West Coast Island Walks (2)

Ken's match report and photos:

"Day 1 (Thursday)

Two cars, two dogs and 5 of us (Colin, John, Gordon, Andy and Ken) made it to the start line…. Ian Sh was a late, enforced withdrawal and Ian St otherwise engaged with BoG.  Early start at the golf club before heading off.  First stop the compulsory coffee at Inverness Tiso and then down the Loch Ness road heading for Skye.  A couple of interruptions along the way – major roadworks on Loch Ness and major photo opportunity at Eilan Donan.  Plan was a short hill walk on Skye – Ben Tianavaig, overlooking Portree on one side and Rassay on the other.  Weather was dry, bright but cloudy.  See pics below…..great views back to the Cuillins (remember Red Cuillin = rounded, Black Cuillin = jagged).

View south from Ben Tianavaig

The team on top of Ben Tianavaig

A very enjoyable walk of 3 to 4 hours – great views all round, two circling sea eagles from the summit. Mostly on sheep-tracks apart from a short off-track diversion on the way down which seemed to raise a bead of sweat on some foreheads.  

We checked in at the Viewfield House hotel and our first encounter with mein host, Shuggie Macdonald….. a rather well-spoken chap with aristocratic tendencies, in keeping with the general ambience of the Victorian heap and colonial artefacts.  He was less than impressed by our walk which he considered a “Sunday stroll”!!  Bottled Skye beers at the hotel, pint at the Isles bar, very good evening meal at the Granary in Portree.  We negotiated with Shuggy for an early(!) breakfast at 8.15 to allow us to catch the ferry.  Any earlier and we were threatened with mein host in pyjamas.

Shuggies pad

Day 2 (Friday)

Very wet and misty first thing…but the forecast was good.  We bartered our room payment/key handover in exchange for breakfast (no pay/no food).  Shuggie did the business with perfect porridge (didn’t try the kippers…).  A quick drive up the road to Uig and the ferry over to Lochmaddy on North Uist.  Weather was improving all the time and looked better to the north.  We headed for Berneray which was linked by causeway to North Uist in 1998 and set-off to do a coastal circuit round the island.  The pics tell the story of a perfect walk – glorious beach/views

Berneray west beach

Picnic time

Tough walking!

Harris from Berneray

Berneray east beach

We headed off southwards and stopped at a couple of other beaches on the way through North Uist.

Arrived at Polochar for a beer sitting outside in the evening sunshine (sadly no real ale…casks or bottles!!) followed by a decent meal.

Another perfect pint!

Day 3 (Saturday)

Early start to get Andy to the Eriskay-Barra ferry before 8, so that he could catch his flight from the Barra beach.  Weather was grim….low cloud and rain.  The manager of the hotel warned us against visiting the “devils island” where they “still eat the first born”….seems to be some light-hearted rivalry between South Uist and Barra! The rest of us had a slow start, caught the later ferry to Barra and drove round to Castlebay for a coffee while the weather slowly improved.  By midday, we were ready to start another coastal walk on Vatersay, linked by causeway to Barra.  Weather improving all the time and a very pleasant and varied walk of beaches, machair and coast.  Some time to kill before our ferry back, so we stopped off at the Isle of Barra hotel for afternoon tea (last orders 3.30, made it with a minute to spare!).  By this time, the sunshine was glorious and stunning views over the local beach.  On return to Eriskay, we stopped off at the The Politician pub, expecting to pay homage to Whisky Galore….turned out to be a new-build, plastic affair much loved of the local youth.  One to avoid.  Another decent meal back at the hotel.

One of the Vatersay beaches

Good spot for afternoon tea

Day 4 (Sunday)

Headed back up the Uists to catch the late morning ferry.  A quick stop at Howmore beach on the way for a leg-stretch.  Ferry back to Uig was a glorious cruise in bright sunshine.  A short drive from Uig to the start of our afternoon walk on Skye – a circuit of the Quirang.  It’s a popular walk, but justifiably so.  Fabulous views all around – lots of rock scenery, sea and distant mountains.  A great 3 hour walk – highly recommended.  Particularly memorable for John who found out on the way up that Motherwell beat Aberdeen to go into 2^nd place in the league!

Howmore beach

Start of the Quirang walk

Happy Motherwell supporter!

Amazing where you can get to with a dodgy hip!

One for Sharpy…

Stopped off at the Sligachan for a pint of real ale on the way past – good spot for Cuillin viewing.  Finally got to Plockton about 7pm for a quick shower and then dinner.  Not quite the expected sea food fest as we arrived after most of the sea food options had disappeared from the menu!

Day 5 (Monday)

John headed off early for his next holiday (in Portugal).  The rest of us had a leisurely breakfast and then a short 2 hour walk up to a viewpoint overlooking Plockton.  Yet again, the sun began to breakthrough as we returned to the car.

Looking down on Plockton

Back home after a brief lunch stop at (you guessed) Tiso Inverness.

I think we all enjoyed the walks and the weather was very kind to us.  Accommodation was varied but generally fine, food pretty good but real ale enthusiasts will be disappointed!  Some talk of next years trip and Mull area might be a possibility, or maybe Harris/Lewis.  I’ll work on it!"