Our first van holiday

Thursday the 16th of September I finished work in the morning and we packed up our vivaro camper van and headed North to start our Outer Hebrides adventure. It was our first long trip away in the van, which we'd had converted in April. The few weekends here and there had wet our whistle for camper van adventures and we had excitedly been planning for this trip. It had been a long time coming as life through the last (nearly 2 years) had had its ups and downs and our trip to Antigua had been cancelled in 2020. We didnt feel ready to go abroad yet as we didnt want to fee stressed about travelling and end up being stranded somewhere. We'd chosen the Outer Hebrides as we'd hear lots of good things about the scenery and wanted to really get away from the rat race. Thursday night we headed up the east coast via the A1 and onto the A68. It's such a spectacular route and a definite must to avoid the monotony of motorway driving. We stayed just outside Jedburgh, literally right n the Scotland/England border and did our first 'wildcamp'.

We dont have a built in toilet facility in the camper so we'd taken a 'bivy loo'. Thankfully we didnt need to use it quite yet as there were toilet facilities just a couple of minutes away in Jedburgh. It was free to park and they were open at 7am. We set off again and headed for Kinlochleven for a night at my folks house. Along the way we popped in to Deli Ecosse in Callander. We'd googled vegan cafes and this one popped up in the search results. After a hearty breakfast and the purchase of a vegetarian haggis (!) we were fuelled up and ready to carry on our journey.

A cosy, warm, free night's accommodation at Chez Herbert, you cant beat it :-) We also headed out to Seagull Island to get out our new kayak. We set off, excited to be out on the mill pond that was Loch Leven. As is typical in Scotland though the weather changed and we battled back to shore through howling winds and choppy waters.

Saturday morning we'd made the decision to head off super early to take part in the Inverness park run. We have been working through the park run alphabet and were excited to be getting our 'I'. It wasnt to be though as the new Inverness park run had recently been changed to 'Torvean'. Two and half hours after setting off we arrived and met my oldest and bestest friend in the world 'Ginty'. The course follows paths around an old golf course with a sneaky little hill but nothing crazy. I was chuffed to come in as firs lady and we even bumped into a fellow Vegan Runner. Post brekkie was rustled up by the hostess with the mostess (Ginty )

Full up, once again we headed off up to Ullapool where we were catching our first ferry over to Lewis. We were keen to stop off at scenic places en-route and not just drive past, so we had a couple of stops off along the way. Rogie falls at Strathpeffer offered salmon leaping upstream to their breeding ground. It was amazing watching them throw themselves up the ragging waterfalls. (you had to be quick to get a pic....I wasnt!!)

Glascarnoch dam was next. It was so peaceful and I could feel the stress start to ease away already.

We'd opted for a hopper pass (hopscotch 8) which covered Lewis, Harris, and Barra. We'd planned the ferry times and had booked ahead as we weren't sure how busy it would be. We arrived in Ullapool and expected to struggle to find any vegan options. How shocked were we when we headed over to the highly recommended Seaforth Chippy and found they did a vegan option, which I have to say was pretty darn good.

Heading out from Ullapool was stunning as we waved good bye to mainland Britain and reveled in the beauty of the mountains.

We arrived late into Stornoway so it was dark. We headed up towards Port of Ness and on the recommendation of a local campsite owner who couldn't fit us in, we parked up at Sporsnis . In the morning we headed over to the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse and were delighted to see a group of grey seals watching us intently from close off the rocky shore line. A wander along the coast line certainly blew the cobwebs away

Travelling down through the Isle of Lewis everything was closed as Sunday is still very much a day of rest. We stopped to have a look round one of the old black houses (Gearran Blackhouse Village) settlements. Its remarkably to see how the Islanders would have lived and coped with the harsh conditions. Definitely worth a visit if you're passing. The standing stones at Callanish are also worth a visit. Dating back 5000 years you really feel there's something sacred about the site and you cant help but wonder what strange events happened there

Sunday and Monday night we booked into Talla Na Mara through the West Harris Trust. It was a tad more expensive than some others at £30 a night but we had hook up and the site was immaculate. There's a restaurant and several local local arty shops selling beautiful, unique artists pieces. The weather was pretty harsh but it was awe inspiring watching the waves crash on to the coast relentlessly. I had a little run out to MacLeods standing stone and we sat on the beach watching the sun sunset. On Monday we cycled to Luskentyre Beach, braving the increasing winds. The beaches are stunning and I can imagine in the summer they are spectacular.

Tuesday morning we headed to Leverburgh to get the ferry across to North Uist (Berneray). We'd booked in for 2 nights with hook up at Balranald Campsite . This is an RSPB site and once again we walked along the coast marveling in the rawness of the scenery.

Wednesday was once again windy and showery but we mounted our trusty steeds again and headed up to the radar station.

Thursday we headed down through Benbecula via the Downour Gin Disillery . It would have been rude not to purchase some of the local tipple. On the way we headed down to Lock Skipport and encountered the local Shetland pony herd. They are clearly used to tourists!

We had a wander down to the derelict pier where the Royal Yacht Brittania would dock when the queen came to visit the islands. Its hard to image royalty landing at this isolated, derelict pier.

We didn't have a camp site booked for Thursday so we headed to an area we could wild camp. We were really keen to book in to local facilities as much as possible but we weren't sure where we would be on this night. Using our app 'Park4Night' we located a little spot just outside Kildonan. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. The bivvy loo came out and although it takes a bit of getting used to it was a valuable addition to our equipment

Friday 24th we nipped on the ferry from Eriskay to Barra. Here we headed over to Barra Airport to see the plane land on the beach. The minimal staff double up as baggage handlers, refuellers, check in staff, emergency personnel and ops drivers. It was all very slick and would definitely be worth a flight. Friday and Saturday night we stayed at Borve Campsite. We couldn't book this online so had phoned up. It was £20 per night and well worth it. The site sits high up on the coast and the facilities are really well kept with a small kitchen area with washer and drier. It was great to have a good hot shower after our very wet cycle round the island (about 13 miles in total). Kisimul castle was sadly closed but looks like it would be worth a visit.

On Saturday we cycled over to Vatersay passing the site of the 1944 catalina plane crash in which 3 RAF crew men were killed when they became disorientated. The local war memorial highlights the loss that even these remote islands suffered during the 2 world wars.

As we headed to south beach the sun came out and we caught a glimpse of the beauty of the beaches. It really was almost tropical. We headed out for a circular walk and noted several sites where you could wild camp whilst being invited to place £10 per night in nearby honesty boxes.

Sunday morning we were up and away early to board the ferry from Castlebay over to Oban to begin our long journey home.

As we headed away from Barra the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon casting beautiful colours on the islands once more. We were sad to leave and will definitely return. There's so much to explore and see and the history of the islands fascinated us. There are derelict croft buildings dotted about all over the islands and their lives must have been hard in the harsh Scottish conditions. We survived 10 days in our camper and had thoroughly enjoyed the change of gear. In the evening we sat and read or watched downloaded episodes of BBC dramas. We got into a good routine with cooking and tidying up and had planned our meals enough so we had plenty of supplies with us, although we did stock up on goodies at a couple of local supermarkets. If you are thinking of doing this trip then I would thoroughly recommend it. We spoke to a local on Barra who said June and July is actually a good time to visit and down by the coast the midges are less of a problem. If you haven't experienced the Scottish 'midge' then you're in for a treat!!! I'm glad we booked camp sites as it felt right to pay to enjoy these beautiful islands but if you are planning on wild camping there are plenty of options. The beauty of these islands is their remoteness and it almost feels like you want to keep them secret so that they remain unspoilt. The only thing I regret is we didn't have binoculars so we missed seeing so much of the wildlife close up. Its worthwhile investing in a good quality pair, especially around the RSPB site. So that was our Hebridean Adventure. We're already talking about possible cycling the Hebridean way but that's a whole other adventure. Happy campervaning folks xx