Hebrides Countdown 2012...

Beaches. One of the best things about the Hebrides by far - endless beaches, white sand, the ocean crashing...bliss. We usually earmark our first Sunday over there for a beach walk - often this one:

West Beach, Berneray

3 miles of perfect, pretty much deserted white sandy gorgeousness. You relax just stepping on to it, although by the time you've walked a mile or so of it your leg muscles are feeling anything but relaxed - that soft sand is tough walking, you know! West beach is one of our favourites, but as beaches like this are dotted all over the islands (The Western edge of South Uist is almost entirely beach) then it's never hard to find one to walk on. A favourite down on South Uist is Kilpheder - here:

Kilpheder, South Uist

The fantastic beaches aren't just limited to the Southern islands, either - one of the most stunning views anywhere in the hebrides has to be from the main "Spine road" up through Harris, when you suddenly come across the view over Luskentyre - possibly the most beautiful beach I've ever seen

Luskentyre, Harris

I have many MANY photos of that view. Mainly because I can rarely resist stopping - there is a handily positioned layby just there and it's ideal for stopping to take a photo, or to see if we can spot some of the Long Tailed Ducks that seem to like the water just below where you're standing!

Moving on further up to Lewis, again, some fantastic beaches to choose from. I have a picture taken on the Island of Great Bernera, to the North of Lewis itself, which I used to use regularly as a desktop on my work computer - if I had a fiver for each time someone has told me that of course it couldn't be Scotland because "there aren't beaches like that in the UK" then I would have retired by now! Then there are the amzing rock stacks on the beach at Garry, North Tolsta:

Stacks at Garry, North Tolsta

there are countless others too - Vatersay where we've had the longest, laziest lunches basking in the sunshine, Eriskay's "Princes Strand" - said to be the landing place for Charles Stewart, the bird covered beaches of Benbecula, Clachan Sands....so many to choose from. I wonder where we wil got for our first walk of the holiday this year?

Robyn