Wednesday 07/06/06

Awoke to the news that MV Isle of Lewis is not sailing today because 8 crewmembers and an unknown number of passengers have gone down with a vomiting bug. The ship will be deep-cleaned through today. All bookings have been transferred to the MV Lord of the Isles on the Tarbert to Uig (Skye) route. This does mean that people who expect to travel through Inverness and Ullapool will not be able to make the alternative sailing. Two ladies who were due to stay with us tonight have therefore cancelled. I have my breakfast at the unearthly hour of 8.30, in the presence of a lady from Stirling who is in town for the purposes of adult learning. The other chap has overslept, and mrs B has to go and wake him up, lest he is late for work. At 9.50, mrs B and myself head into town to go on a bustrip round the West Side. The ferry and the tug are both still tied up alongside pier no 3. After buying a load of sweets in the Coffeepot, we leave at 10.10 for the first leg on a 4 stage journey round the sights. Apart from us two there is a German lady on board on a similar mission. We pass the site of the binfight at the Creedpark Corral, and experience the only shower of the day at Achamor. The driver waits at Cameron Terrace, in case anyone wants to change buses coming up from Harris. Not required. Arrive at Callanish at 10.45. We go straight up to the stones, through a flock of sheep. Some are shedding their fleeces prematurely, others have big lambs at foot; one is being headbutted. A group of schoolkids from Lochmaddy are also at Callanish. The Stones are very impressive and set on a commanding position, overlooking Ceann Hulabhig and East Loch Roag. A skylark is singing its head off. At the far end of the Stones, the wee tearoom is shut for renovations. Those have not been carried out by the look of things. A group of 3 are looking for a WC and refreshments, so we redirect them to the Visitor Centre. We follow in their wake. The coffee was nice, one of the two pieces of cake was nice. We spend some time browsing the shop, then have to wait for 1.15 bus on to Carloway. The bus to Stornoway arrives first, then another Galson bus pulls up. I tell the German lady how to get to the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. A short ride, 15 minutes, brings us to Carloway, where we alight to join a minibus to Gearrannan. The sun is out, and it's pleasantly warm. The bridge at Carloway spans both the river and the Pentland Road. Finally, the minibus turns up. There are 7 passengers on board. Over at Gearrannan, at 13.50, we dive into the restaurant first. Late lunch, in the shape of fish & chips. Slightly bland, but fine. We subsequently amble through the village. A large load of straw lies behind the visitor centre, intended to replace the thatch on all the houses. The current thach looks dreadful, and the thatcher apparently forgot to insert breathing strips between the felt and the thatch. Result: rotted thatch. Each house requires 12 tons of straw. There is a line of foam outside the bay. As we have seen the museum, we do not have to visit it again. After a glass of juice, we rejoin the bus to reach the final attraction: the Norse Mill, just west of Shawbost. This can be reached from a small carpark on the eastern shore of Loch Roiseabhat. A neat gravelpath leads over a low ridge to the mill and kiln. The mill no longer works, but mrs B tells me her mother used to go down there in the 1940s. A lady walks down the path with her 5 year old son. The little lad tells us exactly how the mill works. She mentions that she is not entirely happy after 2 years in Lewis - the wind never stops. The kiln and the mill are housed in separate buildings, neatly restored. The bus back to town leaves at 5.05, after mrs B digs out a few plants she would like to have in her garden. She then notices a second cousin coming on the bus in one of the villages, so a pleasant ceilidh is had there and then. The run between Barvas and Newmarket is done at a slow pace, we "only" take 10 minutes 15 seconds. Previous record was 8 minutes 58 seconds over 9 miles. Average speed 60 mph. We return to the bus station at 5.45 - strange to see the ferry docked at this time of the day. On return to Newton, Mrs B takes in two men to take the place of the ladies who cancelled. A fishing boat is reported having hit rocks 15 miles outside Carloway. The coastguard is marshalling resources, helicopter, rescue teams, private vessels, to come to the boat's aid. The search for the missing fishermen north of Skye has been abandoned, although they were not found. Their fate is unknown.