Islands August 2020

This tour took place in a heatwave - perfect weather for two weeks.  Easyjet wasn't taking us abroad, so I opted for an Islands tour.
Day 1 was a drive to Ardrossan and over to Arran.  
Stayed at Middletons campsite and did a few long walks around the island.


After two days I took the ferry from Lochranza and down the Mull of Kintyre to Machrahanish.  Weather was hot and the beach was deserted.
The golf course goes on for ages and was a great walk.  After a few days I drove to Oban and took the ferry to Barra. Dolphins everywhere.
Arrived 6pm on Barra and drove 15 mins to Wavecrest campsite.  Fantastic views, great flowers in the grass.
From Barra I headed up to Stornoway.
There were a few places to wild camp but at the time there was a bit of press coverage that too much wild camping was upsetting the locals with litter.

My hopscotch ferry ticket was 10.30 to Eriskay and 16.00 to Levenburgh.  I thought I would have hours to spare but in the end I arrived with just 20 mins in hand after making a few siteseeing stops.

The view above is from South Uist near Our Lady of the Isles statue.

Weather was great and the scenery just amazing.  This is the north causeway from Benbecula.
I reached the campsite about 6pm and walked into Stornoway.  Restaurants were either shut or full, so took a taxi back to the campsite.

Next day was a trip west to the Black Houses - traditional houses where people and livestock share a common space.  

Not too far is the Calanais stone circle.  A bit later I found a restored viking water mill which was pretty similar in construction.

The Black Houses are made with an inner and outer wall filled with peat or soil.  At Scara Brae the filler was shells and detrious from the midden heap.  Below is Dun Carloway Broch from 200BC.  It too has inner and outer walls, this time with an air gap.

The following day has a thick fog.  I drove to Ness and by the time I arrived the fog cleared.  Stopped at a small museum where they had a  predecessor to satnav which worked from 1944 to the 1980s.  Suprisingly it was manufactured by Decca records!

Ness lighthouse, the windiest place in the UK.
Next day was a ferry to Ullapool then home.

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