Isle of Lewis

I have been on the Isle of Lewis for the past few days and it has been fantastic, if not different. My first impression of the town was one of starkness. There is not much beauty in the buildings but the people are friendly. My other impression was one of complete backwardness. It was only Saturday afternoon when I arrived. There was still a good four hours before closing time for most shops and yet when I went for a walk to the Tourism info office, it was closed. Strange and not a little bit annoying, but what was stranger still was the fact that Sunday is a complete shut down.
When I first turned up at the hostel there was an entire student rugby team and coaches leaving so my room wasn't ready. That was fine though as I just dumped my things and upon realising that the world would stop the next day, went on a hunt for a car rental place. The first place I found said they were open till 5pm and was ironically called Kiwis - not sure why but they actually had a kiwi as their symbol. I turned up at 3.30pm and... they were closed. I gave them a call and after sounded quite annoyed that I had called them, they gave me the number of another place called McKinnon's who were thankfully still open. I hired the most budget looking car you can imagine a rental place owning - rust on the bonnet, scratches every where... at least I didn't have to worry about adding anymore - they would never have noticed. It cost me 32 pounds per day to hire and I paid another 5 for the extra, extra insurance just be sure. It was the best idea I had.
I also had to go to the supermarket and that was a crack up. There was feeling that the end of the world was actually coming, you know that made panic that happens the day before Christmas day when everyone is suddenly aware that they won't have access to the supermarket the next day - it was like that.

Sunday morning I woke bright and early then, being the only person in the hostel, had an extra long shower, made a packed lunch and headed out in the car. The most amazing sight greeted me when I got out of the town. The land is richly boggy and vary in shades of brown with lochs everywhere. There is one major road which I took and I can count on two hands how many cars I saw in the five hours I was out. I headed all the way out to the Butt of Lewis (tee hee). It is the top most point on the isle. There are huge rocky outcroppings and gannet colonies on top of it. It is completely open to the elements and there are not a single fence or barrier between you and the cliff and the heavy winds trying to push you off it. It is safe to say that I stayed well back from the edge.
From the Butt (hehe) I drove back down and stopped off at a few different historical sites along the way. The first was Steinacleit stone set which is an ancient pile of rocks that had once been housing around 3500BC. It was my first time to walk over the boggy marshy land because you had to park the car, go through a sheep fence and walk up the hill.
I also made my way to the Black houses which are the original type of housing on the island. They are beautiful with thatching on the roofs, low rock walls and no windows. The modern-ish ones have windows in the ceiling. Down from the black houses is a rocky beach with high cliff walls.
By that point in the drive I was busting for a loo and there were no sign posts. I went to the beach next door called Dalmoore and gratefully there was one there. The way down to the beach however, was via a one car road littered with sheep. It was a new experience having to negotiate sheep. Most moved out of the way except for one who stood half on the road and started baaing at me. It was a mexican stand-off and it felt a bit like the sheep was shouting at me, telling me to get off the road. Proud to say, I won that round. I ran it over. Haha... no, just kidding, I edge forward until it moved.

Next I went down to the Callanish standing stones. Now, there is something impressive. They stand out on the horizon and they are huge. The stones are set in a circle with lines of stone coming off from the centre like arms and legs. It was so impressed with the stones that I actually went back the next day to have another look at them. You can see from the photo that the weather is freezing.
After that I headed back to the hostel. I didn't want to be driving around once it got dark - what with there being no lights at all on the roads.

Today I slept in little. I am fighting a horrible cold and apparently my body decided I needed sleep. It was 10am when I left. I took off towards the beaches and this giant chess piece on Uig Sands. Apparently, around 100 years ago some guy stumbled across a pile of rocks and inside the cone was a set of viking chess pieces. They are in the British museum now and no one knows the exact location of where they were found. A few years back an artist was commissioned to create a statue of wood. It is pretty cool looking and I kind of want a Viking chess set now.
The only way to get out to Uig and the chessman was going down a B road. That meant one-car roads with passing points. It wasn't actually that bad. I was more nervous about the signs stating or warning that deer frolicking/running out onto the road and the fact that it was starting to sleat. However, while I was worried about those things, I was absolutely stunned by the landscape that you have to traverse to get to the beach. I passed through gorges, up the sides of hills, follow rivers, pass lochs and through small villages.
I am off to the Isle of Skye tomorrow. I have booked 4 nights because I have been told that it is stunning and there is plenty to see. Can't wait. This has been high on my list for a long time.