A Day of Magic and Memories

Great Bernera is a rocky island off the coast of the Isle of Lewis.  Yes, we arrived on the Isle of Harris but we were also on the Isle of Lewis.  Lewis makes up the northern 2/3rds of the island and Isle of Harris makes up the southern 1/3rd of the same island.  Got that?  We landed in Tarbert, Isle of Harris but then drove north to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.  Same island.

And from Isle of Lewis we crossed this bridge to Great Bernera on the way to begin a hike.  But first, a walk around these standing stones. These 4 megalithic stones named the Callenish VIII stones are arranged in a semi circle facing the strait between Great Bernera and Lewis.  These stones along with others date back from the neolithic period, over 4500 years ago.

bridge built in 1953

I felt an energy emanating from the stones when I touched them.  Can't explain it.

Callanish VIII - look like bent old men

We began our walk at the Community Hall where we could park our car.  The walk took us through abandoned settlements and fields of flowers.

Then we reached the coastal areas and I fell in love with the scenery.  When I titled this post "a day of magic and memories",  I knew none of the images posted would  give viewers that sense.  It's been about month since I've returned home to write this post and I can't get the feeling, the views, the smells and sounds of this area out of my mind.  Something about this area really resonated with me.

The water was clear and clean.  There was much movement of the water.
Seaweed everywhere and different kinds.  Notice the sunshine.

It was cool to see the old lobster pond where the fishermen would store the lobsters until it was convenient or was cost effective to obtain the best prices on the mainland.

lobster pond upper left area of image

Our walk took us to this beautiful white sand beach.  If only it was 20 degrees warmer...
Again, there were different varieties of seaweed.  I love the stuff.

And then I found what looked like kombu, the type of seaweed used to make stock in Japanese cooking.  So I harvested this particular piece to bring back to the cottage.

poor, dead but beautiful jelly fish

happy flowers

Back on the Isle of Lewis, we went to see the other Callanish Standing Stones.  There were three additional sets of stones, with the most epic one shaped I imagine from above like a cruciform.  All three were within walking distance.

This being the most spectacular of the stone circles also was the most visited.
It was good to get back to the cottage to enjoy a cocktail and to have a home cooked meal.  And because the days are long, we did our laundry and hung them up to dry since it stayed light past 9 pm.

pork chops, basmatic rice, broccoli and cauliflower
we were desperate for vegies.

The Harris Gin was pure bliss.  Would I be able to finish the whole bottle in a week?