Thursday - Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

A really short blog today for two reasons, I didn't take many photos, and it's late.

A precursor picture as the blog highlights the first picture only

 

Anyway after the freezing weather of the last couple of weeks it is now beautiful, bright sunshine and 17-18⁰C. Proper spring weather that just cries out for a trip to the seaside. 

Actually, not really. The change in plans to stay up here in Stornoway to visit the music session at Taigh Ceilidh on Saturday means we've spent no time in Harris, and we ought too 

It's 50 mins to an hour drive down to Tarbert, the main town (think tiny village) on Harris.  We walk around the two streets that have betwen then less than a dozen shops and head on. Well, not quite, we do look into the distillery but decide not to add to our whisky collection and then pop into the Harris Tweed shop. The shop has two adjoining outlets, one being the main distributor for raw cloth, with huge bolts of Harris Tweed causing its shelves to groan, whilst the other has finished goods. Liz bought some more offcuts pieces for crafty projects, but then decided on a new handbag and a coordinating hat

A proper spring bonnet

One part of today's agenda is to travel to Leverburgh where the ferry to the Uists leaves from on Sunday. It's just a 20 mile drive along a main A road. That'll be an A road that is over 50% single track with passing places then. Now this area is very popular with visitors. As one local told me, not just some of the best beaches in Europe but some of the best beaches in the world! 

Beautiful azure seas, miles of golden sands, and so few people compared to most beach areas. It really is idyllic. We could easily have spent the day on the beach or driving around taking photos but we must press on, the decision to get back in time to eat out tonight has been taken! 

Leverburgh is unexciting, nothing there except for the brewery. Oh, that was unexciting as it appears to have stopped brewing and is now just a shop and restaurant to catch the ferry trade. Still the shop did have some interesting (but expensive) beers, and after Liz's spend in the Harris Tweed shop I thought I ought indulge in three of the less usual ones 

Now the tedious of retracing our steps, driving the 56 mile, one and a half hour route in reverse. The service at the stop for coffee was poor, a portent of what was to come tonight. But we did stop on the Harris/Lewis border for a quick snap

Timed well, back at the campsite for the target time of 5:00, but it was 6 by the time we headed out towards town (Stornoway), probably a little over a mile and a half away. En route we stopped to watch a local fisherman

Anyway we found our chosen restaurant, the Harbour Kitchen. Found it closed that is! Not far away is the island's only pub with an entry in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide (probably by virtue of it being the only one in the island selling any cask ale at all!), the 4 star Crown Hotel - so that would do for dinner. What a bad choice, we were shown a table but told because they were busy it would be a 15 mins wait for food, we agreed but suggested a drink first would be good. Well that probably took 15 mins in it's own right and then a further 10 mins before the food order was taken. Liz's choice now no longer on the menu! The wait for the food wasn't too bad. Plates had been cleared, we had empty glasses in front of us, normally one would expect an enquiry about dessert, another drink perhaps, or even the bill. Nope, we sat there reading our Kindles, we reached ends of chapters and switched to phones, we started the next chapter on the Kindles... Eventually I had to collar the waiter, busy with something else, to demand the bill (that being after I had mused to Liz whether my standing on the table and urinating into the empty pint glass might get us some attention!)

No tip! I was almost tempted to ask for 10% off as a negative tip! OK, to be fair, they were woefully understaffed and had had a group of about a dozen or so in before us into an already busy restaurant (probably because the Harbour Kitchen was closed!) but even allowing for that it was poor.

Anyway back in the van now, the walk in and out giving us about an extra 8000 steps today bringing our totals to c14,000 each 

Here's the day: walking, and of course mainly driving made it 117 miles.