Harris Without The Tweed

 If you look at a 2D map of Harris and Lewis it's hard to see why they are considered separate islands. Look at things in 3D and you see the very different character of each island. Lewis has vast tracts of featureless peat bog.  Harris has mountains. And beaches. One features on postcards and magazine articles on a regular basis: Luskentyre. It is often rated as one of the top ten beaches in the world.

On a breezy and overcast morning we set off to see whether the hype lived up to reality.

The drive through Harris revealed a completely different landscape. Mountains shrouded in cloud rose up around us. The road climbed over a mountain pass, amongst boulder strewn slopes and first on one side and then the other sea lochs. In the cloud the landscape looked quite brooding and inhospitable. We eventually reach the turning for Luskentyre and followed a single track road for three miles until reaching a small car park with just a handful of other cars and camper vans. For a world class beach Luskentyre certainly wasn't attracting crowds. We walked through the dunes and onto an expansive beach. Despite the cloud and stiff breeze it still looked beautiful. The sea had a turquoise tint and the sand stretched on and on. We walked into the wind and soon had the entirety of Luskentyre to ourselves. It didn't look like the Instagram photos, much wilder with waves crashing in from the Atlantic but still magnificent. After walking about three quarters of a mile the cloud turned to drizzle and we turned back with the wind behind our backs making walking much easier. It's hard to overstate how significant the wind is in the Outer Hebrides and how much effort is needed to walk when it's blowing hard.

Luskentyre beach on a murky and very breezy day

After this 'workout' we drove further south and detoured to 'Croft 36'. I had read about this place. Its a food stall by the side of a minor road in South Harris. Each day the owner puts freshly cooked and baked goodies in it for sale. It operates entirely on an honesty box basis. We dropped by to see what was available. Everything looked tasty and we purchased a loaf of still warm bread, some butteries, (a type of butter bun), and some frangipan. 

Croft 36

Contining on we reached Leverburgh, and then headed east on a minor road towards a village called Rodel. We had started to think about lunch, when we stumbled across another food stall by the side of a croft. This one was called Katies Kitchen and sold hot soup, hot drinks, hot Stornoway black pudding sausage rolls and various cakes including some tempting fruit cake. Again all operated on an honesty box basis. 

We couldn't resist and sat in the car eating delicious sausage rolls, followed by the frangipans from Croft 36 and hot chocolate, but with some fruit cake for later.

Mrs B's favourite!

From Rodel we worked our way along the east coast road, all single track, often very misty with boulders strewn across the bleak moorland. It looked other worldly. It has been nicknamed the Golden Road apparently a local councillor was complaining about how much money it cost to construct it. It  Eventually after passing through small fishing communities and driving at no more than 20mph due to the bends, blind summits and sheep in the road we arrived in Tarbert.

A gin palace...

Its where the ferry arrives from Skye and is the commercial and social hub of Harris. It has a ssecondary school, a couple of hotels and a smattering of shops and tourist attractions including a Harris tweed outlet and a gin distillery. It didn't take very long to take in all that Tarbert had to offer, so on a whim I took us over to the neighbouring small island of Scalpay. This turned out to be an inspired choice. 

Scalpay only used to be connected to Harris by ferry. Its a small island but has a thriving fishing industry. In 1997 a simple but elegant road bridge was built to connect Scalpay to Harris. It was officially opened by Tony Blair, who was apparently plagued by midges during his visit. 

Scalpay Bridge

Once on Scalpay we read an information board spotted by Mrs B, that suggested walks on the island, including one to Eilean Glas lighhouse. This intrigued us and patches of blue sky had appeared with the sun had starting to shine through, so we parked and set off on a well marked track. The stiff breeze still made walking a harder proposition that might be expected on fairly level ground, but we soon got views of the red and white striped lighthouse on the cliff edge. 

Eilean Glas lighthouse appears on the skyline.

The lighthouse tower you can see today dates back to 1824, but nearby is a smaller stumpy tower that is one of the earliest to be built in Scotland, in 1789. 

Eilean Glas lighthouse

The first lighthouse

After reaching the lighthouse which is now cared for by a trust, we found a makeshift cafe operated by a volunteer who has to walk a mile each way to offer this service. We had a hot drink, partly to support the trust, and had a chat with another couple who were visiting like us. Both were retired members of the European Space Agency and like us had travelled a lot. We swapped a few travellers tales before making the return journey and then the long drive home to our base.

After a week of cloudy and occasionally rainy weather, things improved for the last days of our stay in the Outer Hebrides. We had one full day and we agreed, because it was sunny, to return to Uig beach and then to revisit Clibh bay, because they are such special places on Lewis. First we drove down to Uig. Whilst the sun was shining brightly the wind hadn't abated in fact it had got stronger. We went through the dunes and found ourselves walking into a 40mph wind, blowing sand at high speed across the beach. We gritted our teeth, both metaphorically and physically and walked across the bay. It was tough but much easier returning -with the wind at our backs. 

Our final views of Uig

Once out of the wind it felt as though our faces had been exfoliated.

We drove back through Glen Valtos, back to Clibh. Mrs B paid a final visit to her late fathers gravestone and we walked along the beach. The waves rolling in from the Atlantic were impressive - we could only imagine how wild this place would be in a winter storm. 

Clibh Beach 

In the afternoon I explored a little more of Great Bernera on foot. The sun was shining, the wind was still blowing hard and I ended up at the end of the road, in Kirkibost after walking four or fives miles. 

The road to Kirkibost

Kirkibost view across to Lewis

It was now time to pack up and start a long, some might say leisurely, return journey. So the next day we tidied up, packed our bags (or more accurately rucksacks) and plotted a route to the ferry port of Tarbert for the first leg of our return journey, back to Skye. Because our ferry didn't leave until late afternoon, we thought it would be nice to see a bit more of the Golden Road on Harris and, if we had time, try and see Luskentyre beach in sunshine. It was a revelation driving through Harris in good weather. We could see the tops of mountains and views - before everything had been hidden by dense cloud and mist. 

We bypassed Tarbert and started off on the Golden Road. Being a Sunday it was very, very quiet. We passed tiny settlements with red phone boxes, numerous little lochs and, at Finbay, stopped to take photos of seals. Most resting on the rocks, some swimming and one leaping out of the water. 

The 'Golden Road', Harris

Golden Road views

Finally we worked our way around to Luskentyre and saw it as it is pictured in the guidebooks - with a backdrop of mountains, soft golden white sand that goes on and  on.It was a marvellous way to spend our final few hours. On arrival we found that It was busier than when we first visited, but parking wasn't a problem and in no time at all we left people behind and were walking once again across the sands,with a turquoise sea and white capped waves breaking against the shore. It was pretty much perfect. There was even a breeze to keep any midges at bay.

Spot Mrs B!

Luskentyre

Our ferry departed a little late but by late afternoon we were sailing away from Lewis and Harris a little sad at leaving a place that is both special and magical. I'd planned to spend a couple of nights on Skye before we returned to mainland Scotland and we started to check the weather forecast and make plans.