Thursday 12/05/05

A late start today, after the usual preliminaries of internet &c. As it’s sunny and warm today, I thought I’d go to Barvas and lounge in the dunes. So, off I went on the Galson coach at 1.50, alighting at the end of Loch Street at 2.10. Weather is still fine, but clouds are gathering out in the Atlantic. Sit down by the shooting butt for a bit, then head west towards Bru. Oystercatchers scurry along the shinglebank; a man is fishing by the outflow. This is actually greatly reduced; the waterlevels in the loch have fallen even further since my last visit here, last month. Water now only leaves the loch through the actual sluicegates. Walk across the machair towards the end of the road outside Bru. A sheep stamps its feet, warning me to stay away from its young lamb. The little creature can only be days old, as it staggers to its feet. I go up to the gate outside Bru – and go straight back. Lots of lapwings oabout. Cross back to the Barvas side and watch the clouds rain over Arnol. By 4 pm, I get a good, long dosing of rainwater, quite heavy actually. Just as I’m nicely ensconsed on the far northern end of the machair. A sheep comes close which has completely lost its fleece. Looks absolutely horrible. So I think I can catch the schoolbus, which normally comes all the way up Loch Street. Not so today. I can see it coming down from Bru, disappear to Upper Barvas, and a few minutes later it shoots up the Stornoway road. This does mean I have some time to kill, and I make my way down to Barvas Park. Don’t bother going there. It’s a repository of wrecked, cannibalized or unwanted cars. The bridge over the river is very wonky, and I’m not trusting myself on it. Hobble back to the junction and wait for the Carloway bus to turn up. This returns me to town at 5.45. Still bright and sunny; the shower that affected me only clipped the one mile inland from the coast. Tonight, we have another Dutch couple in the B&B. They’ve been cycling the Western Isles, all the way up from Castlebay, Barra. They sneaked across the most difficult bit, the Tarbert – Bogha Glas section, by bus. After an easy day in Point tomorrow, they’re heading back to Holland on Saturday. Didn’t like their whisky.