lewis

Isle of Lewis

I left early in the morning driving across the Misty Isle through a morning mist from Skaebost to Uig for the ferry to Lewis.

The ferry crossed over to Tarbert on isle of Harris which is really the Isle of Lewis. Lewis has two major sections connected by a small Isthmus somewhere in time the received separate names Harris to the South and Lewis to the North.

Beware of the day of the week, Lewis is essentially closed Sunday for religious devotions - no gas or ferry service.

Tarbert harbor Isle of Lewis (Harris)

I was in a hurry and couldn't find an open restaurant in Tarbert but then I found a fish and chips take out run by a stereotyped old salt. The chips were tasty.

On the road to Hushinish

I headed north out of town leaving Harris behind and turned onto the single lane road to Hushinish. I heard that it had some of the most spectacular scenery in Scotland and they weren't wrong. Rocky hills to the east and the bay on the right the road wandered up the coast. There were several small ponds along the road with the mountains of Harris across the bay in the background.

At one point cattle blocked the road but I s-l-o-w-l-y worked my way through them.

A private home. The road goes through his front yard.

And Sheep! Everywhere on the hills, along the road, and on the road. They seemed to like to sit on and next to the road some gave me looks when I was rude enough to interrupt the repose - these were British sheep after all.

Others were skittish jumping up out of the way while a few fell victim to heard mentality and stampeded away. I might have laughed at them but I kept thinking about the preview to the movie Black Sheep where genetically altered sheep strike out at humans and quickly excused myself.

Cry of the Scottish Sheep audio

End of the road to Hushinish.

The reward at the end of the road is the Beach. A surprise after driving over rocky hills and heath to discover a perfect sandy cove. Crossing over the hill to the east you can see the next island with abandoned buildings and castle.

The water was cold but not bad - definitely okay for toes. The weather was surprisingly warm I was in short sleeves in the Western Hebrides in October - wow.

My main goal in coming to Lewis was to see the Standing Stones but I'll save that for the next page.

I had dinner in my hotel (Royal) in Stornoway. A small but busy town. I had my second helping of black pudding and hagis - delicious.

Black Houses

The next morning I drove out to west coast to Arnold to see the black house. These houses were in use until the sixties they are made with earth walls and thatched roof held down by a net and stones. Humans lived in left side and animals on the right to keep the place warm.

There was a peat moss fire in living room with no fireplace. The smoke stayed in insulating the thatch roof and preserving the lumber. The thatch was recycled each
year becomings fertilizer.

They were called black houses not because of smoke but because new houses were white.
The new style houses aka White Houses were white with fireplaces chimneys, no animals, and white walls - and yes I asked they liked lavender trim.

After a hard morning crossing the heath I head back to Stornoway for a donut and chicken sandwich on a very nice soft roll.
A good visit to Lewis, I didn't get to the Butt of Lewis but otherwise it was great. The Butt is the northern tip of Lewis know for its lighthouse, birds, and wind.


It was a long ferry ride across The Minch back to Ullapool on the Isle of Britain. It was a even larger ferry than the one to Tarbert. I drove off and quickly passed through Ullapool. A nice looking place I was sorry I missed the guitar festival (weekend was full of great solo guitar players in an annual festival).

Next stop The Standing Stones of Callanish

Or return to UK