The name is Beaches…Sandy Beaches
Today was our last day on Harris. Katie outdid herself with a lovely breakfast and chat. Everything was delicious, and leisurely. We had already loaded the car up, so we just had final departure things, and then headed out for our day’s adventure
First, we took the small road out to Hushinish Beach. There are free-roaming highland coos in the area, and are often found on the beach. We had another day of incredible views on the way.
There was a Beware! Sheep sign, and shortly after, we came upon a sheep with one horn missing. My mental conversation went something like this…”did you see the Beware! Sign? Yeah, I used to have 2 horns, but the last man to face me used to have 2 legs as well”….the things I do to amuse myself…
There were several hills where once at the top, you physically could not see the road descending in front of you. Not a problem if it goes straight, but most of these curved. I think I do still have some remaining brown hairs in my beard - not all white yet.
Once we made it to the beach, there were no cows to be found. There was, however, a spotless, almost white sandy beach. The three elders went for a walk on the beach (Pat got a little too close to the raging surf for Carrie’s comfort), and Carie and I walked inland in search of cows. I did find a few birds with meals in their mouths, flying past me, though.
We got back in the car to drive the 12 miles back through that same country to continue our trek. Next, we headed to the Alpaca farm Carrie and I visited in 2018. It has transmogrified into a very full animal rescue and rehabilitation center. The alpacas are as cute as ever, and were just shorn last week. They have that 8 year old boy who just got his hair cut by his mom, poorly, look right after she tells him that he’s such a handsome boy.
We saw some 4 horned sheep, native to the island, some massive hogs, some house chickens - yes, they live in the house as pets, goats, peacock, and lots of ducks. They have a repeat visit from a wild duck who brings her newly hatched chicks there every year (6 years running) to have a safe place for them to grow. She does have a white chick every year that they keep, because they have no natural camoflauge, and are easy pickings for predatory birds.
We got some coffee and snacks and continued.
We went back to the Broch we stopped at 2 days ago, as it wasn’t quite as windy, though pretty windy, and Pat wanted to visit the gift shop. Walt was the solo photographer to hike up the hill, and I’m sure he got some great pics.
We started to head back to Tarbert to board the ferry, but stopped at a standing circle on the way. Carrie and Walt took the short walk up, and got some great shots, as well as a cloud of midges.
Next we drove all the way back down south to Tarbert for the ferry. We got loaded on, and they directed us next to the hull. No one could get out of the car on the passenger side. Do you remember when cars had front bench seats, when it was easy to slide from one side to the other? Well, those days have been gone for some time. Now, cars like to have cockpits. The backseat folks were able to migrate to the drivers side to exit. Carrie, however, had to wriggle and climb out of her co-pilot seat, to exit the car. Fun was not had, at least not by her.
On the ferry, we waited for them to open the cafe, as we were all pretty hungry. We all ate, and relaxed as the boat completed its short journey to Uig, on the island of Skye.
We have a very interesting accomodation tonight - the Castle Keeper’s Cottage at Dunvegan Castle. It was one of our favorite castle experiences of our last tour, and this time, we actually get to stay on the castle grounds. We are excited to get unpacked and down for the night. Since our ferry trip schedule had changed to a later time, it is pretty late for Scottish island life, so we will just call it a night.
