Hebrides 17: Leaving the Uists

The time had come for us to leave the Uists, heading North for our next destination: Lemreway on Lewis.  Here are a few images from the journey, starting with some peat cutting just a couple of miles away from where we were staying.  It's clear this free source of fuel is still very much used by the islanders, and with the current price of gas, electricity and - especially - oil, I can't say I'm surprised.  I also love the smell of peat smoke, and would love to burn it at home (sadly, not a practical proposition).

Our last chance to visit the Co-op in Daliburgh, which is pretty well the only food shop on South Uist.  Being a collector of odd and obscure signage, I was amused to see that the car park was labelled differently depending on whether one was coming from the North or the South.  It all sounds rather topical, given the imminent Scottish independence referendum...

Another sign which you won't see around Cambridge - here at the start of the causeway linking South Uist to Benbecula.

We need some of these signs at home!  Despite being a dog addict, it still gets to me that some owners seem indifferent about cleaning up after their pets - something which results in all dog lovers getting a bad name.  Tedious people...

We made a slight detour to see if we could locate the loch with the breeding pair of black-throated divers which Steve Duffield had taken us to on Sunday.  Well, we found it and the birds were still there.  We had been asked not to go close to the water for fear of driving the birds away, so this (rather poor) picture was the best I could do under the circumstances.  If you look hard while squinting slightly, it's just about possible to see that the adult has a chick on its back!

After spending rather too long eating lunch, it was then a mad dash across North Uist to the ferry terminal on Berneray.  We made it with a few minutes to spare, but would probably have been late if it hadn't been for the good folks who built the Committee Road (see here for an explanation).

Yet another causeway, this time the one linking Berneray with North Uist, with it's impressive array of warning signs.

The final image is of the small ferry which weaves its way through the many tiny islands in the Sound of Harris, bound for Leverburgh - the next stage in our exciting Hebridean adventure.

Hebrides 7: Benbecula and North Uist

Tuesday dawned blustery but sunny, so since the weather was reasonable we decided to head back to some of the same locations we'd visited with Steve Duffield on Sunday.  We attempted to find St Michael's Chapel on Benbecula, but instead ended up finding a shellfish factory which was being guarded by a herd of extremely inquisitive sheep.  What we thought was a beach turned out, on closer inspection, to be made entirely from scallop shells - thousands upon thousands of them!

We then took the main road anticlockwise around North Uist, stopping off occasionally to admire the view.  The island appeared to be more prosperous than its Southern cousin, with less evidence of dereliction and abandonment.  Many houses sported large Yes signs, indicating their owners' preference when it comes to the independence referendum.  It was easy to see why, too, as the Hebrides are closer to Scandinavia than they are to London: a Westminster parliament must seem remote and irrelevant to the people living here.

We stopped off at Barpa Langass chambered cairn, one of the many ancient monuments on the Uists.  Impressive though it was, for me this particular location fell into the "large pile of rocks in a field" category.

We then decided to hit the metropolis which was Loch Maddy.  When I say "metropolis", the town boasts (among other things) several streets, a ferry, a shop, a hotel, a church and a fascinating museum about life on St Kilda.  The museum also had a "Virtual St Kilda Multimedia Experience" on the top floor, with a narration in Gaelic and English.  Both were completely incomprehensible (and often difficult to tell apart) but the pictures were good!

Having been so impressed by The Dunes catering van in Balranald on Sunday, we were keen to try its legendary crab sandwiches.  Sadly they'd sold out, so we had to slum it with smoked salmon and cream cheese instead (what a hardship).  Of course, there was also the obligatory piece of chocolate cake for afters, since we needed to build up our strength for a trek around the perimeter of the Nature Reserve in the afternoon.