Let’s go cycling

Here’s a quick tour of our Hebridean Way journey if you’ve got three minutes to spare 😅

11th June– Ferry to Barra

An easy morning, managed to cram in a couple of hours work before doing a bit of a food stock up and and heading to the ferry terminal for our 12:30pm check-in

Quite a few other cycle tourists in the ferry queue too!

A very orderly boarding process, all set and ready to go! Except it didn’t…

5 hours of sitting around…comparing notes with other frustrated passengers…gazing out at the team of work crew wandering around scratching their heads…and listening intently for the infrequent updates on what was apparently a maintenance issue. Eventually we learned that the nasty looking slick on the water was from a fuel line leak which naturally needed to be fixed before we could depart. So at around the time we should have been arriving in Barra, we finally set off.

‘Twas a gorgeous sunny day so a shame to spend it on a ferry…but the company was fun and eventually we did arrive at the port of Castlebay on Barra, Outer Hebrides. Then cycled around 10km to our campsite at the start point of the Hebridean Way and had our tent set up by midnight! Luckily it doesn’t seem to get truly dark even by then.

12th June Vatersay to North Barra

Woke to find we were in a truly beautiful camp spot- white sands, lovely beaches on either side of the Isthmus.

The campsite was shared with a few other cycle tourists who’d also taken the ferry ride. One couple planned to complete the route in 2 days (super athletes…). They set off early looking fresh and enthusiastic but were back within the hour with one of them having burst his achilles. Ouch. Too late for the ferry back to Oban so they set up their tent again and he was in for a day or reading…while his partner set off for a “leisurely” ride around Barra.

Meanwhile… a lazy coffee later, we set off to start the Hebridean Way. Decided to take a little look at the highest hill on Barra on the way and take a hike up the hillside. I was regretting this suggestion as the road to the starting point ended up being rather steep. But, the walk was relatively easy and the views over Barra were breathtaking.  Although extremely windy and showery.  But definitely worth the detour!!

The Isle of Barra is truly beautiful- Islands everywhere and so very picturesque. A lovely day cycling, ending up at the most northern spot at a campground overlooking the sea. An idyllic spot to pitch a tent…except that it was pouring with rain. Tends to “dampen” the spirits just a little…

13th June North Barra to Benbecula

A biggish day! Backtracking to catch the Ferry from Ardmor to Eriskay. We booked this last night and were committed to arriving by 9am to avoid missing our spot…so we needed to be organised and get away by 8ish to make sure we were there on time (around a 10km ride, but big headwinds this morning). Not so fun packing up the tent in the rain, but we arrived in good time, along with a few others on bikes! It’s becoming a trend…

A short ferry ride, spent chatting with another cycling couple- in fact we chatted a little too much and nearly missed getting off the ferry (whoops!).

Then…the FIRST REAL TAILWIND of our trip so far. Felt a bit like flying…and was quite nice to cover some miles that felt like they were for free…

Some lovely landscapes on the way up, mixed in with some fairly tedious sections. We were on the lookout for a nice cafe lunch spot but that didn’t happen…so it was peanut butter on bread huddled under a rock wall to try and shelter from the wind. Did the trick though!

Headed for the “Otter Edge” Campsite on the Isle of Benbecula. Evokes images of beach, otters, lovely scenery, wouldn’t you think? But no… a camping field with absolutely no shelter from the incessantly fierce wind, and an owner who seems to have made it his life’s work to be obnoxious.
Ah well… it has a camp kitchen and a kettle, somewhere to shelter from the weather.

And a quick little walk over to the beach, where we dipped our toes in.

The couple from the morning ferry turned up a little after us, towing their cycle trailer. Definitely no envy there- looked like hard work! Anyway… a few more stories shared, and gear compared. A great fun pair (Jan and Rick), hoping we might catch up again some day!

14th June, Benbecula to Harris, 82km, 600m elevation and a beautiful sunny day!!

Met up with a few more cyclists on the ferry- a group that we’d met on the first ferry from Oban, and some others who we hadn’t previously come across. It’s proving to be a very social trip, catching up with the same people along the way and at the campsites, especially now as they are becoming fewer and more far between!

Another 15 or so km to get to the campsite for the day- a stunning spot right on the beach and one of the cheapest places yet at £10 pound for the night.

In fact, the water was so inviting that we thought we better have a “Scotland” swim. Let me tell you, it was a short one… but it was, well, refreshing! (@Claire, you would be proud…)

15th June, Horgabost to Shawbost. 100km (well, almost!), over 1200m elevation and a hefty dose of wind and misty showers.

Today was a biggy. There are no “designated” campsites in the 100km stretch from where we were last night. We weren’t too sure about the practicalities of wild camping along the route either as it was all very peat boggy where it was accessible.
So…we set off early and tackled the day. A couple of big hills to get us going but it didn’t end up being too disastrous.

Set off for the last 20km of the day, then Neil spotted a big collection of Standing Stones up on the hillside- so we did an about turn and were pleased we did. A really impressive set of stones and visible from quite a distance!

Tonight’s campsite is packed- including most of the cyclists we’ve become acquainted with along the way. We rocked up without a booking (weren’t quite sure whether we were going to make the 100km day…) and received a bit of a frosty look from the receptionist but she found room for us. And the next people too…
Excellent facilities with a nice warm room full of tables and chairs where people can escape from the weather. Made much use of it!
Not the best night of sleep, as the rain…and then the wind…increased significantly as the night progressed. Thought the tent might blow away at some stage but we were still there in the morning.

16th June. The pièce de résistance. 47 km and the end of the Hebridean Way.

An easy ride, after a two coffee morning and a bit of procrastination hoping the drizzle might stop and the wind might ease. It did a little of both…but a tidy tailwind helped us along to the end of the road- “The Butt of Lewis”.

A truly spectacular end to this fascinating trail. We’ve met a heap of wonderful people along the way, shared lots of stories and lots of hills, and had a fantastic time. Pretty much every bit of weather that could be thrown at us, but it included some brilliant sunshine as well as some more challenging conditions.

And to celebrate…we fortuitously booked the cheapest (only??) B&B we could find that was close to the end of the way. Lucky- as the weather has turned extremely inclement. The accomm itself is somewhat quirky… growing some very pretty mould colours in the bathroom and perhaps not the slightest clue about how to run an accommodation business… but it’s a roof and it’s warm…and there’s breakfast in the morning to look forward to!!

Tomorrow we head back toward the Scottish mainland for the next stage… when we figure out what that’ll be 🙂