach.  During the drive we past a castle which we later discovered to be Amhuinnsuidhe Castle Estate, reknowned for its salmon fishing and whiskey.  We've sampled and liked both.

Huishinish Beach

Drive to Huishnish

Huishnish Beach is yet another beautiful white sand beach and aquamarine waters.  Rick and I hiked north through the machair (fertile ground between the beach and the boggy marshess) to get a view of Lewis Isle and its peaks and the Island of Scarp and spent a few hours exploring the area while waiting to see if the cloud cover would break and give us some good light.

Huishnish Beach - Waiting for good light

Huishnish Beach - Looking South

We headed back to the Broch, stopping at what has become our regular location to see if we could capture a good sunset,and had some success.

We then returned to our home away home where we had a delicious meal of fish soup, fish curry and beef bourguignon.

Isle of Harris, Day 2 - September 29

A storm front move in last night, nothing nearly as tempestuous as the night before, and we fell asleep to the sound of rain on the widows.  We both woke around 6:30 this morning to overcast conditions and we laid in bed watching the clouds crawl over the large landform in front of us (not a mountain, not a hill, maybe a hilltain?) called Coir Bhleabhal and enjoyed the quiet, broken only by occasional birdsong and the wind.  What to do today?  Golf?  Check out the Isle of Lewis to the north?  Visit the Isle of North Uist to the south?  Visit the local shops looking for some famous Harris tweed?  Take a hike around some lochs?

Had some coffee (breakfast joints don't open until 10 at the earliest and, being out of season, many are closed) and then set off to Traigh (beach) Mor, a pretty sandy beach nearby.  Prior to entering the beach, I came upon the glorious Scottish Highland cow.  Adorable, shaggy, horned creatures that come in colors of brown, red, and black.  And what a treat, they had some some young calves with them.  I'll say that I snapped these photos for my dear friend Aleta, who has liking for cows, all cows, but, frankly, through her influence, I've come to appreciate them as well.

We then hiked down to the beach.  Interesting note about Scottish land rights.  Excluding homes and yards, people have the right to access the land anywhere, provided they don't antagonize the "wee beasties" and are conscientious about closing gates behind them.   It is as though the whole country is a National Forest.  Pretty sweet.  No need to ask for permission though we enjoy meeting the "owners" who are non-plussed about us tramping among their livestock. 

High tide was coming in as we walked along the beach and snapped some photos.  One rogue wave caught Rick unawares while snapping a photo.  Some of the beaches, in the right light, are so white, though up close the sand is a pale yellow/orange.  Combined with the aquamarine waters makes it almost feels like Caribbean, though the climate is nothing like it.

After getting Rick a pair of dry socks, we headed over to Tarbert, where we checked out the Harris tweed shop for some souvenir shopping, and then had a yummy lunch of roasted chicken in mustard sauce and steak and ale pie at the Hebrides Hotel. 

We then headed northeast onto the Isle of Lewis in search of the mysterious standing stone circles, built during the neolithic ages.  Not only did we find them but discovered that the landscape is littered with them; about 20 known stone circles.  We went to the most accessible one called Callainish I.

A druid amongst stones

The good thing about coming so late in the season is we had the stone circle to ourselves for 15-20 minutes.  No one knows why these were built.  The one we saw aligned perfectly with the cardinal directions and it has been observed that the design seems to correspond with major celestial events.  Other, less romantic perspectives, speculate that someone built the first circle as "garden art" and the others came along in an attempt to keep up with "the Joneses". Whatever the case may be, the circle we saw was impressive, especially given the size of the stones.

From there we drove to Calloway where there is a historic "black" or "thatch" house village.  These houses were used until mid 20th century, and they had both humans and livestock living under one thatched roof, divided only by a partition.  We might wrinkle our noses in comteplation of the smell and our western notion of sterile cleanliness, but the animals helped heat the home . . . and it certainly beats having to go out in sideways rain to tend to the livestock.

From Calloway, we turned around, heading south and then west over to Lewis' west coast, and took the pavement to the end, the farthest to the south we could go.  Lewis has an even greater diversity of landscapes tha Harris:  huge landforms like those found on the Isle of Skye, high plains, rocky coasts, and large boggy areas dotted with lakes and large- smoothed domed Lewissian granitic hills, which I call "drumlins".  Lewis has white sandy beaches as well but not as many as Harris.

Almost sunset on west Lewis, at the end of the road

At the end of the pavement we found a stunning landscape of rocky beaches and smooth-domed  mountains.  Some curious sea otters emerged from the ocean to check us out, but scampered back into the ocean, after I yelped with surprise, when I saw them.  Me and my big mouth.  Sunset was looking good, but then clouds moved in and killed it :(.  Nonetheless I got a few shots, and frankly, it is just downright ungrateful to complain about "inadequate light" when all around you there is such great beauty.  With regards to the light, Rick noted tha,t with the sun so far to the south, you get "good" (warm, not flat) light throughout the day, not just at sunrise and sunset.

We then dashed 63 miles back to Tarbert (hard to do on mostly one lane road roads, occupied by lots of sheep, in the fading light, with a car that has NO power - yes even I recognized this) for a late dinner.  We got in a little before 9:00 pm just before the restaurant, the Pierhouse, closed and had a delicious dinner of, spicey tomato soup, fresh scallops and langostinos, and a bottle of delicious white wine (Sancerre- Rick's new go to for white wine).  And by fresh, I mean the langostinos were caught within the last 24 hours off the southeast coast of Harris, and the scallops were collected from Tarbert Bay that day.  Both were so sweet and complemented well by the bacon on the scallops and the garlic butter sauce for the Langostinos.

We made the final 14-mile drive "home" to the broch, and collapsed into bed, under very story skies and rain.  What will tomorrow bring?

First Day on Isle of Harris - September 28

View of the Atlantic from the Broch

The Broch

Not a lot of narrative for today.  Just a few observations and a bunch of pictures. Woke up after a stormy night to relatively clear skies and a nice sunrise.

Bedroom

Kitchen and Dining Room

Living Room

Spent a little time exploring the Broch.  The structure is a modern version of a 13th century dwelling where the stone is stacked like a beehive. Doubt they had window panes, towel warmers, and rain shower heads (let alone plumbing and electricity).  It is three stories with the kitchen, laundry, and dining on the first floor, the living and bathroom on the second floor, and the bedroom occupying the third floor.

Morning at Bagh Steinigidh

View of Ceapabhal from Harris Golf Course

 After having a light breakfast and making a light lunch (everything shuts down on Sunday here on Harris) we stepped out to the west coast of Harris in search of pretty places.  We were not disappointed. 

After stopping at the Harris Golf Club (20 pounds for a round of golf!) and Rick deciding to play before we leave.  We continued on south, passing small remote villages and ending at the very tip of Harris occupied by a small town named Roghadal.

Lunch Stop

Southern Tip of Harris

After taking in the view of North Uist, another Outer Hebrides Island, we headed north through a landscape of Lewis granite.

As we headed northeast, in some places closely skirting the east coast, we began to see more and more marshlands and locks, covered with colorful heather.

The light wasn't the best but the landscape still afforded us some beautiful views.

We cut back over to the west coast near the town Tuath and spent a bit of time photographing the salt marshes in the shadow of Ceopabhal.

Traigh (Beach) Lar

Then stopped to have a coffee at a hobbit like cafe called "Temple Cafe" and then headed out to see the famous Harris white sand beaches.

We then headed back to where we began to capture a sunset.  There we smelled them burning the peat (for warmth) that we had seen them harvesting earlier in the day.  Smells better than it tastes in whiskey, though given how good it smells, I can understand how people would come to like it flavoring their whiskey.  Afterwards, we headed and then back to the Broch for a meal of tortellini, salad and bread.  I am content.