Wednesday 29 May

Well at least they went to bed early (the kids that is).

A glorious morning and in other circumstances we might have stayed put to enjoy the day. Instead we decided a slow run south in the general direction of home was a good idea, looking out on the way for our ideal stopping point.

The Cuillins

Lunching outside the Talisker distillery – not on our list of favourite whiskeys – we spotted a campsite on the map that appeared to meet our wishes so disappeared off onto little more than a forestry road heading straight for the Cuilin Mountains. A short delay whilst a road-mending crew had a go at a few potholes, then onto Culnaneam where a large area of grassland overlooking a sandy beach had been fenced off and set out as an informal campsite. We could have asked for electricity but much preferred the more casual areas overlooking the beach and found a level spot.

The Cuillins

The sun was warm, the sky blue and on the horizon were the islands of Canna, Sanday and Rum. Chairs out, windbreak deployed (a rather lively but warm off-shore breeze freshened even more later in the day) and that was that. No phone signal, no TV, just a very weak radio and a bit too windy to deploy the satellite (but strangely a WiFi signal!).

The view..

from our pitch.

Ah, bliss!

Tuesday 28 May

The weather forecast last night promised a change in the weather and sure enough the day we are to leave the Western Isles the skies clear, the wind drops and the temperature rises. Still it is promised for the top left corner of Scotland for a few days and we were planning a few days on Skye so fingers crossed.

The good ship “Hebrides” was a few minutes early departing Tarbert to cross The Minch on a flat calm sea – quite different to the Oban to Barra run a couple of weeks ago! A meal on board to fill some of the 1hr 40m crossing before arriving at the tiny port of Uig on the Isle of Skye.

"Hebrides" in Uig harbour

We were on Skye 2 years ago and loved it so were looking forward to seeing some more. So our first stop was Dunvegan Castle, home for 800 years of the McLeod Clan, now on their 30th Chieftain. Not particularly big or even impressive but nevertheless interesting and surrounded by gardens that are being brought back to their past glory.

Dunvegan Castle - Ancestral home of the McLeod Clan

In passing we ought to comment here that all the flora, both wild and cultivated, is very very late; rhododendrons in particular should be in their later stages by now but in fact, except for rare exceptions, have not yet started to flower. Bluebells, which should have finished weeks ago, still abound.

Gardens of Dunvegan Castle

With the afternoon pressing on we had espied a campsite just down the road so decided it was as good as trying to find anywhere else. In fairness it is half-term week and the weather seems to have brought out the hordes, but even though it was busy we still booked in. All the electric hook-up pitches were taken, not a problem, but so were most of the level spots too. We eventually found a pitch in the general camping area but later found we were next door to a family of young and noisy children. Too late now to change our minds so we put up with it, but a lesson learned for the future. Not that we don’t like children………

Knew we'd get a good sunset sometime....

Monday 27 May

What a night! The wind got up to storm force from the south with heavy rain showers. Although parked nose into wind we were still rocked about enough to make sleep difficult and it did not ease off for several hours. Fortunately neither we, nor any of our neighbours, suffered any damage but it summed up for us the feature about this holiday – the unrelenting wind.

Our plan today to find somewhere to service the van, having been “off-grid” for 3 or 4 days, and wend our way back down to Tarbert. With the sun now shining brilliantly again we said farewell to what we thought was the most attractive part of the islands and re-joined civilisation.

A quick stop in Tarbert for bread and milk – it seems the Sabbath doesn’t extend to Bank Holiday Monday – then, mainly to get some shelter from the wind (again), booked into a small site about 6 miles south. Although not Caravan Club standard, it has full facilities so we’ll get ourselves together again ready for the next stage of the trip, the Isle of Skye.

Sunday 26 May

One of the endearing features of the Hebridean Islanders is their adherence to the Sabbath. Nobody works, except the essential services of course, shops etc. are closed and mostly everybody goes to Church – well judging by the size of the car parks they must do!

So as it’s Sunday, we’ll do the same except that there’s no church nearby so we’ll have to forego that bit. So we've unanimously voted for a “do nothing” day.

The view out of the window

Later in the day we were joined in our little bit of heaven by several more motorhomes, and a caravan, so that the designated area is full. Still peaceful although the wind has got up and the skies are threatening again.

As we’re booked on the ferry to Skye on Tuesday we’ll wander back down to Tarbert tomorrow.

Saturday 25 May

Today we do the “touristy” bits ’cos the weather wasn’t very good; cold, windy with occasional showers. First off was the Blackhouse Village, an old crofting community that had been abandoned but then rebuilt as a museum with some of the dwellings converted to self-catering accommodation. Blackhouses were stone-built cottages with a turf and thatch roof, we suppose called black because the smoke from the peat fires turned everything black! An excellent, informative museum, for once at a very reasonable cost, kept us occupied for an hour or so.

Blackhouse Village

Just down the road was Dun Carloway Broch, a ruined, but now preserved, ancient dwelling said to date back 5000 years. There is much speculation of what they (for broches are found all over this part of the world) were used as but they are notable for their height and construction method. A friendly, small visitor centre demonstrates some theories – no charge here, unless you want a Guide Book of course.

Around the corner in the next inlet are the Callanish Standing Stones, a Stonehenge-type collection which is probably, by the number of tourist coaches we saw for the first time, the biggest attraction in the islands. We were too big to get into the car park, so stopped on the verge outside the Visitor Centre and had lunch before braving the rain and wind (don’t think the kayak and bicycle hire chap was doing much business, especially when we parked in front of his sign…)

Callanish Standing Stones

Again there was much speculation as to the purpose of the Stones (personally we think someone thought it would be funny to build something meaningless, just so in the future everybody could wonder what it was all about!). However they are impressive – there are in fact three sets within close proximity – and the surroundings are very atmospheric, worth the effort for those alone.

Chatting last night with the other motorhome, they recommended a good place to overnight, further into the SW of the island. This corner of Lewis is quite mountainous but there is a marked campsite overlooking a magnificent beach so we negotiated more of the narrow, single-track roads to Cnip (pronounced kneep) where a large area of sand dunes had been turned over to camping and caravanning, with toilets, waste-disposal etc. Although apparently not busy, we noticed a lot of young boys about, only to discover a weekend Cub Scout Camp just round the corner. Now we have nothing against kids (we were kids once!) but our idea had been to stay a couple of days and we didn’t fancy this, so returned to a wild camping spot, also recommended, just round the headland.

Cnip

And came up trumps! Fenced off parking was allowed on a small area of the machair, and all that was asked was a small donation towards it’s upkeep – no facilities of course. But the best thing was the view of the bay, and there was nobody else there!

Friday 24 May

A calm, dry pleasant morning saw us chatting with others on this now very full campsite, but we were moving on, needing supplies of all kinds and bearing in mind the islands observe the Sabbath (i.e. everywhere’s closed!) a visit to Stornoway was our first move.

Although the town centre is quite small, there are industrial areas close by and here can be found garages, supermarkets and all the other paraphernalia needed by a largish community. Although we had not yet emptied the first gas bottle we felt it prudent to refill as we knew there was only one place we could top up with LPG(note: bottled Calor gas is freely available throughout the islands). Unfortunately, the LPG pump at Englebrets was out of order! However the cashier told us about Campbells in Cannery Road, just round the corner, which was functional, if a bit expensive, so we filled up there together with the diesel tank. For the record, it’s branded as Gulf. To our knowledge these are the only places to get refillable LPG in the Outer Hebrides.

Then round to Tesco, whose car park is very tight for a motorhome, although we managed to find a corner to squeeze into. We were told that the Co-op has a much larger car park. Oddly enough, Tesco had their cheap fuel promotion running, i.e. get 10p/litre off if you spend over £60.00. But they don’t have a filling station………. (We’ll use ours on the mainland!)

So let’s explore further, this time up the NW coast to the Butt of Lewis. We suppose later in the year when the heather and other flora is out this could be attractive. But all we saw was mile upon mile of flat open peat moorland, sparsely populated with sheep, and the occasional small village community. The lighthouse, unusual in being of unpainted brick construction, stands at the northernmost point of The Hebrides on a rocky headland with distant views of the mainland, and is now fully automatic.

Butt of Lewis Lighthouse

Sea Pinks

A pleasant walk along the cliff tops then lunch before heading south again, keeping to the coast past the Stornoway turn, which gradually became more rocky and “interesting”. For a change many of the Ancient Monuments were signposted, although not the Whalebone Arch which we just spotted as we passed, erected in someone’s front garden. Apparently the crofter took it from a beached dead whale, complete with the harpoon that had apparently killed it. See the photo below.

Whalebone Arch

 Now on the lookout for somewhere to stop for the night we came across a very nice spot, next to a cemetery and overlooking a beautiful beach. Another camper, who we’d met several times on our travels around the islands, had beaten us to the best parking position, but they didn’t have the view!

Sunset from our pitch

Thursday 23 May

A weather system brushed by during the night with high winds and rain, so rough that the CalMac ferries were cancelled. The rain showers continued through the morning but after lunch seemed to abate so we caught the bus into Stornoway.


After buying ferry tickets for the crossing to Skye and checking the times of the bus back to the site we set out to explore. And regretfully there is not a lot to see; some gift shops, couple of cafes and pubs and a quite nice art centre. So we got the bus back. There is a castle and museum to see but the former appeared to be under restoration and we didn't fancy getting soaked in the rain which still threatened.

The site, all but empty when we arrived, had filled right up when we got back. A quiet evening, watching TV and listening to the rain…..

The piccie is a model of one of a set of chessmen, discovered in an ancient buried building and believed to be of Norse origin. It's on our list of places still to visit.

Wednesday 22 May

The weather is starting to have an influence on our plans, mainly trying to avoid the wind which has dominated. So today we abandoned the trip and headed for civilisation at Stornoway, the capital of the islands: it was strange to be amongst so many buildings and people!

Lunch overlooking the bay and the ferry to Ullapool from a beach near the airport, discussing our next move. The fuel tank was needing replenishment and we knew also that the only place we could refill the gas tanks was in Stornoway. Coupled with a need to empty the waste tanks we decided that a couple of days on a proper campsite were in order so booked in at the campsite just outside the town – full facilities, including laundry which we took advantage of.

An afternoon of rain, hail and even snow, coupled with strong winds and sunny periods.
We’ll probably take the bus into Stornoway to see what there is to see.

Tuesday 21 May

We opened the blinds to find we were almost on our own! All the tourists had cleared off early!
Put our money in the honesty box, which was quite full so everybody else must have too, and continued on our meanderings, taking a narrow, twisty, hilly coastal road and ending up in the main town of Tarbert. Well it’s a village really, servicing the ferry terminal, but has it’s own charm as well as a Harris Tweed shop – you don’t have to but you do and oh boy! It ain't cheap!

We then set course for a spot on the west coast of North Harris we had learned about which had superb beaches and a wild-camping spot. Lunch along the way, travelling through more of the rocky landscape, which we learn is gneiss and laid down by glacial activity some (million) years ago. However on arrival, though it is indeed beautiful, there was just nowhere to park, what was obviously previously wild-camping now being roped/fenced off. A real pity as this area had received very good reviews.

Amhuinnsuidhe Castle. The road passes right by the front door!

So we returned to Tarbert for a visit to Scalpay island and found a place in a car-park at the start of one of the islands walking routes, joining two other vans, and settled in for the night.

Monday 20 May

Time to move on again, this time taking a ferry to the Isle of Harris.

No waste water or toilet disposal facilities on this campsite, a situation we understand is fairly common throughout the Western Isles, so on arrival at the ferry “terminal” used the disposal facilities provided there. Again we understand that all the ferry terminals have them.

No booking made again (although we would recommend it later in the season) but no problem, there being plenty of room, and paid on board. The crossing takes an hour but, despite a howling gale, it was very smooth. There are many islets and rocky outcrops in the Sound of Harris and the ferry takes a tortuous buoyed route. From the ship we could see for miles in every direction to the various islands, including Skye. Regretfully, our relatively simple cameras were simply not up to doing the scenery justice.

Sound of Harris ferry

Landed on time and detoured to find a nice spot for lunch, overlooking the Little Minch across to Skye. But what was most noticeable was the distinct change of scenery. Along the eastern side, the road twists and turns through a rocky landscape skirting a not-quite-mountainous area whilst crossing back up to the west coast rolling hills backing gorgeous beaches was a complete contrast to The Uists and Barra, fine as they are.

Our Satnav showed quite a number of wild-camping spots but we discounted almost all of them as nice places to stop but not overnight. So instead we made our way to a recommended place, at Horgabost where we were led to believe was a camping area being developed from a previous very popular wilding site. In a superb location overlooking a beautiful beach and fine views, this has now become a managed, though unattended, large area with portacabins housing basic toilets/showers. There is again no waste water/toilet disposal, neither is there a water supply – the nearest is at Leverburgh ferry port. There are however extensive recycling facilities, something that the Islands appear to go for in a big way. Saves landfill we suppose!

Finding a reasonably level spot was a bit of a challenge and watching latecomers to this very popular spot provided a degree of entertainment!

 But we think £14 – paid via an “honesty” box – is a bit much.

Sunday 19 May

At last! The sun is shining, there’s no wind and the temperature is at least 20deg! Enough to get the chairs out and sit in the sun.

Think we’ll just stay here today. The islanders observe Sunday, so we will too!

Saturday 18th May

Time to move on and cross multiple causeways to North Uist. As previously our meanderings generally followed the “ring road” with occasional excursions up the side roads “just to see what’s there”. As forecast, the weather was dry but grey with strong winds again we didn't venture far from the van.

The landscape continued to be generally open moorland with very many small lochs and coastal inlets, the road meandering along, connecting isolated cottages and small communities. We often wandered what these people actually do but on reflection there is quite a lot of sheep and cattle as well as of course fishing.

Again none of the wild-camping points proved attractive to us so having spotted a campsite, we returned to Balranald and another new, small but fully equipped site. Where the weather turned stormy again, so batten down the hatches and listen to the Eurovision Song Contest!

Friday 17th May

The weather has shown signs of breaking so as we are on a good site, we decided to stay put today, with a walk along the adjacent beach in the warm spring sunshine and then getting the chairs out for some rays.

Looking SW towards Barra

Tried TV reception and got a good signal, although not as many as at home. DAB radio too as well as good mobile reception. Got a reasonable Wi-Fi signal, probably off the adjacent Community Centre as it disappeared in the evening. We have noticed quite a number of BTFon signals which have been possible to tap into using our own BT Broadband account.

Didn't have too much problem finding a pitch!

Thursday 16 May

Situated as it is well off the beaten track, this wild camp spot was very quiet, only disturbed by the arrival of some birdwatchers who parked a little down the road anyway. There must be something special here as there were two sets of twitchers here when we arrived yesterday, although we've not seen anything we can identify.

Drifted over to Ardivacher Point, which is at the north end of the almost continuous white sand beach that makes up the west coast of South Uist, to find bright warm sunshine and a very light southerly breeze. Some photies and a quiet sit before crossing the causeway onto Benbecula.

From Ardivacher Point, looking south

As with most of the islands, Benbecula has a road running round the island with offshoots to the various communities, most of course being single track with passing places – easy to negotiate as it is almost always possible to see the next passing place and any traffic coming the other way. (As an aside drivers are almost universally ready to give way – it’s probably quicker than trying to force the way through – although we as visitors made a point of giving way as soon as we saw someone approaching, and also let following traffic past asap too).

Wild Hebrides pony

Our tourist map shows quite a number of “places of interest” on the islands, mainly connected with Gaelic history. The surprising thing is very few are marked from the road, or even possible to get to! Some can be seen but most appear to be approachable only on foot and there is nowhere to leave your vehicle. In fact there are very few parking areas at all and what there were we noted were shown as potential wild-camping spots on the database we got off the internet (a Satnav POI file for the technical).

Hebridean Croft. This one had been done up for holiday letting

So our journey became a wander around the wild-camping spots. However whilst we are not averse to using them, none appealed to us so having spotted one of the very few campsites we decided to return there. Shell Bay is, like all we have seen, a small quite open site which has all facilities and at £18 for two people, including hook-up, not over the top.


However the best point for us was its situation a few minutes’ walk from a nice hotel/restaurant. Today being our wedding anniversary, we took the opportunity of treating ourselves!

Tuesday 14 May

Tuesday 14 May – Barra/Vatersay

A wild night, the van being blown about even though we were parked “into the wind” but by morning it had blown itself out and although the sea was still rough with big swells, it was actually quite pleasant.

Kisimul Castle, for which Castlebay is named

Our first call was to the Tourist Information office in Castlebay, the main (only) town for a decent map of the islands and information about LPG availability before setting off to explore. Barra is quite a small island and is connected by a causeway to Vatersay, an even smaller island to the south. There are more islands even further south but not accessible to motor vehicles – or even pedestrians!

We had noted that there were supposed to be some fine beaches on Vatersay with possibility of wild camping, however it did not appear to be very tourist friendly, well not with a motorhome anyway, and we only found one place we could actually park – it then started to rain so we gave it up after a short stay and returned to Barra.

The beach just north of Gorve

A road runs all the way around Barra so we turned up the west coast and made our way north. With the weather starting to improve so did the scenery, although despite what the guidebooks would have you believe, apart from the occasional seascape, we didn't find Barra all that attractive. A road branches off this “ring road” to the Eriskay ferry and the airport – yes this tiny island has a unique airport with scheduled flights to the mainland, the runway being the beach at low water. We saw one scheduled flight and several private light aircraft using the airstrip.

Fuday, uninhabited island between Barra and Eriskay

The road continues further on, right up to the northernmost point (that bus driver lady must have got fed up with us, we got in her way everywhere!). We stopped off at Eoligarry where there was an approved wild-camping spot with basic facilities for maybe 4 vans, for lunch but decided that despite the views to the other islands (and Skye in the far distance) it wasn't particularly attractive. There were also 2 “campsites” right at the north end but one was CCC members only and the other was nothing more than a rough hillside with a tap – okay for some we suppose but not us.

We returned south along the east coast, past two more proper, i.e. commercial, campsites with a short wrong turn that nearly saw us on the Eriskay ferry. In retrospect this seemed a nicer part of the island, although the blue sky and sunshine probably helped. Just before Castlebay we stumbled on a parking area with a superb view over Castlebay and the distant islands. We could have probably overnighted there, the adjacent house not being occupied, but decided to return to Gorve with all its facilities.

View over Castlebay

To be fair to Barra, it is still very early in the season and the flora for which the islands are noted is not yet established. However it does have some attractive scenery which is best viewed in good weather conditions – which we have been promised for later in the week!




Wednesday 15 May

Barra is one of the smaller inhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides and we’ve probably seen all of it so today we’re going to island-hop across to Eriskay. Several daily sailings so no rush and although we had been warned that some CalMac ferries had been cancelled due to weather, the Eriskay service was running normally. Not having booked we were a little uncertain but it was no problem although the man said it would be better to book to ensure we got a place if it was busy.

Otter sculpture at the ferry port

Crossing was a bit wobbly but no problems and it was only 40mins later we landed on another tiny island with, apart from the main road through, only there-and-back roads which of course were investigated. However again there was nothing of interest, not even any notable scenery so onward to South Uist, this time across a causeway.

South Uist is much larger and consists of a low western strip of white sandy beach backed by “machair”, the rough grass on sand which contains a large variety of wild flowers, unfortunately not yet out, and a hilly (mountainous?) spine lowering to a rocky east coast. With the weather slowly improving we started to see some of the views for which these islands are renowned.

A visit to the T.I. office in Lochboisedale, the main town, lunch in their car park (where we also got a good BTFon signal) then off to explore. Basically we investigated all the wild camping spots, working our way up the island. With the weather still windy and showery we decided being on the west coast was not the best idea so chose to stay at a spot at Loch Sgioport, just a layby really, but totally isolated and protected by the hills.

Our pitch for the night

A short walk down to an abandoned fishing quay (see photo below) then return to Bertie for a quiet evening as the wind dropped and the rain dried up.

Monday 13 May

As the ferry isn't until 3.30pm so into Oban to fill up with fuel, which should last the entire trip until we go home – there isn't all that many road miles in the Outer Hebrides!

Waiting for the ferry - Oban Bay

Visited the CalMac offices to collect our tickets to be told the sailing was on “amber alert”, possibility of delay or cancellation due to weather conditions, although it was currently on time. Hmm  Then a stroll around a very quiet Oban before a snack lunch then drive round to the ferry terminal.

An hour or so wait, watching the other ferries come and go before the “Clansman” arrived, disgorged its load and took us on. Then came the good news; the Captain announced that, once clear of the shelter of Coll, the ship would be “moving around a bit” and passengers were encouraged to eat before then and move around with caution thereafter! Not good news as Bren is not the best of travellers at sea but there was nothing we could do except grin and bear it.

And strangely enough we were both fine, even after a nice meal although the ship was indeed “moving around a bit”! We think settling down into comfortable recliners and trying to sleep – it was pointless trying to sightsee so, no photos, sorry!

Obviously the trip took somewhat longer than expected – 5 and half hours – so we were very late. However we had booked a campsite only 5 mins from the ferry terminal and as we arrived so did Donald, the owner, to greet us and a caravan outfit travelling on the same ferry. But it was a wild evening, the site being somewhat exposed to the weather, and Terry got soaked setting up.

It's a bit rough - the view from our pitch

Not the welcome to the Western Isles we were expecting!

Sunday 12 May

Somehow we never manage to get away on time!

Didn’t matter today because it’s the “long slog” up to Oban ready to catch the ferry tomorrow afternoon.  However as a variation from the usual Carlisle, Glasgow, Crianlarich route the satnav offered via Jedburgh, Edinburgh and Stirling so we went that way!

Weather not very cooperative, showers most of the way so a quick comfort stop at Jedburgh then a late lunch at Linlithgow where we also visited Aldi to get some of their latest bargains (bits for Bertie). A steady run over familiar roads, we were aiming for a campsite just south of Oban where we have stayed before. However approaching Connell we remembered it was all grass and as there had been a lot of rain it was perhaps not the best place. We stayed at a CC site just north of Connell a couple of years ago so headed there instead and were squeezed onto almost the last available space with a very nice view across the sound to Mull – between the heavy showers that is!

Saturday 11 May

Well here we go again! This time we're off for our annual visit to Scotland to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary - 5 years this year.

Been a bit eventful getting this far; Terry developed a nasty toothache and it looked like we might have had to postpone but our brilliant dentist lady got us sorted. Also had a friends funeral to attend - there was some delay due to missing paperwork but it finally took place today.

So we've got Bertie at home, all clean and polished after our trip to the Peterborough show, and have finished loading, apart from the usual last minute items. We're planning an early start tomorrow and heading for Oban from where the ferry to Barra is booked on Monday.

We'll try to keep the blog updated as we go along but it will as usual depend on getting a WiFi signal.