South East Lewis

Oops. I got ahead of myself.  Today is the longest day,  and Father's Day.   And Sunday. The northern three-quarters of the Hebrides is strongly Presbyterian and the Sabbath is widely observed as a day of rest.  All the shops are shut, although I'm told some cafés are open.

I ate rather too well last night - excellent Indian food at the Crown Hotel, and was also entertained by a marching pipe band, reminiscent of Thurso last year.  Left Stornoway in a brief shower and began the gentle climb out of Stornoway.  The main road was deserted,  even by Hebridean standards.  One of the St Kilda party in Leverburgh, a poet and traveller, had told me "If you want to know the weather in the Hebrides,  look west".  It is true. I could see a succession of showers heading my way, but they turned out to be light and soon cleared up.

I am on my way home now, but it will take me another three and a half days' cycling and two ferries to reach the mainland,  and then two long half days on the train to get to London.  I've got hostels booked for the next three nights, which will get me back to Skye.  But I heard this morning that there is a CalMac ferry strike planned for Wednesday, when I was planning to get the ferry to Mallaig ... ah well, it's good to have a little flexibility. .. isn't it?

But as I cycled slowly south, with a full complement of panniers (and underwear), there was something more pressing on my mind.  Toilets.  I had a giant mug of tea with breakfast, probably a mistake.  The open countryside, almost treeless, with no hedges, doesn't afford much privacy, especially if you're wearing hi-vis clothing.  To be fair,  it was so quiet I could probably have stood in the middle of the road, but it didn't seem a good idea, especially on the Sabbath.   Luckily after fifteen miles cycling with legs crossed, there was probably the only public convenience between Stornoway and Tarbert, at Laxey.

I wasn't going straight to Tarbert: there was a 40 mile detour to the south east of Lewis I wanted to explore, with a convenient hostel and café at Kershader, where I could dump my panniers for the last 30 miles.  It would have been a good lunch stop too, but the café is shut on Sunday.  I will just have to work off last night's curry instead.