Friday 9th April
Our would-be efficient Maître d’ spent a great deal of time faffing with a computer and a calculator before charging us almost £140 for the privilege of a night’s stay at a not-very-spectacular establishment. Eventually we got away and managed to catch the ferry.
Jan was not feeling well and we had a number of stops on the way to Portree. Fortunately the climb was not difficult and it seemed that the downhill reward was out of all proportion to our earlier efforts. We dropped into a café in Portree’s main square for late 11ses and eventually trundled away, dropping into the Co-op for more supplies.
The weather was cloudy and mild and we were mostly wind-assisted. Lunch was a home-made affair eaten whilst sitting in a bus shelter, but my dear wife ate only an extra strong mint. Finally we arrived in Uig, which is approached from what would have been a 40+ mph descent had it not been for the need to avoid a trio of sheep which had decided to occupy a good deal of the road and forced me into using the brakes.
We found Harris Cottage and Jan slept whilst I read. A young family arrived, having driven from the Edinburgh area en route for Harris. Their ferry left Uig at 9.30 the following morning. We chatted for a while and soon after 7 I woke Jan and we walked down to the Ferry Inn for dinner. On the way back we phoned Dez from a call box, Uig having yet to realise the delights of a mobile phone signal.