In Blighty - Part 2

North and South Harris 

Ok - it's Day 52 of the trip, Sunday 20th of July, and we are in the "Wee Free" Scottish Presbyterian part of the Isle, so there is nothing open today!

Breakfast -the kippers were fine, so then we packed the car and were off investigating the wonders of North and South Harris.  Let me show you a map.....

We are now focussing on the bottom end.  The big part up the top stops being Lewis and starts being North Harris about two thirds of the way across the moors and bogs, and really at that point the landscapes themselves start to become more interesting, with the highest point on this island Ben Clisham, 799m, being just a few kilometres  north of Tarbert.

We moved to another B&B today at Finsbay on the southeastern end of South Uist, but we went via a most fabulous beach at Luskyntyre, and via the road that circles South Harris on the north and east side.  This was one of the not so sunny days, lots of cloud and wind, so the beaches were looking a bit bleak, and deserted, but amazing expanses of white sand.  Not what you expect in such remote and exposed places.

Luskyntyre Beach, goes on for miles......

Pretty unique views and vistas of a rocky shoreline backed by many small inlets with old and new houses and crofts in the hills behind, where they were suitable for agriculture, or just sheep roaming, everywhere.  Lots of wildlife for those with sharp eyesight, including golden and sea eagles and otters in the sea lochs; saw 'em all.

Views among the South Harris road.

There was so much to take in as we drove along on such a small island.  This was by far the most interesting place to date.

The B&B in Finsbay was run by some friends of friends of Jane and they welcomed us with an evening meal of hearty soup and local caught halibut.  The host was also a whisky collector so we had a few drams that night just to compare and appreciate the differences etc, of course!

The next few days were more sightseeing in the Harris area, including Hushinish, another wonderful beach, and lots of rabbits and graveyards.

The Machair of Hushinish

 We first understood there that you can only have graveyards on these islands where there is enough depth of soil / sand to reliably bury the bodies! We then knew where to look for them in these sandy bays, which occur on the northern side bays of most of the western islands.

The ferry from South Harris to the north of the Uist islands disembarks at the port of Borve. The weather was beautiful, so we headed straight to the beach at Berneray, surrounded by the “machair” meadows, all wild grasses and flowers, pronounced “macca”.  It’s all over this northern side of the island and is created when the sand from the beaches blows onto the peat bogs behind, making a wonderful meadows type environment for wild flowers and animals. 

The Uists are really a string of 6 islands strung out from Berneray in the north to Eriksay in the south joined by causeways, the most recent of which was only constructed in 2001.  Roads here are a relatively recent facility, boats being the historic mode of transport.  However it is roads and ferries to and from the islands that now form the infrastructure for the economy, transporting tourists and fish.

So we located our next B&B just south of Carinish, on the island called Grimsay. Here, hostess Anne ran a slick establishment where the breakfasts were big and the internet was only available for 5 minutes a day. That evening we went to posh Estate hotel at Langlass Lodge for dinner, just simple local foods on the menu, langoustines, scallops, venison, halibut, wild salmon, all washed down with a little French Chablis.  Hard work.

The Clachan prehistoric cairn tomb.

Up at 8am then next day for a big day, (especially for Jane, poor thing! ) Lots to do.  Drive up to the RSPB bird sanctuary on the north side of North Uist.  However, we  were not even out of the car park, when Jane has a fall ending with a face plant into the tarmac, with a sort of squishy noise. Oh no! ( the lace of one of my flashy new boots, looped round the hook on the other boot. The feeling was one of having my feet tied together. It happened again in the Alps, but i was caught this time, by my niece. I now tuck all laces firmly under the tongues)
So we do a swift drive with her to Lochmaddy, across the island for a check-up with a GP.  Amazingly it appears her nose saved her from major face damage and she seemed to only have superficial grazes. 

So onward, we drive to see the Clachan stone cairn tomb -5,000 years old and still standing ; drive to the fishermen's shop selling lobsters and shellfish at Killen, and buy some for dinner. This fish processing place discards the scallop shells in a heap out the back.

Want a couple of shells for home dinner parties?

 Never seen so many shells in one pile before!  

We then drove to another fabulous beach near the Benbecula airport, to sit in the sun and eat the lobsters and salad with a chilled white wine, followed by a walk along the sandy beach, in the setting sun.  

Still hot from the boiler!

Driving home I burst a tyre on the car when we hit a kerb, avoiding a vehicle on a single track road over a causeway. But on reaching the B&B and recounting our tale of tyre woe, the hostess Anne called a friend who works in a garage in Lochboisedale, where we are going tomorrow, who comes over at 9.00pm, and takes the damaged tyre, saying it will be fixed by 4pm tomorrow! Amazing service on an island with only two garages on it. 

Lobster feast on the beach, Benbecula.

We then sit and watch the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on the TV, get our 5 minutes of internet and go to bed.  Thankfully on further detailed inspection, Jane’s face was sore but not bruised or really seriously damaged. No bleeding, and amazingly, no black eyes.

Original Whisky Galore bottles

The next day we packed our bags again and headed to South Uist to another B&B south of Lochboisedale where we did pick up the new tyre. More walks along more beaches, another great dinner in the pub at Polochar, overlooking the Isle of Barra, a whisky at 10am one morning in the pub that celebrates the Whisky Galore story, with original bottles on the bar, 
 a BBQ under a hot sun that included mussels picked from rocks along the beach, where we also had a swim it was so hot in the sun.  The water was not hot , I estimate 15C!  We did not stay in long. 

The BBQ on the Eriksay beach was under the monument recording that this was the beach where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed when he returned from France to have one last try to push the English out of Scotland in 1745.  Score: England won, Scotland lost!  And of course, there were a few interesting graveyards to visit as we travelled along. 

BBQ on Bonnie Prince Charlies beach, Eriskay.

Actual swimming in the North Atlantic!

Another ferry south, another island, this time Barra.  The weather was now starting to become overcast, with showers and winds but we did the sights of the island over the next two days, including the planes taking off from the  airport (on the beach!) with a regular scheduled service in the UK, tide dependent , and hill walks and visits to old graveyards with some very old celtic crosses and other interesting ruins.


 At the southern end of Barra connected by the last causeway is Vatersay, where there is a memorial to the worst ever British shipping accident. In 1845 over 350 people died in a shipwreck, blown onto the beautiful sandy beach in a gale!  They were all en route to Canada, forced migrants from their crofts.

 On Sunday we attend the Castlebay Catholic 11.30am mass which was a high speed affair getting you out in time for the pub at 12.30pm! 

Celtic ruins.

One “highlight” of the last day was saving a local, who happened to be having a quick nap in the road.  Having established that he was only the worse for a few days drinking ( and learning that he was “very particular about who he drank with”), we took him the 15 minutes drive home, whilst he kept us entertained with stories of his life and house companion, Lizzy, who turned out to be an incontinent mouse!

And our last meal on the Isles was at one of the best UK curry houses, the Kismul Cafe, where, unfortunately the scallop pakoras were “off” but the rest of the food was exceptional.

Curries in the Kismul Cafe, Castlebay, Barra.

Onto the Clansman ferry the next mooring for the 6 hour passage back to Oban on the mainland.  The weather was beautiful and sunny again and the trip was a delight, cruising past the islands of Coll and Mull and Lismore before turning sharp right into Oban Bay.  A quick afternoon tea with relatives at the  Lancaster Hotel in Oban and back to the house in Rosyth by 7pm, in time to catch up with the Commonwealth Games gold medal tally, England 9, Australia 12! Go Aussies!

Cruising back to Oban from Barra. The road to the Isles.

And a special thanks to Celia and Jim. We had just the best time exploring the Western Isles with you. Let’s do it again someplace else , sometime soon - any ideas?

Thanks for being great holiday pals, Celia and Jim!