28/06/24 – 05/07/24
Having failed to get this far when I first visited the Outer Hebrides I came back. This time on foot as I thought getting here by bike would be a nightmare if not impossible, although I now think the Inverness – Ullapool bus takes them, although it may be a bit pot luck.
I arrived on a Sunday so most things were closed, the Stornoway Tesco being the exception. I walked a non-trivial distance in wind and rain to a campsite marked on the map which turned out not to exist, so I wild camped on the dunes and made use of the unlocked facilities at the sports ground opposite. In retrospect I should have just set up camp in their covered stand. Thank you Coll sports club.
Next day was back to Stornoway to catch a bus (well, two) down to Leverburgh at the south end of Harris. The weather was awful but there’s a little brewery/taproom/café so I spent a pleasant souple of hours there, before taking the bus a little way back up to road so I could visit the visitors centre at Northton.
Waiting for the next bus north and wondering around I saw what I think was a Hen Harrier catch an oystercatcher. Some other oystercatchers gave pursuit but I doubt they were successful. Next stop was Horgabost campsite, where the weather produced some amazing light and clouds.
The next day I took the bus north, indeed as far north as possible. The sun came out and I managed a dip in the sea at Port of Ness.
There’s a campsite at Eoropie, but they don’t have any facilities. I found one of the owners and he explained that there was a sports centre not too far away and he’d leave a bike out for me so I could cycle over and use their facilities if I wanted. Unfortunately things didn’t line up with my functions, so the trowel was deployed. The place was completely mad, with weird stuff everywhere. I walked over to Dun Eistean (although the bridge was closed so not possible to get over) before and the spending the evening in strange company, listening to corncrakes and watching a short eared owl.
Next day it was a walk up to the Butt of Lewis lighthouse, before taking the bus south.
I got off at the Barvas turn off and walked towards Shawbost. A brief stop at a restored Shieling before visiting the Blackhouse museum near Arnol.
A couple of brief stops at things I’d seen marked on the map; a Broch in Loch an Duna, and a whale bone (marked as ‘arch’). In 1920 a whale’s corpse was washed up with a harpoon in its head.
Got to the campsite at Shawbost which was fairly busy.
Now I was heading back towards Stornoway. The weather was bad and the bus times didn’t allow me to stop off at Callanish with anything approaching sensible timings. This was something of a bugger. The visitors centre wasn’t open, so if I stopped I would have been stuck there for hours with no shelter from the rain, so reluctantly stayed on the bus to Stornoway. It was times like this where a bike would have been so useful, and I did miss having it. The bus station did left luggage for a few £ so I was able to leave my heavy stuff there and visit the Lews Castle and Museum nan Eilean. They have a few Lewis chess pieces, and there was an exhibition about those who emigrated to the Americas – very sobering to see this from the point of view of these people and something a certain DJT seems to need reminding of.
There’s campsite just outside Stornoway at Laxdale (should have stayed there the first night!) which was again fairly busy but nice with good facilities.
Ferry back to Ullapool where I camped, again the weather was a bit unfriendly. Seems like a nice town and good to see the ferries coming and going in Loch Broom.
Finally the bus to Inverness and trains back to Leeds.
