Hebrides

31/08/19 Train to Oban

Camping at the nearest place I could find.

Oban campsite Wine and hazelnuts in Oban Oban campsite Oban campsite

01/09/19 Barra

Ferry to Castlebay on Barra.  First couple of hours were nice; smooth and mostly sunny, through the gap between Mull and the mainland.  Then it got choppy and wet, but outer islands visible.  Lovely evening once on Barra, cycled down to Vatersay for a wild camp above the beach.

Oban and loading:

Oban Oban Oban, 'spoons Ferry in Oban Ferry in Oban 190901g

Ferry journey:

map on ferry looking back towards Oban from ferry On the ferry Another ferry near Oban Lighthouse on the mainland Rocks in the sea Lighthouse on the mainland Life ring on the ferry Seats on the ferry Lochaline ferry to Mull Seats on the ferry Measuring ropes on the ferry Mull from the ferry Tobermory, Mull from the ferry  Islands from the ferry

Barra and Vatersay:

Castlebay, Barra  Castlebay, Barra Castlebay, Barra Vatersay Vatersay Bay Vatersay Bay Wild camp on Vatersay Bay Bike parking, Vatersay Bay

02/09/19 Barra for an unplanned second night

Vatersay and Barra the next morning, when the weather started:

Castlebay, Barra Causeway from Vatersay to Barra

Memorial to those on a plane that crashed on Vatersay in 1944.  Amazing that the bits of plane are still here.

Memorial on Vatersay Memorial on Vatersay

A stop-off at the airport for a cafe visit, where the wifi informed me that the ferries to Eriskay were cancelled.  Headed to a campsite a bit further north.

airport/beach on Barra Clouds Clouds and islands Clouds Small island under the sun with surrounding dark clouds Outside view of a very small church Interior of a very small church Interior of a very small church The author in the rain Barra airport Barra airport

03/09/19 Catholics and Causeways

Ferries to Eriskay operational.

Vehicles on a ferry Bike with ferry in the background

Crossing to South Uist.

Sign in the causeway to Eriskay Causeway with 'otters crossing' sign, altered to look like a dinosaur/komodo dragon

A lot of catholic stuff.

Statue on South Uist, Mary and child

Relentless wind and rain, nothing out there to the west to temper it. MOD area on the north west of South Uist, and the crossing over to Benbecula.

Bleak landscape on South Uist (MOD area) Causeway to Benbecula

Over on North Uist there is nothing catholic whatsoever.

After a real slog through the wind and rain finally arrived at the campsite on the RSPB reserve at Balranald.

Graveyard at Balranald Graveyard at Balranald Beach (Traigh nam Faoghailean), Balranald campsite

04/09/19 – Refuge from the storm

By some miracle my tent didn’t blow away in the night, but there was no way I was going to try cycling anywhere in the still gale-force winds.  I splashed out on a happily available camping pod for the next night (well I got in there as soon as I could); I have never appreciated a roof over my head quite as much as this. The wind seemed to be considered severe by local standards, so I don’t think I was too much of a wimp.  I wasn’t expecting electricity, a mini kitchen, or feathered friends, so these were luxury.

Camping pod and bike Interior of camping pod Interior of camping pod House Martins in nest

Impressed by the people (gravediggers?) working outside during it all.

Image of graveyard on North Uist Image of graveyard on North Uist

05/09/19 (over the sea) to Skye

Feeling a bit weather-battered I thought my original plan to go on up to Lewis was a bit optimistic, so headed to Lochmaddy for the ferry to Skye (no ferries from Lewis connect with trains, I’d have to return to the mainland at Ullapool and then cycle some distance to pick up the train line).

An old microwave being used as a mailbox
Mailbox

A road on north uist with bicycle A road on north uist

Chambered cairn on north uist
Chambered cairn

Had a bit of time in Lochmaddy and had a look through the Runrig archive at the excellent local community centre/cafe/etc.  Also home to the most friendly cat I have ever met.

Goalposts and a footbal with a sign reading 'lochmaddy united' A piece of on old whisky bottle on the beach in lochmaddy A cat on my shoulders A cat on my panniers Ferry approaching the pier in lochmaddy

On arrival in Uig it was dark and cold, but the petrol station shop had Cairn o’Mhor wine, so it wasn’t all bad.

the seas through a ferry window covered in rain view of the front of a ferry wth scotland flag flying Interior of vehicle deck on a ferry

06/09/19 Skye

Weather improved from today.  Rode to Portree which was busy, seemed to be a music festival on.  Sat in a bus shelter for quote a while and managed to get new train tickets home from Kyle of Lochalsh.  The cheapest option turned out to be a seated ticket on the Sleeper from Inverness to Preston, which I was quite excited by.

View of Uig on Skye View of Uig on Skye A white church on Skye

Then on to Sligachan campsite for a couple of nights.

Tent and bike at Sligachan campsite, Syke View of mountains from Sligachan campsite, Skye

07/09/19 Skye

Sun today, and an unloaded ride up to Dunvegan and back, including a stop at a great coffee/book shop (at Struan I think).

View of a chess board and through a window on Skye

The castle area/car park was really busy, but I wasn’t that interested so went a bit further up the road (the quality of which declines suddenly after the car park) to try and see the castle.  Only afterwards did I learn that my friend’s Mother lives along this road.  It (the castle) is quite hidden away and from the distance I was at, somewhat underwhelming.

Dunvegan castle from a cheeky viewpoint The bay near Dunvegan castle

Nice cloudless views over the Cullins on the out and back ride.

View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan At Dun Beag on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan View on the road from Sligachan to Dunvegan

Balls of wool in an egg box
Bought this wool at a gallery/craft shop. Still (Dec 2021) haven’t done anything with it yet.

Dinner and lubrication in the Sligachan hotel this evening, both of which were excellent.

The author being amazed by the whisky collection in the Sligachan Inn, Skye

08/09/19 Skye to Kyle of Lochalsh

This was the only unpleasant cycling of the trip caused by other traffic, the road was busy and there were a lot of close passes.  I think a lot of folk had come up for the weekend at the last minute for the nice weather.  And were in a hurry to get home.  There were a couple of young lads on what can only be optimistically described as motorbikes, who I was more of less keeping up with due to the number of stops they had to make.

Camspite at Sligachan with a rainbow Clouds overing the summit of a hill near Sligachan campsite Loaded touring bike looking down a road just climbed View of road towards Broadford, Skye

Stopped at a nice cafe in Broadford, and then a bit of a mooch around in Kyleakin.

Skye bridge from Kyleakin Caisteal Maol, Kyleakin Loch Alsh from the Skye bridge

Lighthouse and trig point from the Skye bridge
Spot the trig point – must be one of the lowest.

Then over the bridge, and a last few miles to a campsite.

Loch Alsh from the mainland Loch Alsh from the mainland, with some people fishing in a small boat.

09/09/19 Kyle of Lochalsh and the Sleeper home

A wet morning, and fortunately I arrived at the station in plenty of time as the bike reservation I had made by phone hadn’t gone through, which sounded like a fairly normal occurrence.  Nice little museum there.

Old signal box at Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh station Steps down to the sea at Kyle of Lochalsh station for loading livestock Sign in Museum about steps down to the sea at Kyle of Lochalsh station for loading livestock

Unicorn sticker on bike handlebars
Someone put this unicorn sticker on my handlebars while I was enjoying a cooked breakfast in the dry. It’s still there (2021).

Had time to meet up with Kirsteen in Inverness, before getting the Sleeper to Preston, where I spent an uncomfortable couple of hours before an early train to Leeds.

Inverness from the hill Sleeper train route Sleeper train leaving Preston

Route map of Uist and Skye
Route map including trains