Out to the Western Isles...(Part One)

Saturday, 7th May - (Catch-up)

Today we left Aviemore, and had to get to the ferry at Ullapool. We were advised to leave two hours, but knowing us we left at around 7.00am, and the road is very good and you have to divert a little at Inverness, and go over the bridge at the Forth of Moray.

Very pleasant run, and you come down the hill into Ullapool, which again is one of the many harbour towns, nestled into the cliffs/hills behind the town. 

The ferry people are so well organised and we quickly found a huge parking area where they check your tickets, and have you put your car in a queue line, ready for going onto the ferry. Then, if you have the time and have arrived early as we did, you get wandering time to have a look at the village.

There wasn't much to see, but we found postcards in a huge touristy shop. Some of the shots on these cards are often better than we will be able to take, and so Lee puts them into our album when we come home.

This ferry is quite large and once on, you then get lots of space to either find a seat indoors or wander about on the deck with other passengers (and their dogs!), and take in the scenery.

Leaving Ullapool for Stornaway (Lewis), is just magic. We had a good day with some sun and cloud, but the ferry passes through and by so many changes in the landscape/watercape, it is just stunning.

Our photo's won't do it justice, but there was a 'professional' on deck with all his lenses and whatever, and he would have gotten some great shots.

The day was good and we had a trip of about two and three-quarter hours, so plenty of time to relax and take it all in. The other end is just as efficient and you go down to your car at the announced time and then just drive off to your new adventure. There were caravans, campervans, pushbikes, walkers, you name it.

The ferry took about 90 minutes to get out past all the islands and headlands, and as we went further out, more and more distant mountains kept appearing behind those we could already see.

We had lunch on the ferry and both had beef and ale pie with great chips as a side. I asked the man from the kitchen what they used, and he simply said they only used vegetable oil, but because they did so many chips, they changed the oil very regularly.

We had seen a number of watercolours in our rooms at Aviemore, by an artist called Anthony Barber, and his stuff is just wonderful. It turned out he now lives on Lewis, up at a place called Point Ness, which is the furthest north we will have been in Scotland so far.

So after we landed, we decided to drive straight up to Point Ness, and come back and check in to the B & B later.

Point Ness is a beautiful area, with a beach Australia would be proud of. If it wasn't so early in the season I would have gone in for a swim.

The gallery (see the link), is a small one above the beach, and we had a very pleasant talk to the artist, which is great to be able to do. Would have loved to buy an original, but it would have proved too hard to get back home.

After that we drove back to Stornaway, to try and find our B & B, but got hopelessly lost and had to phone the guy and get better directions

Island of Lewis is quite different to anywhere we've been before. There are little houses everywhere, but there seems to have been no 'plan' whatsoever to where they have been built.
We gathered from someone we spoke to that people just got a piece of land, and built a house. But the randomness of their placement is quite pronounced. Some are clustered together to almost make a small hamlet, but you come across a little white house in the middle of nowhere. Also the fact that there are none, or very few trees, tends to make them stand out.

Beach at Point Ness

And, why are most of the houses in Scotland painted white?? You would think that in Australia, we would use the colour white to reflect the heat, but there isn't the same sort of heat, and you get snow as well. We also saw lots of peaty moors, and even some examples of people still gathering the peat, and turning it over for drying, to use as a fuel in winter. Apparently they are allotted an area to work, and can't take any more.

We had also gone out to the lighthouse on the Butt of Ness, which then became the most northerly place we have been in the UK.

Peat 'farming'

Fascinating outlook, and steep cliffs dropping to rocks and ocean below, and no signs of any kind, warning of the dangers of nearing the edge!

However although we were looking out at the Atlantic Ocean, it was so calm, it could have been Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne.


On the way back we went and found an ancient sight which we thought might be standing stones, but it was just a ancient site of a house(?), and a stone circle.

Got a little lost in trying to find the B & B, and had to phone the owner. Eventually got there, and had a nice room on the first floor with a view over Sandwick Bay. Nice meal down at a local hotel, and were informed that very little if anything would be open tomorrow, (Sunday), as they close the lot down for long-time religious reasons. We were told that in years past even the local children's play park was locked on Sundays!!