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