After a week of dog sitting and the warmth and comfort of a house, we are on the road again. Last week was extremely frustrating for us as we had hoped we would complete on the purchase of our house in the Yorkshire Dales on Friday, but it was not to be. We felt like we spent the week banging our heads against a brick wall trying to get solicitors moving. So still without a completion date in sight, we made a last minute, one way ticket booking on a Ferry to the Isle of Harris in the outer Hebrides and we are not returning until we have a completion date in writing!
After a 24hr turn around to pack up the van with full winter walking kit (this included buying wellies) and food, we set off on the 9hr journey to the port of Uig on the Isle of Skye. The journey took us literally within half a mile of our new house in the Dales, this did help confirm that we have made the right decision with the house move as the route up the A65 and then joining the M6 at the Lake District Junction was just so much more pleasant than the travelling up the M6 from Cheshire!
Following the Sat Nav that we had set to go past Loch Lomond and through Glencoe, we realised too late that it had rerouted us for some reason. We decided that this was an omen that we should take a detour and have our supper by the Kelpies as we have never seen them lit up at night. They certainly did not disappoint and we spent an hour walking around them and practising our night time photography skills. This also had the effect of delaying our arrival to our destination, Loch Lochy until midnight.
Sunday morning was a slow start, especially when we realised that the clocks had changed and our phones had automatically adjusted. It wasn’t a problem to me, but Richard was surprised that he had slept in until 8.45, not his usual 7.45 that he thought he was getting up at. We had a quick walk on the shores of the Loch and watched the sun lightening up the mountains before setting off again.
It was a short yet absolutely stunning drive to the Kyle of Lochalsh and the Skye Bridge, with breathtaking views around every turn in the road. We kept our eyes peeled for deer, otters and birds of prey but non were to be found. Our first stop on Skye was Sligachan Bridge. We had been here on our previous visit to Skye when there had been a week of heavy rainfall and the river was running wild and the currents powerful. It was so cloudy that day that we had no idea how spectacular the mountain range beyond the bridge was from this viewpoint. Out came the camera’s again!
Next stop was the pretty fishing port of Portree, renowned for it’s brightly coloured cottages that line the harbour front. We arrived at the same time as a Rabbies tourist bus that had seeming been following us up all the way from Castle Eilean Donan. Not good when the whole bus beat us to the small public toilet block and we were both bursting.
After a quick wander around the town in the rain and taking photo’s of the colourful cottage, we set off again on the last leg of the journey across to Uig. On arrival we were informed that the ferry was delayed due to the adverse weather at Lochmadd.y. Normally this would have frustrated us as we would get on to the island late and we had wanted to drive north for an hour to our first parkup, however, the new retired us just drank tea and found a different start point for our island adventures.
The ferry crossing was a little rocky at times, testing both our sea legs and as it was a Sunday, the ferry called at Lochmaddy before carrying on to Tarbert on the Island of Lewis. We finally arrived at our parkup at 8.45pm under the cover of complete darkness. The sky was so clear, the only light being thousands of twinkling stars. It is always with great excitement that we wake up and pull the blinds up in the morning to see what the views are like. We were not disappointed. We were miles away from civilisation on a windy road with a tiny loch and a stream trickling beside us. It was also very wet and cloudy!
For those of you who have never been to the Outer Hebrides and particularly Harris, they are renowned for their stunning white beaches and crystal blue seas around the rugged coastline. You would almost think you were on a tropical island if it were not for the ever present winds and frequent rain showers. We decided we would head to the remote beaches of Huishinis first. It is approached down a 14 mile, single track road that is so narrow in parts that you feel like your wheels are off both edges, there are plenty of passing points and as luck would have it, we only came across 3 other vehicles. The road twists and turns around rocky outcrops and lochs, it even passes through the grounds and front door of a castle! The highlight for Jackie came right at the end of the road, where stood proudly on the road side, with the white beaches of Huishinis in the background, was a herd of highland cows. They are allowed to roam freely over the moorlands, but generally they stay close to the roadside as that is where they are fed. If you are in a campervan and wishing to stay the night there is a community run site with electric hookup right next to their feeding stalls.
Huishinis is a small community that, in cahoots with the North Harris Trust, have developed a small hub for travellers called the gateway. It is very impressive, with a modern building housing a couple of toilets and showers, a communal room with tables and benches to shelter in and huge windows with stunning views across the bay. For motorhomes, there are facilities to empty grey water and chemical tanks. At ten pounds a night (15 with Electric hook up) it is extremely good value to be able to stay in such a beautiful place. I hope that travellers over the summer have treated it respectfully and paid the honesty fees, as resources like this are not often found and we need to keep them.
When we arrived, the heavens opened and I took the opportunity to get the bed out and have a couple of hours of reading. The storm quickly blew over (as they do in Scotland) and we headed out on a much needed walk to find one of the more remote beaches Traigh Mheilein. Wow! What a stunning beach it is, with miles of white sand and in total isolation as the only way to get there is a 2km walk. Too many photo’s and video’s were taken! However, much to our disappointment still no sign of any otters, they are appearing to be very illusive.
On our return to the van, the sky had cleared and we headed down to the beach for a fire with our new Snowpeak fire pit we had been given as a retirement gift, little did we know what a treat we were in for.
As each minute passed, the sky lit up and changed colours into one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen. Changing from a golden glow to a deep pink and blue, we were in photography heaven, along with a group of 5 people who appeared on the beach armed with full camera kit . Turns out they were all on a very expensive photography holiday . Richard was quite jealous!
We thought we had used our Scottish good weather token for a few days and were fully expecting from the forecast to have a wild and wet day when we woke up. How wrong we were! We set off for another walk to a place labelled ‘otter run’ on the map wearing our full winter waterproofs and wellies. As the day progressed the sky turned more blue. Not an otter was spotted, but we did come across another herd of highland cows with some young calf’s in tow with their tiny baby horns.
It was so beautiful on the walk that we decided to return later if the weather stayed dry to one of the hidden coves and have another fire. Again, as we sat taking in the last hour of daylight, being warmed by the fire, the sky did it’s magic. This time the clouds danced in different shades of orange lighting up the sea and bringing out the true green/blue hue.
We knew from experience that there would be little opportunity to eat out at this time of year on the island as it starts to shut down from the tourist season so we had rammed the van full of a variety of foods and planned an extensive menu. We find one of the joys of winter camping is sitting in the van, chatting as we cook hearty meals (it also keeps the van warm with the stove on!) Sausage stew with mash potatoes and green beans was just the thing after being out all day. We have been very good on this trip and hardly brought any alcohol with us, just half a bottle of Nelson’s Gin and a few beers left over from the French trip to last us 2 weeks! It is quite refreshing just drinking tea and hot chocolates in the evenings.
Huishinis was just fabulous. We had only a couple of other van companions each night and met only a dozen people in total in the 48 hours we were there. Wednesday morning signalled that it was time to move on as we woke up to stormy skies and driving rain. We don’t see bad weather as a barrier, we just as an opportunity to experience places in a different way.
Next up, we head North to the wild beaches of Lewis.
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