Scottish Isles 2014

[Tonibe63]

Since last year’s Alps trip the bike has sat unused and unloved in the garage covering less than 100 miles including going to the MoT, so with 10 days off work we decided to do a ‘staycation’ and tick another couple of things off the bucket list. The plan was to do as much wild camping as possible but with no cooking gear and move on every day as some sort of preparation for ............. who knows

Sunday morning we got the gear out the loft, load up the bike and head North to stop en route at Louise’s Sisters in The Lakes. I’d forgotten just how heavy this lot is and very nearly dropped it whilst still on the drive, this did nothing to ease my concerns about this trip possibly being damn hard work.



Monday morning as they head off to work we go North, we clear Glasgow by Noon where the scenery starts to change for the better and the old feelings about a bike trip started to revive themselves as we chat to fellow bikers fuelling up.












Tonights destination was Applecross, which although a bit of a detour was worth it just for riding The Pass of the Cattle


We set up camp and head off down to The Inn for a well deserved meal on the sea front.
Walking back to the tent we got chatting to a couple of blokes from Newcastle who had been there a couple of nights and were leaving tomorrow. The younger guy was heading home but Colin the older one (early 60’s) had planned to head off to the Islands on his dream trip of doing them on a bike. Unfortunately he’d had bad news 6 months earlier about the big ‘C’ which had been compounded recently with a heart operation, yesterday he’d taken ill again and didn’t feel ‘right’ so he too was thinking of going home. The look of disappointment and resignation would have made you cry as the sparkle in his eyes drained away along with the dream .



Tuesday
The next morning after a chat with Louise I spoke with Colin about tagging along with us so that if he was taken ill he wouldn’t be on his own but after a brief pause he politely declined and said he wasn’t sure he had the strength to get home never mind tour the Islands, the departing handshake said much more .............................. “Enjoy yourself it’s later then you think”.

The ride back over The Pass of the Cattle was a little sombre which wasn’t helped by the low cloud as we climbed the mountain and the view ahead looked like we were heading down in to a bubbling couldren




Stopping for breakfast at the side of a Loch got the energy going and soon the fantastic Scottish roads were starting to flow as we carved our way through the middle of Skye finally stopping at Uig, filling up with petrol and getting a ferry ticket over the North Uist. We hadn’t booked ahead but being on a bike it wasn’t a problem and there was time to grab lunch before we sailed.
A calm sea was welcomed by Louise as was spotting dolphins of some sort swimming across the bows of the half empty ship.




Arriving in Uist late afternoon I set off towards a beach that Steve had told me was suitable for our first ever night of wild camping. When we found it there was already a camper van set up so carried on around the coast, picking up supplies and a disposable barbeque en route before eventually finding this fantastic spot (thumbs)



Which was my own little slice of Heaven







But of course I just “had to go too far” :silly:

[jackdaw]

Great report and pics. Looking forward to more of this.

[africajim]

Looks like you're getting the weather, glad to see it! North Uist is nice if you get the weather.
Thanks for sharing.

[motorbike]

Fantastic ...its a truly great country ...especially when the sun shines....from my house in Glasgow's west end i can be in total countryside without traffic lights in under 10 minutes ....i am so spoilt that i am getting fed up with Loch Lomond and try various routes to avoid it....on wednesday my wife and i headed up north on the scrambler via inverary oban seil isle crinnan then home ....STUNNING

[Tonibe63]

Thanks guys (thumbs)

[Tonibe63]

Wednesday

A really good nights sleep, waking occasionally to the sounds of birds or waves on the sand and the icing on the cake was when the early morning mist cleared to reveal this- WOW!!





Alas it was time to move on which took an hour to break camp and reload the bike.
By now the sea mist was blowing inland and because the islands are quite narrow the whole of North Uist was covered and quite thick in places. The roads were now often down to single track tarmac with passing places which also made for hard work having to stop start with all that weight aboard.
Sticking to the main road (if you can call it such) the Island appeared to be quite low lying with scrub, pasture, rocks and sea all mixing together to make a fairly barren landscape. The villages were just a small group of houses dotted along the route with no cafes or places to eat until we spotted a sign for a golf club and grabbed a brunch of tea and cake. The place was deserted but the staff very friendly, apparently many American and European golfers fly in to play the course during the Islands Open Tournament.
Moving on we crossed a couple of causeways between North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and finally Eriskay without even realising due to the mist, infact the whole place felt like a deserted lunar landscape.
Arriving at the ferry port to Barra there was a que of small campers and cars waiting to board but again we squeezed on to the ferry and bought a return ticket without any thoughts or mention of having to book.

Arriving in Barra the mist had finally cleared and we rode North to look at the landing strip where the small planes land on the beach.
Ten minutes later one of the 3 flights that day came in which was quite impressive as the spray erupted as it landed



Heading up to the top of Barra the weather was really improving and we saw this house-what a fantastic view out the back window


Travelling South it was time to look for somewhere to stay the night, preferably with showers. The beach on Vatersay Island was stunning but alas no camp sites or even wild camping near to the bike that I could see.


Heading back on to Barra we found a Coop for supplies and then a small camp site at Borve Point with facilities for £14 a night. The owner was also the local postman and carpenter who delighted in showing us the Oyster Catchers and chicks nesting within 20 feet of our tent, he even left us his binoculars to watch them with-very friendly.
Another evening of beer and barbeque whilst gazing out to sea.

[johnnyboxer]

Wow, what a report and pics.................stunning

Many thanks (thumbs)

[Tonibe63]

Thursday

Another great nights sleep, packed up in an hour and away North. The previous day there had been no phone signal anywhere on Barra, no problem really as we had a return ticket. Pulling into the unmanned port around 9.30am the 2 lanes for prebooked vehicles were already full, with just the remaining ‘lane of shame’ for the non booked vehicles and we were the first and only ones in it-oh how the cage drivers frowned upon us. Checking my phone I finally had a signal so rang the Booking Office to be told .......... “I’m sorry Sir but all crossing are full until tomorrow morning but you could wait to see if somebody doesn’t turn up”. The 'Tonibe book nothing' style of travel was about to come crashing down hmy: .
As the ferry pulled in and unloaded one of the crew made a beeline for us saying there was no motorcycles on his list and the crossing was fully booked ..... but no problem he would squeeze us on=result :cheer: .

Photo looking back at Barra with the beach landing strip


Originally we had intended to go to Harris&Lewis but several people had said that Mull was a beautiful Island so after a look at the map we changed our plans. Mindful of the earlier ferry issue we push on through Uist, which was just as barren in the sunshine as it had been in the mist, and head straight for the ferry back to Skye. With the bike now running on fumes we booked on the next available crossing which gave just enough time for Brunch at the local port Museum.
Landing in Uig the clouds were gathering so after fuelling up we head straight for a campsite we know in Dunvegan, 2 nights on the trot with showers-oh my you are spoiling her MrB :laugh: .
On Sunday when travelling up the M6 we gave a thumbs up to a Landrover with “Australia to UK 2012/13” written across the back and tonight as I returned to the tent I spotted it over in the corner so stopped for a chat. Some of the photo’s on their laptop were fantastic and they were thrilled to meet like minded people who understood rather than asking “why” like most of their friends do. They had clearly sleep walked back into the work/bills/2 week holiday lifestyle but you could see their excitement grow as they answered my many questions. A very inspirational chance encounter with a couple of 'normal' people who just had a dream and did it without any book deals or sponsorship obligations to fulfil.
http://oandltrip.com/

[moto al]

A bril report ,as a scot it's one of the last true wild and open country's in Europe ,also you can wild camp without problem.apart for the midges ....al

[Paul-S]

Great report and pics

Some nice camping spots too