Safari Day 5: Uig

Day 5 of Pauline and my Lewis and Harris Safari was spent travelling over to the far West of Lewis. It was the least clement of the days we were on Safari and although it didn't rain there was a strong wind and relatively little sun.

At Breanish Pauline braved the wind to photograph the Information Stones. I was sure that I'd blogged about them but couldn't find a post. I'm sure that in the next few of Pauline's posts you will see their contents.

Information Stones at Breanish

It might be as remote as it gets on Lewis but it certainly isn't a blackhouse!

The cattle are pretty laid back over that side of the Island 

The Uig welcoming party

Pauline taking photos of sand

Pauline marching off into the distance

Friday Was A Beautiful Day

In so many ways.  Pat and Dave, close friends from the other side of the valley, have had friends staying and wherever they went this week they found the sun (and kept telling us!).  So yesterday CJ was feeling good (by his standards) so we decided to go over to the West side of the Island to Uig and Reef and Valtos for their fabulous views, machair and beaches and see if the promised sun would make an appearance.  We had to do a bit of chasing but we did manage some sun.

Uig is not the place to try and get a cup of morning coffee however we remembered that last year we had had an excellent coffee from the machine in the café facility at the Uig Community Cooperative Shop which is an example of the considerable achievements of a small remote population and provides a range of retail facilities including a post office and petrol station as well as a community meeting hall.

 The view from the front of the coop says a lot

Then we went to the tiny township of Cliff:

Then we walked on Reef sands

Where holiday makers at the camping ground there were fishing off the rocks

Someone or two in the township of Carishader has a sense of humour:

As we came up to the old schoolhouse in Loch Croistean which is now a very friendly café we came across a pair of eagles soaring high above the valley:

All in all it was a Very Good Day.

Crowded Beaches

The beaches of Lewis - in this case Uig in the far west - get a bit crowded - sometimes:

A The Sun it Shone

We woke to a beautiful, warm, sunny day so CJ and I went over to the far West side of the Island in the hope of an enjoyable excursion and some good photographs.  At the Community Centre in Uig where we went for lunch (as always excellent homemade soup and as light a chocolate cake (in my case) as I've ever had we came across this notice on the door:

Says it all really!

Cliff Beach Revisited

At Adrian’s suggestion I’ve sharpened this image.  I am surprised at the difference.  I think I might give the originals to Gaz or Adrian and leave them to come up with the definitive version.

Cliff Beach, Uig

On our trip to Uig last week the sun came out for about half an hour (I’ve just read in the local paper that between 25 and 31 July inclusive Lewis only had 4 hour of full sun) and I managed to get some photos at Cliff and Reef beaches in that time.  Here are the ones of Cliff:

A fank or gathering and, in this case, shearing of the sheep

Harebells in profusion

And marsh orchids in glorious splendour

Lots of Sand

It is many years since I went to the far reaches of Uig on the West side of the Island.

When you come to live in a place you explore and acquaint yourself with it.  People come to visit and you show them all that there is to be seen in your new home.  Then after 10, 20 or 30 years you become a local and stop wandering around as much.    And then comes the sudden realisation that you are missing all that beauty and you start the love affair all over again.  

Last year even when CJ was visiting I hardly ventured further than Stornoway 7 miles from home when I was on the Island.  I never even went down to the beach below the house.  To be fair to myself I did spend 8 weeks in Glasgow as well as some additional time away on the mainland.  

This year I’ve had a lot more visitors and have been making a concerted effort to see more of the Island again.  I’m thoroughly enjoying it.  I’d enjoy it even more it the weather would perk up.  The greyness is, however, beginning to get to me and it’s not very conducive to rewarding landscape photography.

Last Thursday it stopped raining for a while.  I took Anna over to Uig to show her some of our splendid beaches.  We were well rewarded.  There are four principal beaches.  This post concentrates on Uig Sands.

       Just look at the crowds!

 

 

 

A Beautiful Island

I have always known how beautiful this Island is. However sometimes I need reminding and I thought I'd take this opportunity to show you too a little of my environment at the same time. I ventured further afield yesterday than I have been on the Island since I arrived back in April. However Pat, Dave, Kate and Briagha ventured even further to Reef Sands in Uig, There Pat took some photos which she has been kind enough to let me share with you.

Wild flowers on the machair

"Look at me, I'm going for a swim. Coming in?"

"Keeps them happy when I bring them things."

Beautiful beaches