Tarbert and Stornoway

There was a nice bunch of National Trust volunteers at the hostel, gathering to go for two weeks of repairs and maintenance on St Kilda.  Unfortunately it was too windy for the boat, so they were going to have an extended stay in Leverburgh.

Most of my clothes had dried overnight, except my shoes which were still soaked.  I set off in light drizzle towards Tarbert.  Avoiding the main road, I'd found a 'short cut' which involved a section of the Gold Road.    Two miles of fairly level road winding around various lochs to start.  The horizontal rain returned.  But the wind was helping me, and it didn't last long.  Soon I was back to the gold road, with better visibility of the views.  Art Cafés seem to be the thing around here, and I stopped at one in Geocrab, for a coffee and a £3.80 piece of fruit cake.  £2 for the cake, £1.80 for the ambiance.  

More gold road before a long climb up the south face of the small mountain I visited yesterday.  Then a windy (in both senses of the word) descent into Tarbert, a proper town in North Harris, I'm informed.  They have several shops where you can buy Harris Tweed, plus other regular shops, a ferry terminal from where I'll eventually leave, and a café doing very good beans on toast.

Next stop: Stornoway, about 42 miles away, with not much on the way.

After Tarbert, the scenery greatly increased in scale. The hills were much bigger and longer, like the Yorkshire dales, for about ten miles. A sign by a small stream announced Welcome to the Isle of Lewis,  and the hills gentled out for the rest of the way.  I passed maybe twenty cyclists going the other way, gritting their teeth agsinst the wind.  Some of them looked done in already, and I later learned they were going all the way to Leverburgh tonight, as part of the Hebridean Challenge event.  They had by far the worst bit yet to come.  I also chanced on a cafe in run by the local historical society, so had a three course late lunch.  It was a day for stopping frequently.

Arrived in Stornoway around 18:00 by a small detour through the grounds of Maryburgh castle, which took me along a delightful river before revealing Stornoway as I rounded the headland.  It's a big town.  Plenty of shop and eating places.   Unfortunately I hadn't been able to contact the hostel so I didn't have anywhere to stay, but luckily they had space, so here I am at the Heb Hostel, Stornoway. A night on the town is a slight possibility.