Thursday 06/01/05

Thursday found me making another trip to sunny Stornoway. One lady had a go at the driver on the Harris bus, as he had overlooked her standing by her gate. In town, I bought another Runrig CD, currently my favourite folk-rock band. As there is still no internet access in the library, I decided to head to Tarber, 37 miles away. The weather had deteriorated dramatically, in that it was now pouring with rain and blowing a gale, force 8-10. Ferries are cancelled, and the trip down the A859 not much fun for drivers. The busdriver kept going at a steady 50mph, but lorry drivers had big trouble. One kept stopping at corners, and arrived in Tarbert a full 15 minutes after the bus. In Balallan, a dustbin was lying across the road. It's binday today, so they're all over the place. Once into the Harris hills, things got quite spectacular. Waterfalls blew upwards, there were white-capped riders and rollers on any body of water. The descent into Tarbert was even more windy, due to the funnelling effects of the mountains. The firewall in the Tarbert library prevents me from accessing Hotmail, but nonetheless, I was busy for 75 minutes. Went for a drink in an empty bar in Tarbert. Returned on the 3.45 bus, where the onset of darkness stopped me from seeing much. Encountered my West End friend on the outskirts of Balallan, but we could not talk a lot, as I had to get off a few hundred yards up to the road. On the South Lochs junction, I could wait in the bus, and chatted to the drivers about storms. The southbound Harris bus disgorged a load of schoolkids. Returned to Kershader at 4.45. It was mild, if anything, today: 12C.