8 to10 September: The Outer Hebrides - Barra to South Harris

Here's the boat we took out of Oban. Nice and sunny sky!

We arrived on Barra late evening on 8 September well after sunset. Filled water at the local hostel and set off in search of a campsite, which we found a few miles down the road along the water. 

Since we'd set up camp in the dark, we didn't really know much about what was around. We awoke to realize we were actually camped only a short distance from the causeway to Vatersay-the island south of Barra- and so we biked on over. We shortly met up with nearly a dozen other bike tourists all out to find the southern most tip of the Hebridean Way, cycle route 780. It was a cloudy day, and a bit breezy, but not bad weather. 

We stumbled across a monument to the men lost in a 1944 PBY Catalina crash- the remains of the aircraft still present at the side of the road. So many men died in the two world wars, and the people here go to great lengths to honor those souls. 

Wee diversion: 

A herd of snails on a fence post... doing what a herd of snails does on a fence post. We watched for a while, but didn't really see anything happening. But with snails, one seldom sees anything actually happening. So....

After riding to Vatersay we turned around and went back up to Barra. 

In Castlebay we took a small boat to the Kisimul castle, the seat of the MacNiel clan, who are now mostly based in Canada. Originally built in 1039, it was abandoned in 1838 when tha MacNeil's went bankrupt and the island of Barra was sold. Subsequently the castle's condition deteriorated and it needed significant work when the chief of clan MacNeil repurchased it in 1937. It has since been restored. The castle is currently under a 1000 year lease to 'Historic Scotland'  for the price of £1 annually, and a bottle of whisky!

Here's a view of the original privvy, with a view through the chute where the byproducts would be ejected  to the outside of the castle. Of course, the mesh screen would not have been installed during actual use...

And, if one were sitting atop the cold commode, here's he view one would enjoy out the adjacent window: 

 Not too shabby, all things considered! 

At the Barra Heritage Center we learned about the island's history, including the difficult years of clearances (many tenant farmers were evicted from their land and forced to overcrowded barren parts of the island or simply forced across the Atlantic on boats with terrible living conditions) and the bravery of the "raiders" who illegally took charge of their land and farmed it. 

We also learned about Father John Macmillan of Barra, for whom a lovely March was written (Thank you, Tina, for introducing us to this tune!). Born 1880,  Father John was a gifted Gaelic scholar and poet, translating many works into Gaelic. His parish was in Northbay, Barra. He went on mission to Canada for several years, returning to his homeland in 1923. He died 1951 and was subsequently buried at Borve point, Barra. 

Cycling north, we visited the Barra airport, the only airport in the world with a scheduled commercial service that uses a sand beach runway. 

The runway is washed by the tide twice daily which means the arrival and departure times are tide dependent- the runway being closed when under water. The tide was coming in, so the airport was closed and we didn't stick around to wait for an arrival.

Following the cycle route to the Sound of Barra Ferry terminal (interpreting signs can be a trick, and we don't know how the highway department expects drivers to read these trees when whizzing past), we hitched a ride on the ferry north to Eriskay.

We arrived on Eriskay with more good, and windy, weather. A few miles later, and at the end of the day...

We enjoyed a stellar sunset while camped on beach in Eriskay, and we toasted another great day of riding in beautiful weather. Eriskay is a small island just south of the Uists, connected by a causeway. This small island was the 1745 landing site of Bonnie Prince Charlie prior to the Jacobite uprising that shook the country. He chose to come this far north because he thought he would gain greater sympathy and support from the Highlanders while escaping the attention of the English.

Leaving Eriskay the next morning we saw this sign:

Turns out that the Outer Hebrides have the highest population density of otters of a where in NW Europe.

We visited the Hebridean wool shed on South Uist- an adorable little craft shop/garden homestead along the west coast south Uist. It is now the only remaining high walled garden on the Hebrides- they estimate there has been a garden on site for the last 350 years. (It was once garden for laird's manor- belonging the Alexander MacDonald 1 in the 1600's.) What history!

Later we  came to Flora MacDonald's childhood home, or rather what remains of it. 

The plaque within the home tells the story of her courage in plotting the famous escape of Bonnie prince Charlie back in 1746. She is a celebrated national heroine and when she died in 1790, several thousand people attended her funeral and over 300 gallons of whisky were enjoyed! 

We stopped at the fabulous Kildonan museum center, had a refreshing cup of tea/coffee, shopped the local craft store, read up on local history, and saw the Clanranald stone. This large centuries-old stone with mysterious carvings was originally made on isle of Mull and was used in construction of ancient chapel in Howmore. It went missing for many years to the dismay of the locals and fortunately was delivered to a museum in London, subsequently being delivered back home to Uist. 

We biked through the village of Howmore (in Gaelic "Tobha Mor") and saw several beautiful thatched roof homes and the ruins of old chapels.

This was an important ecclesiastical center since medieval times, according to the experts of such things. 

We took a break from the bikes to hike up to a small stone circle (Pobull Fhinn) and a chambered tomb (Barpa Largais) along the mountainside. What looked like a simple walk on the map ended up being a bog slog. We've noticed that Scottish hikes are rated with "bog factor" scores on hiking forums- and with good reason- WET FEET!!!!!  We were well committed to finding these archeological sites which continued to require longer and more difficult leaps through the spongy muck. No sense turning back when your feet are already soaked and there is a lot or bog behind you! 

We have a brilliant video of Melinda leaping through the bogs, and will add it when we next pass through a library. 

This picture is looking through the tunnel of trees we traversed through a really spooky forest. It was seriously dark in there! boB wanted to camp in there, but Melinda said No Way!!

We found a  small box that we thought might be a geocache. We were so excited that we took a pic to share with boB's brother Jim and his wife Bekka (who love hunting these types of things). 

Well, our excitement was short lived as we realized that the stamp of the bus was an activity box for kids and that the forest preserve happened to be dedicated to Hercules (hence the name on the bus)- a grizzly bear who lived in captivity on Uists, until, in 1980, he escaped and went on the run for over 3 weeks, terrifying the local residents who feared they would be eaten. Hercules became a global sensation and the panicked Hebridean locals even contacted grizzly experts in Yellowstone National Park for advice! Hercules was eventually found and went on to live a happy life- becoming famous and appearing in the James Bond flick Octopussy. He even received a letter from Ronald Reagan. Anyways, we digress. Back to the archeological hunt...

We did eventually find the chambered tomb only to discover that it had recently suffered some collapse and it was closed to entry! Bummer!

Then we had to navigate our way back to the bikes. 

Here is boB searching desperately for the trig point on the hike from the stone circle/chambered tomb. The trig point is key to finding our way out of there. Thank heavens Melinda had a clue...

Anyway, we biked a few miles on and pitched home. 

After a terrifically noisy night in the wind-whipped tent we woke up on North Uist and headed in to Lochmaddy. The wind was still ferocious, and after just seven miles we felt like we'd been beat up. We stopped at a museum/cafe, 'Taigh Chearsabhagh',  and had tea/coffee and caught up on emails. 

We high-tailed it out of there and north another seven miles to the ferry terminal in Otternis on Berneray, just making it for the 1330 ferry to South Harris. The scenery was open, mildly hilly, and beautiful. 

The ferry ride was lovely - we were out of the wind on the back upper deck of the boat, and the sun was out again! Beautiful sun!

On arrival at South Harris we stopped in the local co-op to stock up on a few essential groceries, see local crafts, including some amazing Harris tweed collage wall hangings (see above), and we left with an irresistible Harris tweed wallet (also above). We then headed north west on the A859 toward Tarbert. 

Along miles of stunning beaches with crashing white waves (the wind was still howling) we rode with the sun beating down. It was bliss! 

Later, on the climb over the pass to Tarbert, we rode by many a pile of drying peat. Amazing how deep the peat layer is. We've learned that peat "grows" at the rate of a foot every thousand years. It is a renewable resource, but only very slowly. 

We stopped for the night at a wee picnic stop on South Harris, overlooking The Little Minch, with Isle of Skye off in the sea-haze background. With any luck the panorama pic above gives some idea of how stunning the view was. The wind finally died down a bit after we crawled into the tent. Safe from midges!

Day to day summaries:

September  8- Barra- Eriskay via ferry. Visited Vatersay, Kisimul castle in Castlebay, Barra Herritage Centre, and the Barra airport. Total 24.26 miles. Windy=no midges!

September 9 - Eriskay through South Uist and Benbecula to North Uist mostly along cycle route 780. Visited birth place of Flora MacDonald in Milton, Kildarton museum, ancient chapel in Howmore, stone circle and Barpa Langais chambered tomb. Total miles 41. A lovely tailwind with no midges. 

September 10- North Uist to South Harris (5ish miles south of Tarbert), via A867, A865, B893, the Berneray-Levenburgh ferry and south Harris west road (A859). Visited Taigh Chearsabhagh coffee shop/gallery in Lochmaddy, craft shop/coop in Levenburgh, Clach Steineagaidh standing stone along S Harris coast, and the Herbrides Art Gallery. Total 33 windy miles, most of it tail- or crosswind.