Wake up to a pretty grim morning – bit wet and windy. But at least I had nearly 3 hours on the ferry to hide from the rain. The ferry left at 10:30 – so I had a little wander around Ullapool. Picked up the paper to read on the ferry and managed to remember to buy a midge net (I had tried in London, but due to some very poor service at Blacks in Chiswick, I hadn’t got one).
It is a very big ferry over to Stornoway and it was pretty full – except for bikes (just me!), which made me worry a little more about the whole cycling north to south on the islands again.
Journey was fairly uneventful – highlight was seeing my first puffins of the trip – flying over the seas. They always amuse me when they fly – it just looks like it should be impossible with their little fat, round bodies and their tiny little wings flapping about a million times a minute.
Arrived at Stornoway and really did not like the look of it much. I am sure it is a lovely town, but it was everything I wanted to get away from. I did one quick loop around it and headed off to the Eye Peninsula east of Stornoway. I wanted to see the abandoned church at Aignish – the church of St. Columba. The weather was still pretty hit and miss – but it was a nice ride. The church was very interesting – it’s abandoned and, like many churches in the islands, it has lost it’s roof – but there are still people being buried in these places. I assume it is to be with their ancestors etc. It is also one of the primary burial grounds for the MacLoeds of Lewis.
I also saw the first of three major memorials about the land struggles. This one commemorates the Aignish Riots of 1888.
I rode back to Stornoway via the rather large Co-Op and found my campsite – the Laxdale Holiday Park. The campsite was very good, though a little slopey, with great facilities.
It was still fairly early, so I decided to head up one of the other roads – this one towards Tolsta Head – this road had some great views of beaches and really gave me an introduction to the island’s excellent sandy beaches. I wish I could have ridden up to the end of the road and walked to Tolsta Head – but I wanted to get back and get dinner. At the village of Bac was very interesting with another memorial for the land struggles. There was also a really fantastic beach – I just wish that there was a little sun to go with the sand!
On the way back, I spotted a great abandoned watermill – the iron-work of the wheel was still in pretty good condition.
I cycled back to camp and cooked a very tasty curry and then bed. An interesting day, but now I was really itching to get out there and into the wilder parts of the island.
Read about day 3 here!
