Almost Dun

One full day left, gah!

Change in the weather from yesterday, but fortunately the rain arrived later than predicted, so we stayed dry our out walk round from where we're staying and up to Loch Barabhat. It was a day of 'touching' history. Forget being roped off away fo Stonehenge, or staring at things through glass cases. The climb to Loch Barabhat takes you past a number of ancient mills - tiny little buildings, bordering a little stream, or rather sitting right on top of it. Straddling. Here and there you can still see some of the old millstones (in the extras) lying, discarded. You can touch it. You can feel the atmosphere. 

And no less at the top, where little Loch Barabhat houses the remains of a 'Dun' (basically a circular fortified tower). We've been here before, and the stepping-stone causeway was flooded. Today more was visible, but those just below the surface were just too slippery to make attempting to cross a sensible option. Once more thwarted.

Last time we then headed up the highest point for a few miles around. Today we were more circumspect, and climbed a little way for the view, before returning earthwards as rain started to spit. Despite the increasing precipitation moods were lightened as a White-tailed Eagle circled a little way from us, then glided effortlessly directly over our heads (also in the extras, showing off the gloriously grey sky).

No longer a day for walking, but more communing with history. No trip to Lewis is complete without the Callanish Stones, and unlike the aforementioned Stonehenge, here you can get up close and personal. And I even managed a shot (in the extras) without people in it (there are THREE Americans behind various different stones....).

Unknown to many there are quite a number of stone circle sites, and this is only Callanish I. We stopped at Callanish III afterwards, and found a bizarre scattering of mini-marshmallows at the bottom of each stone....

* * *

2 bike rides first thing - my legs are mince after all of the walking, and that one, probably ill=advised, run. Training spin first thing, included a big, steep climb on a 'road to nowhere'. I think it's technically a road to a transmitter, but after the initial alpin-style twisty tarmac, it gives way to gravelly, and increasingly bouldery, track, and split part way along. I followed the (slightly) better track for a couple of miles, until.... It simply stopped. 

Home, showered, breakfast, then out to Miavaig pier, only 2 and a half miles or so from here, to get some scallops for dinner from the new Scallop Shack. I ended up chatting to the proprietor (they operate an honesty box system, but she appeared with a load of fresh scallops to shuck), given this is exactly the type of thing we've long-bemoaned being missing in the Isles (16 years we've been coming, and slowly we're able to get more fresh, local seafood), as most goes straight onto chilled vans and lorries to go off to the continent.