The Golden Road

Harris, day two
Our second day on Harris included a tour of the Golden Road, a scenic route that winds its way around the east coast from just south of Tarbert to the village of Rodel, linking many tiny settlements at one time only accessible by boat. The coast is indented with sea lochs and studded with lakes, and affords some lovely vistas over rocky islets and gentle hills, with views across to the Isle of Skye on the horizon. 

The picture above is Loch Plocrapool. (The place names have many spellings, hovering somewhere between the traditional Gaelic and more anglicised versions.)

Below is a view over Manish. The building with the rusty, decaying roof is apparently an old post office that at one time held the only telephone in the area.

All the roads on Harris are narrow and winding, with passing places marked at regular intervals. Most drivers were very considerate, especially since we were travelling in a minivan that took up quite a lot of space! I was glad I wasn't driving. There was the added hazard of free-wandering sheep. Most of them looked very white and fluffy, almost as though they'd just been shampooed, so they were not too difficult to see, even in the dark. Perhaps it's all the rain that keeps them clean!