Up around 0800 and it is, thankfully, a calmer day. Very cloudy but the wind has mostly died down. Curiously, we seem to have midges around the house and car today. We've not really seen
any, except I've been bothered a few times on the pier in the evenings. Got packed and loaded pretty quickly and were on our way by about 0915.
Good run over the mountains in showery rain and stopped in Tarbert for fuel and a quick shop. Then on down through South Harris and got to the ferry terminal about 1030 for our 1110 ferry.
Nice smooth crossing that took an hour and we arrived at Borve on Berneray Island. On the ferry, we bumped into a German couple that we'd said hello to in the Loch Erisort Inn a couple of
days ago - had a brief chat and compared notes. Drove a bit north following the sign for a tea shop and stopped for tea and cake. Decided to see Berneray Island while we're here - it's
only small. Had a drive around and admired the nice beaches and coast, and great views back to Harris with the many smaller islands/islets in between. Saw some seals basking on the rocks
not far from the road - and that was Berneray done.
Over the causeway to North Uist. Headed into Lochmaddy, the main town(?) of North Uist, to do a big shop and stock up a bit. We're not sure what there is in South Uist. Couldn't
find much and then saw a sign for cafe/shop/museum. It turned out that the shop was a gift shop, but it was a good stop as we bumped into some more old friends - a couple on electric bikes
that we'd chatted with at the burger van a couple of days ago. Had a chat and compared notes with them too. They told us about a big co-op in Sollas - 10 miles up the road. That'll do us
- it's not too far off our route. Found the co-op - did our big shop - and set the Satnav for the new house - 35 miles / 1 hour away.
Drove down across North Uist Island in showery rain. Across a causeway to Benbecula Island in showery rain, and across Benbecula. Across a causeway to South Uist Island in showery rain
and arrived at the new house - in showery rain. We followed the main (the only) road all the way down. It's mostly single-track with passing places, but there ain't much traffic. And,
like Lewis and Harris, the occasional cars coming the other way are almost too courteous about giving way / stopping first at a Passing Place.
Found the new house very easily, and it immediately looks very nice. Had a quick explore and we love it. It's an old building but it's been thoroughly done up in a very tasteful/stylish
way, with good quality everything. Bedrooms and bathroom are downstairs and open plan kitchen/dining/living room upstairs. And upstairs has big full height windows to front and back.
Front overlooks the road with a small loch beyond. The back looks out onto a sea loch where we expect to see good bird life, maybe some seals, and maybe even an otter. It was mostly a
mud-flat when we arrived but it quickly flooded with the incoming tide. We didn't see anything particularly exciting today - a heron, and a few waders of some description.
Got unpacked and settled in a bit and cooked some dinner - another mighty meal of pork steaks, new potatoes + mountain of veg. Very good too. Watched a bit of TV and chilled out, and packed
up fairly early after a long day with an early start.
I've swapped a few messages with our hostess, Morag, over the past few days - re. last minute booking, and then the day-late arrival. She has offered an extra night tagged on the end
or a partial refund for the lost day. I've asked for the partial refund as we have a ferry booked. I'm hoping she'll offer 50% - I'd be happy with that. And Mum remembered that we were
compensated with a full refund + £90 for the cancelled house, so that £90 should more than cover any sensible partial refund offer anyway. Also, sent our previous host,
Gregory, £90 for the extra night at his place.
Another good day - we made it, and the new house is very nice. Weather started off fairly good but got worse again as the day went on. 2330 here now, and it's blowy and wet out there
again. We're all a bit knackered so we'll have a slow and relaxed start tomorrow to recharge the batteries a bit.
120 miles today: 1600 miles total
Thursday 27th September 2018
Had a good lie in, a good greakfast and relaxed a while enjoying the views out the windows (with the provided binoculars and twitcher's telescope) and watching the tide go out. The weather's
much improved today - a light wind and mostly sunny and blue skies. Eventually decided to go out about 1400 to look around the local area.
Headed south to explore the 2 dead-end forks of our road, taking the left fork first - along the north side of Loch Eynort/Aineort. Lovely views south over the loch and north into the
mountains. Dad spotted a seal basking on a little rocky island, and then we saw another, and another, and . . . we must seen about a dozen in the end, all relaxing and sunning
themselves. The road ended at the start of an interesting looking footpath. We stopped briefly to admire the views - the loch looks stunning reflecting the bright blue sky - and
turned back. Saw even more seals basking on the rocks on the way back - must have seen at least 20 of them along this 2 mile road.
Took the road down the south side of the loch. Saw a seal breaching the water as it swam - like a dolphin - couldn't ready the cameras quickly enough to get a decent shot - got a poor one.
Lovely road again with great views over the loch and many seals again. The road ended quicker than expected and we turned back.
Out to the main road and turned south. Took a brown-signposted right (west) turn to follow the Machair Way (machair = the classic Hebridean grassland). No idea if we followed the route
correctly as we never saw another sign! It was nice though, lots of nice views across the machair, and we ended up on a nice west coast beach. Found our way back to the main road - a
fair way north of where we started this exploration of the south!
Headed south again and stopped at the Kildonan Museum / Shop / Cafe. Had very nice tea, soup and excellent sandwiches. The Kildonan Museum is about St Kilda*. I visited
St Kilda in 2003 on a dive trip and have been fascinated with it ever since - it has a very interesting (and ultimately tragic) history. And there's discussion of trying to get back
there next year for a dive trip - if we can find a boat. Unfortunately, the museum closed just as I wanted to go in. Never mind - it's only a few miles down the road from the house
- there will be another chance.
*turned out it wasn't about St Kilda, it was about the local Kildonan area. Bit confusing as the cafe had old St Kilda photos on thw wall.
Continued south to Lochboisdale, the main town/port of South Uist. A nice little town that has a shop, fuel and a bank - wow! Drove the around the nice new port/harbour and took a few
photos. The road ended so we turned back again. We decided to continue the theme of a quieter day by stopping reasonably early and heading for home around 1630, with a couple of very
minor detours on the way that didn't go anywhere.
Got home about 1700. Cups of tea - stared out the window looking for interesting wildlife for a while, and took a couple of photos of the low-tide view out the back.
About 1730, I decided to go out and do the nice-looking walk we saw earlier. Jumped in the car, drove the 2 miles down the road and set off. Really nice pathway through some woods then
out into the open with great views of the loch and mountains again. Took a minor path down towards to the loch and ended up at a very small harbour - filled with a single rowing
boat. Clambered a bit further and got out on some rocks very close to the water. It was really great down there. There's probably not another soul within a mile of me and I sat down
on a rock and stared at the loch for a while. Watched 2, then 3, young seals swimming around not far from me - ducking and diving. Watched some birds flying about. Watched the tide
rushing in through a narrower part of the loch. Very chilled out.
Returned to the main path and continued east until the track got very wet and boggy underfoot, and then petered out. I turned back and then took a another path that went away from the
loch and towards the mountains. Followed it up a gentle slope for half a mile and then took another path that seemed to be heading back towards the main path out. It did, and I got back
to the car a bit after 1900. I only walked about 2.5 miles because I spent too long chilling out on my rock - but it was great. Took a photo of the house from across the loch in the
fading light now that the tide is nearly back in.
Back home for about 1930 and Mum's nearly finished cooking dinner. Had another great meal in - chicken + loads of veg. Chilled out for an hour or so with TV, fruit and Licorice Allsorts,
called it a day.
Yet another great day. Relaxing late start, relaxing and very pleasant chilling out in the house looking out the windows. Nice relaxing drive around the local area. Lovely lunch in the
cafe. Relaxing early finish. Nice walk. Weather was great all day. Great dinner. Life is good.
50 miles today: 1650 miles total
Friday 28th September 2018
It looks like the weather will be worsening again soon so I checked the forecast at 0800 - today looks good, and may be our last good day, or at least our best remaining day, on South
Uist. Dad has mentioned maybe going to Barra a couple of times, though we haven't really discussed it. That would involve a ferry trip, and strong winds could ruin that plan. I quickly
had a look, hatched a quick plan and suggested that we get up and get going - to the island of Eriskay (joined to South Uist by a causeway), to the island of Barra (by ferry from Eriskay)
and to the island of Vatersay (by causeway from Barra). All agreed and we got up, I booked the 1300/1730 ferries out and back, took a few tide-in photos of Loch Eynort from our
balcony, and we got going not long after 1000.
Drove straight down past Lochboisdale that we visited yesterday, and followed the nice road down to the southern tip of South Uist.
Drove over the causeway and onto Eriskay. I reminded M&D that Eriskay is the island where a ship full of whiskey was wrecked in a storm - the true story that inspired the Whiskey Galore
novel/films.
We explored a few sideroads, including one down to a tiny harbour and another into a village where there was a pub called "Am Politician" - funny name for a pub, we said . . .
Then on to the ferry port, to check it out - looks straightforward, and we have an hour until sailing. Back up the road to a cafe we passed and had nice cups of tea.
Had a quick look at a natural harbour / bay on the east side of the island, took a photo of a nice beach on the west side, and headed to the ferry.
Onto the ferry for a very pleasant 40 min crossing to Barra. It's 1340 - we have 3.5 hours to tour the 2x little islands.
Arrived on Barra island and headed for the northen tip. Quickly came across Barra airport. An interesting airport - it has a fine looking control tower, but no runway - they just
use the big flat beach when the tide's out! The tide was out and we saw a plane take off just as the airport came into sight - just too late/quick for cameras. We carried on, going
as far north as we could get, and turned back. On the way back towards the airport, a plane came in to land - and we were on the wrong side of a hill to see it land - foiled again!
We went back and parked up close the airport and took some photos of the plane on the beach. I checked the timetable and this plane was due to depart at 1435 - 20 mins away, and
we're a bit tight on time. We decided to wait and moved to the airport carpark for a better view, and parked right by a sign saying "airport patrons only" - but there was loads
of space, nobody seemed bothered, and there were several others that were clearly there just to watch. We watched the little plane get loaded, passengers get on, and it finally
taxi'd back down the beach to take of back towards us into the wind. It turned, hesitated, then clouds of sand appeared as it accelerated. It was in the air in no time and none
of us caught it particularly well. Interesting sight though!
Drove down the west coast of Barra. Great scenery - as expected. Also, the weather has remained good apart from a high bit through the Barra hills where it rained a bit.
Turned south off the main circular route around Barra, and crossed the causeway onto Vatersay island. Immediately saw a seal basking on a rock, quite close to the shore.
Dad spotted the wreckage of a plane on the slope that ran down from the road to the sea. We stopped and took some photos. On the way back we saw a memorial to
those that died/survived in a 1944 Catalina crash here. It seemed surprising that much of the wreckage was still here - looking untouched - 74 years later. There's only a few miles
of road to explore so we were soon at the end and turning back. It's a lovely place - sandy beaches, turquoise sea, green-grassy-rocky hills, etc. Like most of the Hebridean beaches
- they could easily be mistaken for the tropics. We calculated that Vatersay is Island No. 11 on this trip.
And back to Barra, and back to Castlebay where we stopped for a hurried cheese toastie and tea at a little cafe.
And quickly back to the ferry with no photo stops as we're running it tight for the ferry. Made it 1 min before the check-in time limit, though I really don't think it would have mattered
if we'd arrived 1 min before loading time. Another really nice crossing over fairly calm sea. Watching the gannets dive from the air, the cormorants/shags duck-dive from the surface, the
islands and islets in all directions, and scanning the water for big mammals - none seen.
Back onto Eriskay, and as we drove back past the turning to the Am Politician pub we again commented on what a funny name it was. I googled it. The SS Politician was the whiskey ship that
foundered here! Of course! And I later found out that Am Politician is simply gaelic for The Politician. It happened in 1941.
And back over the causeway to South Uist. On the way over I saw a dark head on the sea surface - probably a seal, but there are signs here saying "Take Care - Otters crossing", so
maybe . . . At the end of the causeway, we doubled back onto a small slipway to scan the banks for otters. None seen. The dark head I saw probably was almost certainly a seal.
Took a final couple of detours down sideroads heading to The Pollochar Inn on the south coast - nobody seemed inclined to stop, and to a nice beach on the west coast where we watched a big
hawk of some sort (buzzard was my guess) hovering very still in quite gusty winds - pretty impressive, and I took a final photo of a nice island.
Back home about 1930 and quickly rustled up sausages and veg for dinner. Relaxed in front of the TV for a while, eating chocolate, before calling it a day.
A really great day. The hasty plans all worked out perfectly. The islands were beautiful and spectacular. The weather was great - a bit breezy and chilly, but loads of sun. Also, it
looks like the worsening weather is coming in as forecast. Strong winds out there now at 1am, and I guess the heavy rain will be here soon. A good decision to go to the extra
islands today.
Maybe a slightly slower start tomorrow as it was quite a long day.
100 miles today: 1750 miles total
Saturday 29th September 2018
A bit of a later/slower start with a hearty cooked breakfast. The weather is looking pretty rough - blowing a gale though it seems mostly dry.
Decided to tour Benbecula Island as there is a supermarket and fuel there - and we could do with both. Headed out about midday and went north over windy and wet roads.
Got onto Benbecula and immediately turned east to Peters Port. Narrow twisty road with a lot of water on both sides - sea and (presumably) freshwater lochs - and the road
hops, skips and jumps across half a dozen or so small/tiny islands/islets. We won't count these in our island count or it'll get completely out of hand!
Back across the island to the south west side of Benbecula and up the west coast. Stopped at a very windy beach and Mum and I had a quick walk for photos.
Stopped in Balivanich for fuel, shopping, and tea and cake in the nice Stepping Stone cafe.
Briefly crossed to north-east Benbecula and visited the very small Flodda island. That was Benbecula about done, so we crossed the causeway to North Uist and explored the south east
coast there. Nice deserted single-track road with little sideroads that mostly end pretty quickly. Drove down to a harbour near Ceallan where there was also a specialist shellfish
storage facility and shop. The area was surrounded by a white bank of scallop shells. Took a quick detour onto the tiny Freoch Island - wild and remote, and lovely - island no. 13.
It was about 1630 and we decided to head for home with a rough idea to go out for dinner tonight. Got home about 1700 - had quite hard rain on the way home but it stopped again, and
we even saw a brief glimpse of blue sky when we got home. Had a think about going to Am Politician on Eriskay but it looked a bit pubby rather than a restaurant. Chose the Polochar
Inn on the southern tip of South Uist - it looked nice yesterday when we came across it, and it's got good on-line reviews. Booked a table for 8pm.
Drove to the Polochar Inn and got there about 1945. Got a nice table, and it's a nice place - very old building, nicely done up, and warm and comfortable. The very friendly waitress
quickly sorted us out with drinks and we ordered starters and mains - Soups and a Goats Cheese; Scampi, Cajun-spiced Haddock and Lamb Shank. Food was very good. Had cheese board,
sticky toffee and ice cream for dessert - all very good too. £100 the lot. Easy 12 mile / 20min drive back home, quick drink, few mins of tv, and called it a day. I've just finished off
the diary, I'll play my guitar a while and that'll do me for the day.
74 miles today: 1824 miles total
Sunday 30th September 2018
Up and out around our usual 1100. Doing North Uist today as the weather forecast is better - strong winds and showers, vs tomorrow's strong winds and heavy rain! We'll aim to do the north
bit of South Uist and the Kildonan Museum tomorrow.
Headed straight up the "main road" north. Even less traffic than usual today. We saw about 7 cars in the 20 miles through South Uist and Benbecula. Got to North Uist and started up the
west coast, exploring the sideroads going west to the coast along the way. Visted a Sculpture that turned out to be so lame I didn't take a photo - we were more entertained by a
field of cows that all stared at us.
Continued north and then west onto the small island of Baleshare. Nice spot with a nice beach, lots of agriculture and general great views. Also, saw a hoopoe in a field and stopped to
watch - he didn't seem too bothered by us and just wandered around while we took photos.
Back on the road and stopped at the Westford Inn for tea. A nice old pub.
Took a detour around Knockintorran.
And headed up a rough road up a hill to the St Kilda viewpoint - a telescope on the hillside. It was quite clear, and I think I could pick out St Kilda in the telescope, though I
wouldn't bet a lot of money on it. I couldn't see it in my fully zoomed camera. I've included one fanciful horizon shot, and I'm going to swear that the blurry dark patch just left
of centre is definitely St Kilda.
Took a few interesting shots as we rounded the north-west corner of North Uist and continued east - particularly around the picturesque Malaclate Bay.
Took a left turn to Lochportain, to see the area and visit our cancelled North Uist house. It's a lovely area, and it looked like a great house - right on the water's edge and
looking over some very nice islands with some big (Loch Euphort) hills in the background. Never mind, the house we're in is also great.
Had a quick look in Lochboisdale to see if there was a chance of tea, but the cafe we knew of was closed. Continued our clockwise loop of the North Uist road back to our starting
point - along a very nice 2-track road - got over 50mph for the first time in a week! And back south across Benbecula and back home for about 1845.
Got a message from AirBnb to say that Morag, our current hostess, has refunded £50 for our missed night here due to the day-late ferry - I'm happy with that - it's probably ~50%.
Took a few silly photos when some sheep gathered around the house, and took a few of us.
150 miles today: 1974 miles total
Monday 1st October 2018
Had a bit of a slow start as we have a fairly quiet day planned - just the Kildonan Museum and the little bit of (north) South Uist that we've not seen. The weather's grey
and breezy, and is forecast to get very windy with heavy rain.
I took some photos of a book in the house that showed a couple of pictures of our house in 1936. And then went out to see if I could take the same photos today - and establish
which of the houses on the photos was ours. Managed to find an old lady willing to pose appropriately for one of the pictures.
I started off thinking our house was the modern-ish looking house in the first photo, then decided it was the far blackhouse, and then the near blackhouse - so I got Mum to pose there.
Looking at the photos now, it's pretty clear that my first guess was right - our house is the modern-ish looking house - and poor old Mum was forced to pose outside the wrong house.
The weather began to worsen, and we went out a bit before midday - straight to the Kildonan Museum. Spent an hour looking around there - lots of Bonnie Prince Charlie (he first landed on
Eriskay), spent time on South Uist. Flora McDonald was born just down the road from here, etc. And lots of interesting stuff about the blackhouses, peat-cutting, tweed,
clearances/migrations, etc. and the general ways of life. Then went in the cafe for tea and decided to have lunch - soup and sandwiches, very nice too.
Took a drive up to the northern part of South Uist - just about the only area on these islands that we haven't explored. Headed out to Loch Skipport on the east coast along a very nice
route, and Mum and I went for a very wet and very windy walk down a muddy track to a tired (knackered) old jetty.
Drove down a few dead end roads towards the west coast but they didn't get close. Took a road that we used once before to get a last look at the west coast. Took a final few photos
in the driving rain and howling gale.
And, having just about seen all there is to see, we headed back home to get out of the terrible weather and start packing up for our painfully early start tomorrow. Got home about 1630.
Did a bit of packing and tidying, wrote this, and early-ish dinner is now being prepared so we can have an early-ish night!
Tomorrow should be fun. Up before 5am for a quick cuppa, an hour's drive to a 0630 check-in for a 0715 ferry for out of Lochmaddy o'er the sea to Skye, arriving at 0900, and then a
4 or 5 hour drive to our final 2x night stopover down near Loch Lomond. The weather is looking very blowy again tomorrow but there are no warnings on the ferry app - so we're assuming
that we'll be sailing as planned.
