Day 4 Wednesday 22nd June Stornoway 2016
I watched a fisheries protection vessel sail past Azura into Stornoway as Azura was manoeuvring to anchor.
Azura anchored off Stornoway after 7 am. As we expected to be catching a tender sometime after 09:30 we had time to have a breakfast in the dining room. At 9 there was an announcement that the tenders for all the passengers going on trips had completed early and that there was no queue for the tenders.
We caught the second tender leaving and settled down for the 15 minute trip ashore. However, just as we left the pontoon the call went out that there was a problem and we’d have to turn back. Tender 19 was ‘helped’ by another tender ‘pushing’ us back to the pontoon.
After a short wait we were joined by some ship’s engineers and we set off again. Azura was anchored past the Arnish lighthouse so we had to round a point to enter the harbour and as we approached the jetty there was another problem and after some to and fro we finally docked safely by the ferry terminal.
We had a short walk around the quay and up Cromwell Street and onto Bayhead with views of Lews Castle across the harbour. Here’s the street art we passed.
We were going to meet a friend whom I had met on one of my training courses in Glasgow a few years earlier.
After a welcoming cup of of coffee we set off on a private tour of the island.
Arnol Blackhouse Museum
This traditional Blackhouse would have been home to the crafter’s family and not only contains living rooms but was also a byre for their animals and was their barn.
I was fascinated by the peat fire in the middle of the floor and that the smoke permeated throughout the building as there was no chimney.
Next to the Blackhouse across the road was a more modern crofter’s cottage (the ‘Whitehouse’). This had two rooms and would have been used in the second half of last century.
Like the blackhouse the bedrooms are curtained off areas in the living space almost as if they are part of the wall.
Dailbeag beach
We called Dailbeag beach so we could get a glimpse of just one of the many beaches on Harris.
Callanish standing stones
These standing stones are the most famous archaeological site in the Outer Hebrides. The stones were erected at about 3,000 BC. The main circle has 13 stones and there are other stones that radiate in four directions.
It was very busy at the stones and here are some more images.
After our visit to the stones we went for lunch to the Caberfeidh Hotel and sampled Harris gin and tonic before our lunch of tomato soup with peppers.
Outside of the ferry terminal was a piece of the historic past, a weaving machine made in Keighley.
Once at the ferry terminal there was quite a queue of returning passengers.
Our journey back to the ship by tender was made interesting as we were now heading out into the waves and these provided us with a bumpy ride back. Here’s the last tender coming back to the ship showing their bumpy ride.
There were regular take-off and landings at the airport over the way and we had an RAF Tornado come over the town and then make a turn over the island and head back to Lossiemouth.
As the last tenders were being recovered the ship manoeuvred to try and reduce the swell that they were struggling with. Later the Captain told us that Azura’s call today was her maiden call at Stornoway and that she was the largest ship ever to call there. After the ship weighed anchor and set sail another complication arose as the anchor had snagged lobster pots and the rescue boat had to be launched to free them.
Dinner was in the Beach House on deck 15. I had my favourites of prawns, steak on a lava plate followed by New York Cheesecake.
The meal was interrupted by appearances of dolphins hunting and feeding as we passed by (not the bnest picture but we were on Deck 17 and I was using my iPhone!)
The casino still wasn’t open and I was dropped in it by two of the ship’s entertainment team (Nat and Nick) who let slip that I was on deck 7 buying something !
As part of our ongoing research about using P&O or my iPhone app to deliver postcards, we checked that the concierge postal rate was down to £1 per item from the high cost at Belfast yesterday.
The Vodafone coverage in Stornoway was poor as the only signal available was GPRS so no mobile data access.
After one day at sea our next port was Reykjavik in Iceland.