Sunday 06/08/06

Today is my birthday - twenty-one all over again. Receive physical and virtual greetings from several people. The bikers depart for Harris at 10.30, in the middle of a heavy rainstorm. The weather should improve through the day. I am offered the choice of destination for today's trip, and keep it a mystery until the last possible moment: Luskentyre, Harris. This is about 46 miles away. I have not been south of Leurbost for more than a year. The lochs are full of waterlilies. The microwave oven still doubles as a mailbox in Laxay. The Cleitir Hotel in Sildinis, just east of Balallan, has changed its name to Erisort Inn. Have a look around the Land Raiders Monument; I am devoting a separate entry to this. I have left many a footstep around Balallan, as it is the portal to the wild interior of the island. You can walk vast distances from there, without once crossing a road; as far as Hamnaway in West Uig or Huisinis in North Harris. Or closer by; Callanish can be seen from Roineabhal, the large hill outside the village. We proceed through Airidh a'Bhruaich, the next village to the Aline Forest, which is planted along one of the longest straight sections of road in Lewis. At Ath Linne, we encounter the new, doubled, stretch of road. This used to be single-track. The tracks to Langabhat have become slightly more difficult to locate. The corner at Vigadale is going to catch an unsuspecting, speeding driver out one of these days. The view down Scaladale is rainswept. Fantastic panoramas once up at the Maraig turnoff, over the mountain tops of Toddun and Iosal. The singletrack road south of Maraig, towards Tarbert, has also been doubled. The A859 is bristling with caravanettes, campervans, motorhomes, you name it. A fair number of hikers about between Ard Asaig and Tarbert proper. We scoot up the hill past the village to view the Scalpay Bridge. A little further on, at Ceann Dibig, Eilean Garbh in the Shiants can be seen, basking in the summer sun. The weather conditions of today mean that any substantial landmass will generate clouds, and mountains will cause rain. The road snakes through an Empire of Stone, past the Golden Road and finally down to Luskentyre. The road to the village is full of campervans, again. Kids and adults play in sand and water. The Taransay pod has visibly deteriorated since I last saw it in April 2005. We park the car at the cemetery near the beach. Taransay lies across the water, and the familiar shapes of the Harris mountains march west from the Clisham, past Sron Scourst, the lone schoolhouse at Cliasmol towards Amhuinnsuidhe. We walk barefoot along the beach. It is busy here, about 30 people about. Nearly Blackpool. They are flying kites, building sand castles and walking their dogs. Or just having fun. We go as far as the end of the dunes, half a mile away. The double-humped hill of Ceapabhal, by Northton, lies like a brooding presence under the sun, with some of the lesser islands in the Sound of Harris to the south. The coastline from Northton north towards Seilebost hides the beaches from view. Two buildings can be made out on Taransay, including a wind turbine. Mrs B's niece broke her leg there last week, when boarding a boat. We duly return up the beach, under the green pyramid of Beinn Losgaintir. At 4.25 we drive back to Stornoway, arriving there just after 5.30. In the evening, we go to HS1 restaurant on Cromwell Street for supper. This consisted of pea soup, poached salmon and sticky toffee pudding. A short excursion into a midge-infested Castle Grounds just before 10 pm closed proceedings for today.

NOTE: Don't know any of the places I mention? Don't blame you. Have a look at the following links, they show some of them: Stornoway to Balallan and Balallan to Luskentyre (Losgaintir). Laxay is on the map as Lacasaidh.