gryllosblog   Gryllo's (aka Ian Lewis') blog. All things to do with travel, wildlife especially birds, history, architecture and anything else that interests me.

The Caledonian MacBrae ferry didn’t used to run on a Sunday but the islanders were obliged to relent.

On the evening of the 9th we caught the ferry from Uig on Skye to Tarbert on Harris. We saw loads of Puffins on the 90 minutes voyage, possibly up to a 1000 but none of the Storm-petrels I had hoped for. On arrival we headed for the small island of Scalpay which is joined to the mainland by a bridge. We had trouble finding our B&B, Margaret asked a local man but reported she couldn’t understand because he was talking in Gaelic, the common language of the islands. We later found out he was unintelligible because he had suffered a stroke!

Harris/Lewis (the division is an administrative, not a geographical one) is famous for its strict observance of the Sabbath, and today was a Sunday. There were no shops, filling stations, bars or visitor centres open and the roads were empty. We were lucky we had found a B&B that served breakfast and we had snacks with us and a full tank.

We headed for Lewis and the Stones of Stannish, one of the largest Neolithic stone circles in existence. The visitor centre was closed and the only people around were other tourists.

Margaret at the Stones of Stannish.

We then headed for the northernmost tip of the Hebrides, the Butt of Lewis, which is almost as far north as the north coast of the Scottish mainland. We then headed south via the quiet capital, Stornaway.

The Butt of Lewis

The butt of Lewis