Tuesday 05/10/04

A cloudy morning with bright intervals as I set off on the 10.20 bus. Once at Broadford, I change buses by crossing the road at the Post Office. The busshelter is full of bundles of newspapers. Also waiting is a young woman who is helping out some tourists with their bus connections. I engage in conversation, and it turns out she is a student at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, where she is doing media studies by Gaelic medium education. This basically means that lectures &c are given in Gaelic. She is a very pleasant young lady, and once we arrive at Ardvasar, she also tells me that she was at the hospital in Broadford for physiotherapy on her shoulder. The large shopping bags don't help. Alight at Calligarry and head down the road towards Aird of Sleat. This is a trip down memory lane, as I was here before two months ago. The only difference is that the blackberries are ripe, and I spend a fair amount of time picking them. Pass the farmhouse at Formore, which was the farthest I got in August. Go up a very steep hill and carry on along the fringe of a forest. Finally come out into the village of Aird. The road goes sharply up and down, round sharp bends before ending at a carpark. The weather has worsened, and it's coming on to rain. The shower clears quickly and the brilliant sunshine returns. I arrive at a gate, which bars progress to the farm. A sign points to the left, where you have to scramble up a very steep, rocky as well as muddy hillside. It's tricky, and my leaky boots don't make things very nice either. The rocks are slippery, so have to exercise extreme caution. After quite a lot of trouble, I finally come out at Camus Daraich, which is about half amile short of Point of Sleat, the extreme southern point of Skye. Have lunch just inland from the beach. Cannot proceed at sealevel, so have to retrace my steps and go uphill. Oreintation is tricky, but I do manage to come out at the top of a hill. Steps lead down to the foreshore, and again, extreme caution is needed. Once at the bottom, I stand aghast at the amount of flotsam that has been washed up here. Finally, I walk down the last grassy track and stand by the lighthouse. This is a small, demure affair, not much more than about 6 m in height. It's very, very windy. I have difficulty keeping my footing on the walkway, and those winds caused me trouble before as well. I turn back, walk round the corner and up the steps. Lose my way through a very boggy patch, but re-establish positioning when I find myself at the gates of the farm. Bearing in mind that nobody is around, I just pass through the yard which is littered with wrecked cars and machinery. Then come out at the other gate, which was where I turned off up into hte hills before. Go down the path, back towards Aird. I gradually gain on a couple with a dog, but decide to have a break before I overtake them. Reappear at the gate at the road's end at 3pm, and continue at a pace. Have to be back at Ardvasar at 5pm in order to catch the bus back to Broadford. I reappear in Ardvasar just after 4 to catch a glimpse of the Sabhal Mor student flitting across the road inthe distance. As it's very early, I head down to Armadale Pier to wait at the junction, after having a drink at the hotel. Hobble back to Calligarry where the bus pulls in after I do. The driver is a pleasant chap and we have a great yarn all the way down the A851. His bus is knackered, the schoolkids he takes on it are OK. Everybody knows him. A lady gets on at Teanga, but the driver cannot sell the ticket she needs because the machine is out of order. Major roadworks are in progress between Teanga and Kinloch, to make it into a normal width road - it's single track just now. It does mean a bit of slalomming around cones &c. Oncoming traffic is regulated using stop/go signs. Once at Kinloch we go back to full speed. The showers have abated and the low sun lights up the distant Cuillins to the northwest as well as the long straggling line of houses that is Broadford. On arrival there, I nip into the Co-op which I can just manage before the Kyleakin bus pulls in at 6.10. Return to the hostel at half past six. An hour later I watch the Citylink buses come in. I am still in room 6, and have company there for tonight.