Saturday 8th July
We parked up yesterday on the little island of Berneray,
in the very North of Uist ready to sail the next morning.
Unfortunately, it was quite exposed and there were
windy rainstorms all night meaning we had very unsettled
sleep.
After the nights storms, we were amazed to be sailing
on calm seas. It’s not far from North Uist to
South Harris but there are lots of rocks and small
islands which the boat navigates through, so it takes
an hour. It is a lovely journey.
Our friends were waiting at the port to met us and had
also just arrived on Harris. It was really lovely to
see them and we excitedly shared experiences from each
other’s journeys.
We then visited St Clements church on the very Southern
point of Harris. It’s a very interesting church
in many ways. It’s built around the base stones
of Roineabhal, the southern most mountain know as An
Aite Boidheach (the beautiful place). The majority of
the locals are fighting to stop the building of one of
Europe’s largest super-quarries where Roineabhal
would virtually disappear in the next 70 years.
St Clements church has many stones in the graveyard that
are very old, not the carved and polished headstones
we use nowadays.
One small stone with a hole in it was different.
Then there is a tower you can climb. Small steep stone
stairs that tightly snake up to a small room where there
are ladders that go up two floors to the top.
We found the sheelagh-na-gig halfway up the South side
of the tower and, unusually, she has a male counterpart
displaying his genetiallia on the towers west face.
We drove up the West coast of Harris which is just stunning
and today quite dramatic with the dark clouds. The golden
sands of wind swept beaches and beautiful blue sea, which
you know would be turquoise in the Sun.
We parked up and all walked along a beach and up onto
the machair (a Gaelic term describing the sand enriched
coastal grassland) up to a glorious and majestic standing
stone.
What I love about seeking standing stones is that their
surroundings are usually beautiful. I just love this
landscape and I love walking with the land. It fulfils
something deep within.
We are now parked up on one of these beautiful beaches
and will travel tomorrow to the cottages, all our friends
and the Major Lunar Standstill, the climax of our journey.
Sunday 9th July
Leaving Harris
The Sun shone brightly this morning when we awoke and we drove past some of the
most stunningly gorgeous beaches on Harris
– wow! We stopped for breakfast and took in the view.
We found a lovely stone near the one we went to see yesterday.
We then set off for the very last part of our journey –
the climax of the last three weeks. We hope to return to
Harris if the weather is good later in the week.
