We had a very nice dinner after the lesson finished up, cooked by Justin, and then hung out a talked for a good while.
The next morning I got up in time to take Wendy to Stornoway to teach her series of lessons there, and then to pick up Cheyenne at the airport. Cheyenne is a friend from Alaska that is studying at the Royal Academy of Music in Glasgow, and she came out to visit me, and also to spend Friday observing Wendy's lessons as part of a work- study program for school. So, I dropped her off at the lesson site, and then headed over to visit Sascha and Angeles. They made me most welcome, which I greatly appreciated, since I'd arrived unannounced. (I hadn't known what was happening until late Thursday night.) We had a nice time visiting. I picked up Wendy and Cheyenne after the lessons and took them over to an Indian restaurant before we went back to Justin and Laura's house. Laura was on call that night, so they weren't home, but they'd left us the keys so we could hang out, play harps, and Wendy could stay the night there. We played and chatted until quite late, having a very nice time.
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| The next morning we got up early to meet Wendy's plane, and drove in to Stornoway. After dropping her off, Cheyenne and I headed north to play tourists. We went to several of the beaches north of Stornoway. When we first headed out, it was cold and windy and rainy, and not a very pleasant day. We arrived at Coll beach while a mist was blowing about, but the light was hinting at coming down through the clouds. This beach had some amazing "sand paintings," showing off natural patterns made in the sand by the tide. It also had nice cliff banks that were eroding, and Cheyenne checked out the erosion for signs of hidden treasure. It makes sense that if the Lewis Chessmen were discovered in the last century, that there are other hidden treasures waiting to be found. We didn't have any luck finding anything ancient, but we did collect a few pretty shells and rocks along the way. Gress beach was fun for me because it had quite a few varieties of birds about, from plovers and gulls to song thrushes, pipits, and siskins. |
| The weather continued to be cold and windy, and we finally decided we'd had more than enough of that, and headed back towards Stornoway. That would have been the end of that part of our tour, except that I spotted a field of curlews on the way out, and we turned back to try to get a photo. They flew away without my having success (although I did get a photo of a red shank instead), but right at that moment the sun came blazing out in all its glory! Suddenly Lewis was the brilliant jewel it can be, with turquoise waters and glistening sands. We stopped again at a beach, Gob Thais, just south of Gress, and just appreciated the beauty of the water and the sudden clearness of the day. |
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After this, and grabbing a bite to eat in Stornoway, we headed out to Carloway broch, taking the back road along the machair hills through the middle of the island. The brilliant light came and went, showing how beautiful this internal area can also be. When we reached the broch, the sun was just coming out again. We dashed to the broch to see it in all its glory, when suddenly it started hailing. We went inside the broch to take cover from the hail and the winds, and shortly thereafter it was beautiful again. We explored the broch thoroughly, and climbed the hill behind it to get views of it and the rocky shoreline beyond it. It was stunning!
| On the way back to the car, Cheyenne was met by a very friendly dog who really wanted a cuddle. After a bit of attention, he was satisfied and went on his way. |
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From here we drove out to Greater Bernera, an island attached to Lewis by a short one-lane bridge. When we crossed the bridge, there were a bunch of kids at the end of the bridge that were blocking the way. They were dressed in a variety of costumes, and when I rolled down the window, I was told we were being held up for money for the Bernera kids club. We gave them all our change. They seemed to be having a good time, even when the snow started pelting down on them as we parked.
We waited out the snow, which only lasted a few minutes, and then headed up the hill to see the sanding stones right at the entrance to the island. From there we climbed the hills beyond to see the views of the water and the island from higher up. Again, the sun had come out and it was beautiful.
| We wanted to see the beach at the northern tip of Bernera, so we decided to head back. Just as we reached the standing stones, it again started to snow, making the stones look a bit mystical in the falling snow. |
We drove through driving snow and sleet to the north end of the island. Just as we arrived at the parking place, it cleared up and turned beautiful for us once again! Off we went to walk the sands of Bosta beach, a stunning sand beach with spiky rock formations all around, and beautiful rocky islands just offshore. The water was a brilliant blue, and the rocks were a stark contrasting colour. The waves came in making a lovely sound, and we had time to just take it in and relax.
| While exploring, I discovered that I was superwoman, as I could lift a giant boulder. Cheyenne took photos to prove it! |
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From here we climbed down the hill just as it overlooks an Iron Age Village house reproduction for a museum. It really looked like we were up very high, but it wasn't too difficult to climb down. We walked around the house (it was closed) and then went back to our car.
On the drive out, the sun was
setting and the sky turned a beautiful shade of pink and blue. We got to
watch the sunset over the Harris Mountains as we drove home. We decided we
were too cold to stop anywhere else, so we headed back for a warm meal and
some hot tea.
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