Week 244: Unsinging Sands

A week of long hikes up big hills, views, bogs, pretty lighthouses, beautiful beaches, travelling, Baldur's Gate, Astronomy, and a lazy weekend.

Posted on by Rowan Manning.
Tagged with HolidayWalkingGamesArtFood

  • A view from high on a hill over Islay's green and meandering coastline

    On Monday we attempted to hike up Beinn Bheigier, the highest point on Islay, but the wind was a bit much when we reached the first summit, we decided not to continue on but we still had some amazing views. We ate our lunch in a little hollow near the top and then nearly broke our ankles in a few boggy holes on the way back down.

  • A rectangular lighthouse on a rocky outcrop, surrounded by yellow sand and bright blue sea water

    On Tuesday, before catching the ferry, we drove over to Carraig Fhada Lighthouse the Singing Sands, easily one of the prettiest beaches we saw on the trip. Possibly the nicest I’ve ever been to in the UK, it was so picturesque.

    We didn’t hear the sands sing. It was windy but not in quite the right way to whistle through all the rocky outcrops that line the beach. We’ll have to go back another time.

  • The journey home was long - 12 hours in total via car then ferry, car again, plane from Glasgow, a train, and a night bus. I was pretty glad to fall into bed.

  • We had Wednesday off to recover from the travel. I played Baldur’s Gate III for a lot of the day, well into Act 3 now and still enjoying it a lot. I’m astounded at how detailed this game is and how each choice alters the story.

  • Back to work on Thursday. I slightly overdid it in the pub and felt pretty worse for wear later on that night. I somehow managed to kick most of the hangover by the afternoon and we still made our reservation at Bread Street Kitchen (very much not worth it).

  • I’ve enjoyed a lazy weekend. We did a lot of lounging around and staying cool, with a small outing to the National Maritime Museum to see the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition.