#the person filming says “kite‚ you ate it all already!...”

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seal Is: More Fish For Me? Please? Please? Please?

[summervanlife]

30 June

The wind picked up in a menacing way last night. Rain hammered into the windows horizontally. Sometime in the middle of the night we heard the windscreen wrap-around flapping. Soon enough it had broken free of the windscreen wipers and the wing mirrors. Now billowing like a kite, it wasn't going to be long before we lost it altogether. In a state of undress we braved the wind and rain to battle the flailing cloth. It was lovely cozying back into a sleeping bag after getting chilled. Waking in the morning, the weather remained the same. We performed our very first conversion with us all in the van and without opening a door - quite an impressive achievement and in good time too! Breakfast was taken to the campers kitchen where we elongated our stay in the dry and warm. Cian was keen for another shower before eating so Jay accompanied him to use the toilet. Cian kept his underwear on to lock the door after Jay left and before he got into the shower. A while later Cian joined us in the kitchen with wet pants. He had forgotten to take them off before showering! Poor sleep deprived boy! Someone had placed a dehumidifier in the laundry and therefore our damp clothes on the horse had pretty much dried by the time we got to them (with the exception of Cian's pants!) It was still gone 1100hr by the time we drove out. We decided that the day needed to be largely vehicle based, the wind was still 40mph and gusting stronger, rain showers were frequent. A guidebook we had kicking around in the van called 'Made in the Outer Hebrides' became our inspiration, and Nia guided us around North Uist on a trail to find as many of the featured art installations as we could. The first was called 'Reflections' and was at the end of a very long and windy road with a multitude of dedicated signpost along the way. This was way too much hype and we were a little dismayed when we eventually braved the weather to view it. A bench of mosaic tiles curved in an S shape stood overlooking the loch. We moved on. Bronze sculpture representing swans in flight was next. It was alright - but not a patch on the old ships carcass we found on the edge of the loch! Then that was beaten by the four stags Clare spotted photogenically staring at us from the ridge line! Then to a stone circle. We walked around it anti-clockwise bashing our way through the tick infested heather. We had decided that in doing so, it gave us 30 seconds of magic power in which Jay was able to make the rain stop! Onto a 5000 year old burial chamber contained under several hundred tonnes of boulders. Unfortunately, a sign at the bottom of the path told us that a recent collapse of the entrance had meant that the chamber had been sealed off. Jay put a head torch in his pocket. We tramped up the hill in the drizzle and gale. The burial mound really was just a huge pile of stones until we got to the east side where the entrance was. What do you know? Some naughty person had removed the wire grilled barrier leaving the entrance open. Out with the headtorch. It was a crawl to get in. The collapse was evident; just to the right of a pillar light streamed in over the rubble debris. Further in however, past the entrance, the structure looked sound (as sound as a 5000yr old structure with hundreds of tonnes of rock piled onto it could look). Jay went in followed by Cian. It's shape was similar to that of an igloo; short tunnel in, widening to a large circular room. The ceiling was made of several very thick slabs of granite stretching from one side to the other and supported on thick granite pillars. It was easily high enough for Cian to stand up. We didn't find any bones or mummified bodies but soon felt it quite important that we exited before Indiana Jones arrived! Clare acknowledged that Nia was going to head into the chambers as well but gritted her teeth and accepted it just as a good expedition photographer ought! Our final destination was a 7ft high carving of Hercules the bear. The tribute was to commemorate the pet and film-star bear who escaped from his adoring owners whilst filming on location in North Uist for an Andrex advert. He was at large for 24 days in which time the military, RAF, police from numerous areas and volunteers searched for him. A Crofter eventually spotted him on day 24 and local vets tranquillised him before he got returned to his owners. His owners by the way, looked after him like a proper pet, he lived indoors and ate with them. The husband made a name for himself by wrestling with Hercules in the ring! He seemed like a nice bear, who should have been in the wild, but who made the most of his 25 year domesticated life. Hercules (1974-2001) was buried adjacent to the carving. During our walk back to the van the midges started biting. Jay noticed they were attacking Cian's face and started to help him get rid of them. One of the midges was not a midge; it was a tick. Right on his left eyelid and already buried in. Back at the van 'operation tick removal' ensued. We think we got it all out and Cian was very gracious saying goodbye as we released the little blighter back to the wild. We had spotted the old road snaking alongside the new A road. This was good. The unused road was sure to offer us a spot for the night if we could get onto it. Sure enough we found a way in and a decent spot. There were 3 newly placed road signs along this stretch, written in both Gaelic and English. The first simply read 'Quiet', the second 25m on 'Calm' and the third 'Still'. We couldn't work out why or who might have put them there but I'm certain that in the right conditions the signs are accurate. Tonight we parked between Calm and Quiet. It seems that right between these signs there used to be another, which is long gone, but that used to read 'Symphonic Percussion Crescendo of Weather'. Clare's amazing camp culinary skills filled our bellies. Then we settled in to the van conversion and an early night.