So, last week (2-6 Feb), I was on a uni trip to Harris. Unfortunately I am now home, and I am (un)surprisingly depressed about being so. I am always rather sulky after being up north, but I have never been quite this bad! I will end up there permanently one day, I may go insane otherwise. Have now realised I should have got off the minibus at Kyle of Lochalsh on the way home and met up with my Auntie – I could have got a Citylink bus back down the road later that day or stayed over until the next one. Bit late now to think on it though! Anyway, lets see how much I can remember to write a post about it ;)
Three days is notenough time to explore Harris, but it definitely gave us all a taster and needless to say we all want to return. We did the trip through Wild In Scotland, so since we were on a minibus there was only 11 of us, plus 2 tutors. Our driver and tour guide, James, was fantastic, his humour and storytelling giving the journey a little bit more. If all Wild In Scotland’s drivers/tour guides are like him then they are definitely worth going on, as the knowledge and stories of the areas visited is priceless. Even although we were not on a Wild In Scotland tour as such, as our tutor picked where we visited, he still gave us the stories. We left the art college at 6am (ish) on Monday, nice and early, to ensure we would get to Uig in time for the ferry. We seemed to make good time however and got a 45 minute stop in Portree, on Skye. I have only ever experienced Portree in the midst of summer when it is tourist central and it has, therefore, never given me a relaxing experience! I was quite surprised to find I actually quite liked the place with hardly a sole in it. Vicky, Kay & I went for a coffee and cake at Cafe Arriba which was yum. It was then on the bus up the road to Uig. Everywhere bar Uig Pottery was closed in Uig but then there is really only the pottery. And the pub, but we did not venture there. The ferry was fine, no unknown suffering of sea sickness occurred so that was good. I cannot remember what time we got into Tarbert, 4pm maybe?
On the road to Leverburgh James stopped the minibus for a moment so we could see/take a couple of photos of Luskentyre Beach, it’s absolutely breathtaking and the weather was on our side (in terms of sunshine).
We stayed in the Am Bothan Bunkhouse in Leverburgh which was really nice. It was a great wood burner, relaxed atmosphere and is so colourful and lively you cannot help being cheered up in the place.
The first evening was nice, even although we were all shattered. Jan had organised a ‘food store and kitty’ prior to us leaving, along with a cooking rota. The meal was yummy, setting the bar high for the rest of us for later on in the week! We then got a little talk on strategies for working in the landscape by one of our tutors, Matthew (Dalziel + Scullion), who also showed us their film piece Source, which is a stunning piece of work. Now all inspired, and very tired, we went to bed.
On Tuesday our first visit was to Luskentyre Beach. The colour of the water is beautiful and even although you can view it via images online, postcards, etc, nothing matches up to the reality. The beach itself is also amazing, although it does not beat the Coral Beach on Isle of Skye in my eyes. We got a while to explore the beach and do whatever we wanted – draw (if you wanted to brave your paper in the wind!), photograph, film, record sounds, collect things, etc.
It was a great place to explore but sadly we did not have a huge amount of time there. We were to return later on in the week but trying to fit other visits in meant unfortunately did not get to return. Our next stop was the Seallam Visitor Centre, which had lots of information on the history and environment of the Island, along with an amazing book shop that was far too tempting. We then returned to the Bunkhouse for some lunch – Jan had got up at 6am and made soup! Very tasty and warmed us up. We then went to St Clement’s Church at Rodel. A lovely little church, the acoustics in it were amazing, especially up the tower section. The light through the windows gave it an eerie feel and it had a great sense of atmosphere. You could get up to the top of the tower, but half way up the only way to go further was wooden ladders! So my dormant irrational fear of ladders, or more, how to get down ladders once ‘up above’ set in. As much as I told myself “get a grip” I could not get over that, Amberly nearly talked me up the first one but alas, no joy. I certainly do not have a fear of heights, but ladders … I swear I must have died in a past life by falling off a ladder or something similar. Slightly disappointed in myself, but Amberly showed me on her camera what was on the top floor – a window and coins everywhere, in the cracks and on the floor. The light hitting them was simply breathtaking and very emotive. It made me annoyed about my irrational fear but I was also really glad Amberly showed me the images.
We then drove round the east side of the Island, such a contrast in the geology. It is so rocky, such a desolate, strange landscape, with white cottages dotted about it. We were going to visit weaver Mrs Katie Campbell in Drinishader, but we arrived after 5pm when it was quite dark, so decided to return the next day. We headed back to the bunkhouse via a drink at the Harris Hotel. That evening I was on cooking duty with Vicky, and our tutor Moira. Moira wanted to do her chicken risotto and Vicky and I did the salad. I still get home cooked meals so the prospect of cooking for myself, let alone 13 others, was not a good one, so I was very grateful to be in Moira’s group. The chicken risotto was delicious and we had chocolate cake for desert. In the evening Matthew put on a film of a talk David Abram did for Dalziel + Scullion’s More Than Us conference/symposium. It was a really interesting talk and having started to read Abram’s book ‘Spell of the Sensuous’ it was great to see it. However, I was so tired and the room was so hot I thought I was going to pass out most of the way through, so even although I was listening to it all, I would not mind hearing it again when I am deliberating about moving to get some water/go to bed!
Wednesday we headed to Mrs Campbell’s for a Harris Tweed demonstration and shop. It was fab, so great to see the loom working. Her shop was also an aladdins cave. The bags are heaven to someone who adores bags, the shawls and waistcoats were gorgeous – everything was lush. I bought a softer sort of shoulder bag – a more ‘hippy’ style one, as opposed to their gorgeous handbag style ones. I’ll get a photo of it up here soon ;) It has not been of my shoulder since.
We then when back to the bunkhouse for some soup and to decide what to do next. We had planned to go to Callanish on the Thursday, and Wednesday afternoon was to be spent splitting up and going back to where people wanted to explore more (mainly Luskentyre or Rodel). However, the weather was turning out to be pretty bad and rainy, so we decided that spending an hour or so in a minibus in bad weather to get to Callanish was better than sitting in the bunkhouse in bad weather. The snow on the road up to Lewis was lovely, I do like the snow, it gives everything an eerie silence or peace.
The stones were the one thing I was most looking forward to. There are no words to describe them, or the feeling of seeing them for the first time, being within them, walking around them. Breathtaking and emotional. I just wanted to soak up what I was seeing and feeling within me, scared to forget the reaction to them. There is definitely an energy about them, compared to other stone circles and suchlike. where most have a distinct peaceful quality and quiet energy, these had quite a powerful energy. No words can describe them really.
I was aware at this point how close we were to the Dun Carloway Broch but since visiting that Broch would only be for indulging my inner geek (although Brochs do feature in my artwork) and it was pretty much tea time already, I did not want to mention it. I will save that one for the next visit ;D
That evening we had been invited to the Lawson’s house (the couple who own the Seallam Visitor Centre) to hear some gaelic songs. They had a wealth of rare tapes and recordings of gaelic singers, from the traditional waulking songs to more modern singers such as Karen Mathieson. It was a nice evening and we all appreciated being invited into their home. Her gingerbread cake was also delicious! The gaelic singing was not for everyone but it was still interesting nonetheless. The also had the most gorgeous dog, a greyhound/lurcher, which basically lay on top of me all night as I was sitting next to the fire. I could have sneaked him into the minibus, he was adorable!
On Thursday morning I went with Vicky, Kay and Steph down the road a but from the bunkhouse, just to see what was there as we had some time to kill. It looked pretty stunning due to the cold, crisp weather and I have never seen so many icicles! The silence of the place was beautiful and quite striking.
For Thursday afternoon we decided we would all like to do the Coffin Walk through the hills.
SEILIBOST – LEACLI
Follow the Old Coffin Road Taken By The People Of The Bays To The Graveyards Of The West Coast, From The White Sands Of Seilebost To The Wet Peat Bogs Of The East Coast.
Time 1 1/2 – 2 hours
It took us about 2 and a half hours and was definitely one of the highlights. The path seemed to disappear in the middle, for those of us who cannot tell our bogs and deep ice puddles from safe to stand on land! But it was good fun, a nice steep slope midway through just to add a bit of grief for those of us who are not exactly 100% fit (ie me), but it was fab, with a nice sense of achievement at the end of it :)
After that we went back to the bunkhouse for our last supper – a roast! My room got packed up and we all had a little moan and cry about not wanting to go home. Also decided to stay up all night with Sinead as getting up at 4.30am the next morning to catch the ferry seemed like a hellish idea. Dragging myself out of bed at that hour of the morning is never a good thing for me. We had a presentation from Moira, showing us her artwork, which was really cool. Her work definitely speaks to me and she had some beautiful pieces. We then had our roast, Jan raffled off some ‘prizes’ (a mixture of bingo prizes since we did not play the bingo and left over food! – I got the bingo! – and then we settled down for the evening with a few drinks. Sinead, Ross and I stayed up, rather surprised I managed to last! But I was happily awake at 4.30am. We left the bunkhouse at 5.45am to get to the ferry for 6.30am (for the sailing at 7am). We had all thought the ferry was sailing at 7.30am and thus we were running 30 minutes earlier than we all thought we would be – but once we reached the ferry James said he “read the times wrong” and the ferry was 7.30am, oops. We were not convinced of this mistake and believe that it was deliberate (I am used to this trick as my mum does it to me all the time!). We had spent the week saying “we’ll be ready for 9″ and in reality being ready at 9.30. We were half an hour late every morning so … I did not really affect me, having done the allnighter.
Sadly the ferry was not cancelled due to bad weather so home it was :( When we got off at Uig, James took us up via Staffin to get to Portree, stopping of at the Kilt Rock. It was nice to be there without 20 other tourists in your way! The road itself was so surreal as we hardly met any traffic. Still regretting not getting off at Kyle of Lochalsh to visit my Auntie! We hit some rather nice snow falling at Glen Shiel, shame it was not a few hours earlier, in Harris, and we would have got to stay for the weekend!
I guess the above photo shows why my parents do not caravan up north in the winter (aside from most caravan sites being shut).
Anyhow, we have been all discussing how we wish to return, and we have been mentioning an unofficial round 2 nearer the end of summer. It would be great if this happened, we managed to get into Am Bothan again, and we could get James as our driver. I definitely think it is something we should do and we inspire us all for fourth year! In the meantime I need to figure out how to not be so depressed about being back in Dundee!