Blog hour is 15.00 to 16.00, which for Ian, George and myself was spent in the most glorious sunshine on the south side of Osieval. This is a big hill that we had climbed up from the south with Steve so that he could take some photographs of RCAHMS ‘at work’. I hope he got some shots of us working rather than panting out of breath, given the gradient and the weight of my pack, because I was carrying his tripod.  We were down the precipitous slopes of Osieval. Ian and I were not going to go down some of the slopes though because they were too steep for us. So George (NTS ST Kilda Archaeologist) went down and recorded a group of cleitian that defy gravity and I am sure were only built as a competition by the St Kildans to see who could build a cleit in the most dangerous location. 

Today is Tuesday, the ninth day of our 13 day trip and for me one of the hardest. I have to really make an effort to be enthusiastic about the repetitive number of cleits we have recorded today, and would really rather watch some crap on TV. Unfortunately, that’s not possible and I have to continue to talk about this fascinating island. Every now and then glimpses of the wider world come into view, like the helicopter, which comes twice a week and delivers important things like Guinness and a PARCEL FOR ME!! 

Anya has sent me a cake, which is just what a flagging man needs. Now I am in a dilemma; should I hoard it and only share it with the mice, or share it and only get a little. What do you think?