Trapped in Tarbert

 Sunday 13 September

I have no excuses. I made this trip of my own free will, knowing that the weather in Scotland and especially the Western Isles was quite likely to be wet and windy. But as an optimist, I had hoped that it might not be quite as wet and windy as the BBC forecast was making out. But it was, and it is, and as I write this the rain that started about 24 hours ago in Stornaway hasn't abated all day. And it's swirly rain, the sort that makes you extra drippy.

I couldn't face the dining room in the Stornaway hotel so ordered breakfast in my room and it was just about edible. One random thing I've noticed in Stornaway is that the water is so soft it's almost sticky, even more so than Skye.

I packed up and got in the car, hoping to be able to at least access the Lews castle grounds for a bit of a wander, but I was thwarted, so I just continued on the A859 from Lewis to Harris which was almost deserted. All three petrol stations en route were also closed as I thought I should top up before doing lots of miles today, but as the rain just blotted out so much of the horizon I realised that a day burning fuel and not wanting to venture out of the car to look at mainly obscured views was probably not the best idea. 

Plus  - most of the sheep I've seen today have been venturing perilously close to the road and I had to stop and wait for one particularly defiant black-faced ewe who just stared me out for at least half a minute before strolling from the middle to the other side. The weird thing is that sheep are not freaked out by cars at all - but if you go anywhere near them when on foot, they turn tail and leg it.

I gave in to the weather and stopped at my hotel, which is on the main road but set well back. There's a fast-running stream just beyond my window so there's a kind of white noise roar going on which I hope will send me to sleep as I've not had the most active of days. Luckily for me my room hadn't been occupied last night so I was able to check in early. I sat in the lounge on a Harris tweed chair and ordered coffee and shortbread, read a book, watched the rain (not the worst view) and listened to the Proms. After a cooked breakfast I should have skipped lunch, but they have cullen skink on the menu and I couldn't resist - very nice too. 

The rain had eased a bit so I donned waterproof trousers, walking shoes, hat and cagoule, and strode out to explore Tarbert. Of course nothing was open (I shall be at the Harris Tweed shop and the gin distillery first thing tomorrow) and so I wend my solitary way round the mean streets which took me all of 35 minutes. By the time I got back, I was dripping as the easing had only lasted a few minutes but I was determined to soldier on and at least do a circuit of the town. Waterfalls here are not so peaty, but still loads of lambretia. I think the volume and colour of wild flowers and heather here will be one of the best memories.

I returned to my room, and then remembered that of course I can watch Netflix on my Chromebook, so that's what I've been doing all afternoon and now it's nearly dinner time. It feels like a waste of a day, but there really did seem little point in risking flooded roads to try and see beautiful beaches and scenery obscured by cloud and rain.

Dinner was delicious - Harris gin, scallops (yes, fish again) followed by lemon posset. I have returned to my room to watch the new series about Singapore in the 1940s with David Morrissey and cannot figure out how to lose the subtitles that have appeared on the TV screen. On the plus side, I've caught Harry Hill's World of TV on BBC2 which is quite brilliant.

Monday 14 September

Good night's sleep but still raining 😞 After breakfast (sorry Scottish friends, but the porridge did taste like wallpaper glue compared to the Scotts Old Fashioned I make in the microwave at home - but I just felt I l should have a break from a cooked breakfast!) I walked into town (which takes all of three minutes) to visit Harris Tweed and the Harris Distillery. I bought a blue tweedy cross body bag, a fridge magnet (of course) and a bangle so have done my bit to support the local economy. The Distillery tour wasn't happening because of you know what - and I was a bit shocked that Harris Gin have really missed a trick by selling only full (yes and very beautiful) bottles. No half bottles or miniatures which would have fit happily into my suitcase - so I will be going home sans gin. Shocking, yes I know.

Waterproof trousers and cagoule at the ready, I got in the car and headed for Luskentyre beach which took about 20 minutes and the single track road went past 3 cemeteries, but I think the gravestones mark burial of ashes rather than being graves. I remember seeing a cemetery on the coast between Bondi and Coogee beaches in Australia when I visited in 2005 and thinking it would be a nice final resting place - bit warmer there though...

The beach, reached by a short walk over some white sand dunes, is vast and very beautiful. On a sunny day it must be a magical place to be There were some guys in the car park suiting up for what I think must  be sea kayaking rather than surfing as the rollers weren't that big - but I also saw a man wearing only trunks swimming in the sea. He wasn't that close but I could see he was very pink indeed.

After blowing away the cobwebs I headed back down the road in the hope of visiting a couple of places on the coast - but nothing was open, and nowhere even to stop for a coffee. I managed to fill up with petrol (I've driven about 300 miles now) at Leverburgh which I need to return to tomorrow for the ferry. I carried on to Rodahl to St Clements Church which looked very interesting through the windows but again sadly couldn't get in. 

I then embarked on a very hairy drive around the south east coast of the island on a single track road that wend its way through what I can only describe as a lunar landscape - huge dark outcrops of rock populated by moss, heather and sheep. I had to concentrate so hard on which way it was bending, with frequent blind summits,  it gave me a headache - and with considerable drops on either side of the road I didn't even dare stop in case I got out of the zone, so sorry no pics! It seemed to go on for ever, and at one point I met a lorry who wasn't going to be reversing back for anyone - but I couldn't see what was behind me, so conscious of that £950 excess, I took it so slowly even I was cursing myself.

I returned to Tarbert - again the Harris Tweed exhibition centre was closed - had some lunch in the Hebridean Hotel near the ferry port, resisted Essence of Harris smelly candles, lotions and potions (I did buy some hand sanitiser though, which was also available at Harris Distillery), bought a coffee and walked back to the hotel to do the blog and watch a bit of TV - it still hadn't stopped raining! After a very nice dinner in the old school dining room, I tuned into Zoom to join the SLT General Council meeting, but they couldn't hear me and apparently I was almost permanently frozen, so I spent a very frustrating couple of hours trying to communicate via the Chat and raising my virtual hand to say something only for no-one to notice....! Got creeped out watching David Tennant playing Dennis Nielsen in Des on ITV - it's grisly but compelling stuff. Lights out and planning tomorrow for my ferry trip to Berneray on North Uist, where I'm due to meet Simon, a friend of a friend.