Rainy morning. J went to Ceolas to learn Cape Breton step dancing, Gaelic language and Scottish fiddle. R stayed in and did work emails until it stopped raining, about midday. Then went to Loch Eynart. Foggy all day. Drove round the north side, looking for snorkelling sites, didn’t find anything promising so went to the … Read more “Tuesday 9th July: snorkelling 2”
J went to Cape Breton step dancing class, then beginners’ Gaelic class then fiddle class at Ceolas, followed by more step dancing in the afternoon. R set off at 8:15 to explore. Drove to north side of Loch Sgioport and parked at the end of the road at Caolas Liubharsaigh. Walked along faint paths and … Read more “Monday 8th July: eagle”
Went to Jethro’s cottage for coffee, then the three of us drove to Eriskay. Parked by the ferry terminal and walked along the beach and dunes to the Am Politician pub, where we had lunch. Glorious sunshine all day, white sandy beach and turquoise sea. Walked back along the road and moor. Stopped off at … Read more “Sunday 7th July: Eriskay”
Checked out of Oransay and drove short distance through Loch Druidibeg RSPB reserve to Loch Sgioport with the aim of snorkelling and bothering the wildlife. Tarmac road ended and we drove the car down a steep bumpy track, parked, and walked down to the water’s edge. There were the remnant posts of a ruined pier … Read more “Saturday 6th July: snorkelling”
Went to Bornais and walked out to the headland past Viking remains that were not evident and a Pictish broch which was. Saw a short-eared owl hunting over the machair. Lots of lapwings, including young. Saw seals hauled out. Got mobbed by terns. Saw the world’s longest earthworm. Drizzle, on and off throughout. Drove to … Read more “Friday 5th July: South Uist 1”
Rained all day. Lie in and late breakfast. Went to Lochmaddy museum. Very interesting exhibition on local geology – learnt about Gneiss pseudotachlyte: a rare igneous formation formed by intense metamorphic pressure. Found here along the Hebridean fault, and in meteor craters. Also a the museum was an exhibition of photos of the dull celtic … Read more “Thursday 4th July: rain”
Needed to swap rooms today because the lodge only had two nights available in the good room, so checked out after breakfast. Followed a path up the hill behind the lodge, to a stone circle, then climbed to the top and back round the other side to look at a 5000-year old chambered cairn, Barpa … Read more “Wednesday 3rd July: Berneray”
We met local wildlife guide Steve Duffield (http://www.western-isles-wildlife.com) in the Lodge car park at 9am. A few minutes after we set off, we had a good view of a short-eared owl flying about. Apparently they’re common here. We drove to an old pier near Lochmadday and spent an hour and a half watching a mother … Read more “Tuesday 2nd July: guided tour with Steve”
Got the 9:30am ferry from Uig. Sunny crossing with views of gannets, arctic skua, puffins, guillemots. Porridge for breakfast on the boat. From Lochmaddy we drove around the northern edge of Uist. An uneven low-lying marshy landscape with lots of pools (lochans). At RSPB Balranald we had bread and cheese for lunch in the car. … Read more “Monday 1st July: Balranald”
Porridge for breakfast, then left hotel at 9am for drive north. Out of Glasgow we followed the edge of Loch Lomond. Sky and loch and road were uniform pewter-grey, everything else was verdant green with purple foxgloves all the way. Coffee stop at Tyndrum, then through low cloud and rain up over the great undulating … Read more “Sunday 30th June: driving to Uig”