Sunday 10/07/05

Went for a walk this afternoon, just for a change. Up Island Road and Smith Avenue, past the Nicolson Institute. Then across Goathill Avenue and into Leverhulme Drive. This has a roundabout halfway down. At the end I turn right into Westview Terrace / Barraidh nan Rop. This brings me out on the Perceval Road, which I follow east for a short distance. Then I turn into Sand Street, which brings me down onto the sands between Stornoway and Tong, the Cockle Ebb. This is a large area of tidal mudflats, through which the Laxdale River and a few minor tributaries flow down to the sea. The Ebb is dangerous, because the tide can rise very quickly, and there are patches of quicksand. I found that the Laxdale River is easily fordable. I reached there at 3.15, at low water. The river held about 25 cm (10 in) of water. Kept the boots off for the rest of the walk to Tong, 2 miles to the northeast. It's a wet area, with one or two little streams. However, the ground was firm underfoot, not unlike the Wadden Sea off Holland, Germany and Denmark. The traverse took about 40 minutes. Just before reaching Teanga Thunga, the long sandspit stretching south from Tong, there was an area of what felt like quicksand. The spit is used as a racetrack for bikes. It offers nice views across to Steinis and Mealabost, as well as the airport. Spoke to a local man who had been watching my approach. He advised me that I could cross the moors adjoining the Ebb to Newmarket. Well, that was a nightmare. Wet, fencing at inconvenient locations, a river and a forestry plantation. The river wasn't too difficult, but the forestry plantation had soft ground, deep runnels and what not. Was knackered by the time I reached the outskirts of Newmarket. Returned through Laxdale and Perceval Road, the same route I used for coming out. The other guests had taken themselves off to Garry Beach, north of Tolsta.