As usual with any Hebrides trip these days, there was a bit of ferry-related stress on the way up. It was windy - not by Hebrides standards, but windy nonetheless. And the ferry has a stabiliser out of action at the moment which affects the sea-states she can sail in. As a result we actually let our overnight hotel not quite knowing if we would get across, or not. Thankfully by the time we reached Fort William we were able to see that the boat had left South Uist on her way across to the mainland, so a big sigh of relief was breathed!
The weather this year did leave a little to be desired - especially when compared with our two weeks of wall to wall sunshine and ludicrously warm temperatures in 2023. Nobody with any sense visits the Western Isles for sunbathing weather though, so it didn’t get in the way of anything we wanted to do, although it did mean we adjusted the days we chose to do a few things, and also meant that it was right at the end of our stay before we finally made it up our favourite little hill on Benbecula - Rueval…
The views were as stunning as ever, but oh my was it breezy at the top!
Coincidence of the trip was finding ourselves by chance sharing a table at The Dunes Cabin for lunch with another couple - we got chatting as you do, and after a while the conversation turned to where we were from… “Essex” said we…”oh, us too” came the response…”which bit?” Well, it only turned out that they live less than quarter of a mile from our front door! Ludicrous or what? It was their first visit to the islands, so we passed on a few “must sees” and will be keeping an eye out for them locally now we’re back to see if they are planning a return trip!
Of course we booked for another trip on the boat with the lovely Lady Anne crew - Nye was skippering this time, with new crew member Rosie alongside, and as usual we were expertly navigated into some great spots to see some fabulous wildlife, with the beautiful White Tailed Eagles being stars of the show as always.
That is Ronald - one of the pair resident in the area the boat visits. Handsome chap isn’t he! I’ve photographed them a number of times now but the thrill as you first see them never diminishes - and it always takes your breath away seeing such a huge bird so close up as well. It’s just such a privilege - and well worth the cost of the trip.
As usual the trip was filled with plenty of wandering about, nice food, general relaxing and a bit of exploring too - even after all these years we still find the odd place we’ve not been to before. We were also over for the Tractor Rally this year too - first time we’ve been there for that in a good few years. Always good fun, the tractors set off earlier in the morning to do a circuit around the Island before heading back to the hall and show ground at Hosta. Everyone admires them for a bit, then goes and eats and jolly good lunch of soup, sandwiches and homebaking - and there is NOTHING not to like about that! The Uist ladies really know how to bake as well and they are definitely “never knowingly undercatered” - we were absolutely stuffed. It’s all for charity as well, so feels like a good way of being able to contribute something back, while we are there.
We were also up at the right time for the stunning arrays of wildflowers on the machair - always a highlight of a spring visit, and this year didn’t let us down as Uist had a warm spell at the beginning of May which meant all the flowers were a bit ahead of where they might usually have been. The orchids in particular were both stunning and prolific!
All in all, another lovely trip. It’s always tough to leave, but then these days not only do we know we will most definitely be returning, we are also coming home to a place we love, and with plenty to keep us occupied between the garden (which ran cheerfully amok while we were gone!) and airshow season now starting properly for me.
Our 2025 trip is already booked up - so we’d better get saving!
Robyn.
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