Saturday 4^th August

South Harris and Berneray

At breakfast we met 2 French guests. He had very good English and wore a space Agency t shirt. He told us they’d booked a hotel in Tarbert by Booking .com and discovered too late that it was for Tarbert in Ayrshire. Luckily there was a vacancy here as we haven’t seen many other B and Bs apart from the 2 hotels. We hope their holiday had no more mishaps as their easy jet flight had been cancelled too, further changing their plans.

We left just after 9. Arlene had given us an enormous breakfast. She has been horrified by how little cyclists eat before setting off for a long ride and told us to take some energy bars with us. We took it steady and walked up the hill out of Tarbert heading south for Leverburgh, through rocky terrain with views out to Scalpay bridge. The winds were slightly against us and it was hard up and even down we couldn’t build up momentum, though it did get better. Surprisingly we encountered a lot of people cycling- the other way! A young couple came by on a tandem, hair flying, no saddle bags, whooping and waving as they flew down the hill.

Later we were passed by 2 young chaps we’d met on the ferry. Surely they hadn’t been to Barra and back again!

There was nothing except signposts for walks and the odd road off the main one. Sometimes art and craft ware was advertised at someone’s house gate. A few camping pods, one tent and then piles of covered peat sprinkled the landscape. We passed some attractive croft like houses for 5 star self -catering, some built into the land with grass rooves. These looked out onto the extensive sands of South Harris.

The sea was teal coloured against the pale, yellow, almost white sometimes, sands. A coach passed us, passengers waving. Then they too stopped like us to take a picture of the clear water where you could see the colour of the seaweed beneath.

Just a bit further on we stopped at a camp site served by a mobile snack van and bought hot drinks. The toilets looked like a long trek across the fields, so we didn’t drink too much! This was the only place in at least 10 miles. We were slowed down by having to pull over for cars on the single- track sections. Sheep lazed by the verge.

There was a sign for a café near the Seallam visitors centre but it was a mile away and then might not be open. The visitors centre was closed- on a Saturday! We’d still hills to climb and wind to endure-I don’t know how Bob can control the bike when it gusts hard from the side.

We saw many fungi flat mushrooms and round yellow ones while yellow was the predominant wild flower colour. There were a few houses at Scarista but Leverburgh the next largest village to Tarbert has more. There was a large shop and café just coming in but no others until The Anchorage right at the ferry. This is decorated in a blue and white nautical theme and run by friendly Hungarians and Czechs. A minke whale spine hangs from the ceiling. While we sheltered and waited for the ferry to Berneray, we saw several plates of lobster delivered to tables. We would eat tonight so we had soup and  roll, but they ran out of shellfish anyway.

The ferry ride- £7.20 for both of us- was a hour and it slalomed across the Minch marked by red and green beacons. The passengers all sat upstairs and tickets were bought on board.

Berneray hada lovely feel to it. As we rode out of the ferry “port” there was a sign warning us of otters crossing. There’s a bunkhouse and a youth hostel but the bunkhouse was obviously full as later- on after finding our B and B, we met a fellow passenger weighed down with rucksack struggling in the wind and rain, walking to the hostel, 1 1/2 miles away. It’s always best to book ahead!

“Brightwater” has lovely views to sea and Harris. It’s called so because of the clear sparkling water washing over the fool’s gold on the sea bed, said our hostess.

We walked up the village past the PO and visited a tiny gift shop, open till 5, buying a herbal shampoo bar made on Lewis.( so long as it’s Hebridean) We passed the nurses cottage which is now a museum of the area and to the seal view where we watched several seals on the orange seaweed covered rocks.

Back at the house we were given a lovely meal while watching the sea from a picture window. A hooded crow was throwing a mollusc up in the air and then diving down to eat it, though we weren’t sure if it was finding that one hard to crack or if he had a store he was going through. Apparently otters frequently walk across the bottom of the garden, verging on the sea’s edge.

I was quite embarrassed by how much we ate. They were the best new potatoes ever tasted and there was a mountain - with green beans, ratatouie and fresh salmon ( twice the size of what we would normally eat.)  Bob had a huge plate of strawberries and cream and I had the runniest ripe brie. We’d booked dinner as we didn’t see anywhere to go using the net, but actually coming from the ferry there was a little shop- well stocked and attached a small bistro. We still did better at the house by all accounts though!

Sunday 5^th

We had porridge and cooked breakfast. Jackie, our hostess seems to be owner and cook- a lovely lady from Kent, she came for a holiday and promptly went home, packed up and returned for ever. She never learnt Gaelic because it was considered bad manners to speak it in front of her. She thinks Berneray is the best island in the Hebrides and I am inclined to agree with her. Seals and otters on the doorstep and a tiny island community.

We left at 9 and were soon on the causeway to North Uist