Luskentyre Beach

Today was our day off the first thing that I wanted to go see was the beach since everyone was telling us to visit it when we had a chance. We didn't plan a time to head out to the beach but it was the first thing on our agenda, so  our first move was to hit up the tourist information office that we had already walked past a thousand times without going in. The nice lady gave us a bus timetable and advised us to go to Seilibost instead, as Luskentyre was only sporadically on the bus route, there is very little to see there, and the beach is so big it stretches between both places anyway. So that is what we did.

The primary school in the middle of nowhere.

The big western isle coach that pulled up in Tarbert was quickly switched out for  minivan, a better vehicle for navigating the country roads of south Harris, more often than not single file with passing points than a true 'road' as we generally think of them. After about twenty minutes we disembarked, paid the bus driver £5.60 for two return tickets and walked the winding track down past the most isolated primary school in the world, and on through the sand dunes to the beach.

We walked far along the beach, through the dunes, down to the water and out into the middle of nowhere, before returning down the other side past a massive graveyard of washed up shells and dead crabs. The beach was quite desolate in a way; roaring winds scoured the sands, racing in from over the mountains and out at sea, pounding at the few people who dared to wander across the flatlands. Nonetheless, it was very nice, the sands golden and the water sparkling in the few moments of sun that succeeding in piercing the gloomily overcast sky. It was perhaps not the perfect weather for visiting the beach, but it was nonetheless an enjoyable walk.

After stopping briefly for cheese and crackers we returned to the road and followed it for a couple of miles back in the direction of Tarbert, to the Harris Art Cafe. The cafe served wonderful coffee from french presses and very lemony lemon cake. We doodled in their visitor's sketch book and appreciated their art before leaving to hang out with a family of puppies whilst waiting for our return bus.

Good-bye beach.