The Outer Hebrides, the southern half

The second leg of project 'get out and about again' involved visiting those parts of the Outer Hebrides we'd not yet explored, namely The Uists and Barra.   We decided to go via the ferry on Skye from Uig so headed there, breaking our journey just before Skye.

The next day we drove over the iconic bridge to Kyleakin, stopping to take this snap and wishing for a wider lens:

With almost no breeze and at high tide the water of Loch Alsh was still:

This provided lots of mirror like structure in which to capture the sights of the village:

And the nearby remains of Castle Maol:

One careless owner had left a boat to rot, there's a lot of that kind of thing in our remoter lands:

That afternoon the ferry crossing was like breaking glass the sea was so still:

On the crossing we saw Minke Whale, Dolphins, a few Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins, enough to keep us entertained.

From Lochmaddy on North Uist we drove South all the way to Eriskay to catch the ferry south to Barra and our hotel the Heathbank.

We loved Barra, it's got a wonderful atmosphere and seemed very friendly.  The skies were grey for our stay but that didn't dull the mood.   This is Kismuil Castle the only remaining medieval castle in the Outer Hebrides:

We also visited and walked around Vatersay as well as visiting the North of the Island and the airport:

Watching a scheduled flight (from Glasgow) land on a beach is very cool.  

We enjoyed an impromptu party at our hotel, tall tales and sores heads all round.  We were sad to have to head on quite so soon but after three nights we caught the ferry bach to Eriskay and headed North.

One of our goals for the trip was to see the Machair, a threatened habitat that Western Scotland has 70% of the worlds limited supply.   Late Spring and Summer are wall-to-wall flowers with or without the sunshine:

Another exmaple of the disposal method for anything large and no longer of use (this includes a lot of housing too):

The Machair is alive with wildlife.  We did hear but not see the Corncrake, lots of bees and butterflies including the Common Blue:

We walked every day, using a little book of walks which proved invaluable, this was the highest point on Berneray one of the islands in the Uist chain:

And this a view over one of the many spectacular Hebridean beaches:

One walk in particular took us to the Grenitote peninsular and the beaches there.  On the way we spotted a six-spot Burnet moth on its favourite ragweed plant:

The beach was as good as promised and we enjoyed a good thirty minutes of perfect isolation before a local dog walker joined us about a quarter of a mile up the beach:

We found the main Uists islands a bit odd, lots of living off the land including all of the unpleasant consequences of that, lots of peat cutting too which seems an unnecessary habit to maintain given how much more reliable and indeed cleaner energy is now available.

So despite the stunning landscapes, from the Uists it was a relief to head back to Skye catching the early morning ferry.  We visited Dunvegan Castle, a fascinating family home of Clan McLeod, then joined up with the first of two sets of family in Portree.

It was time to start exploring Slye properly, this is the Old Man of Storr:

Mr Muppet here decided to carry all his wildlife photography equipment up a steep path to reach this view point.  Long covid means i'm and indeed we're not able to exercise as vigorously as we just can't get the oxygen we need, hence we're stopping more on such walks.

From the Old Man we headed to Quiraing, a stunning landscape.    This is my Brother-in-law taking some snaps of the landscape in a fierce breeze (which kept the midges at bay):

On our final full day on Skye we caught the ferry across to Raasay, a small island with a smaller population to do an exploratory walk.   The wind had died down over night leaving the waters of the Sound still again:

Socially distanced walking took us on the 10 mile circuit:

From there the ferry back, dinner with two sets of the family, an earlyish night and then the drive home to the brilliant and indeed unusually hot summer.