Life at the end of the road

Something rather different today. We had decided to visit Raasay, which necessitated driving up to Sconser, north of Broadford. Part of the point of the trip was to see, and drive on, Calum's Road. Alf has blipped that, along with a link to a great video.

But for me, part of the point was also the ferry trip across, in the almost brand new electric-diesel hybrid ferry MV Hallaig, which is quite unnaturally quiet for such a large vessel. Now, you might ask, how would someone like me know about the Hallaig? Well the answer lies in the picture, and in this blog, Life at the End of the Road, which I have been reading for at least five years, probably longer (it started in December 2007) (it must also have been around the same time I read the book by Roger Hutchinson about Calum McLeod). The author of the blog, a self-identified 'accidental crofter' (pigkeeper) and ferryman is the one on the right. I'm afraid I didn't catch the name of his friend, who is apparently a Dutch man who has been on Skye for 18 years, and works building things and who was presumably going across to Raasay to do just that.

It's not really my style to be a groupie to 'celebrities', but I have great admiration for the work that Paul Camili does, managing to maintain his family offgrid at the top end of Raasay (thus helping to ensure that this part of the island does not depopulate again just as it did when the Calum of Calum's Road died in the 1980s), including building a new house, and helping to keep going other offgrid dwellings such as the Torran Schoolhouse, a holiday home for rent, and indirectly to help bring people and business to Raasay.

Oh, and by the way, he has a house for sale.