Novice Camping in Outer hebrides
Discussion
[quote=Who me ?]Don't hold yer breath. Might be something for a thesis for a PH'D - my late dad was B+ as am I. Mum was o+, as is my wife. Both DAD & I were/are midge magnets. Mum & wife were/is not attacked. Personally I'd start visiting the local curry houses and ask for extra garlic. Might not be socially pleasant, but I spent a few years in Africa and Mozzies /elephant fly etc backed off at garlic smell .
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I'm O+, I'm 100% sure that they like my blood.
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I'm O+, I'm 100% sure that they like my blood.
Smidge works (just don't rub your eyes after you've used it). All the other deet insect repellants are pretty useless. Avon Skin So Soft works as it is so oily the midges can't get 'purchase'. Midge hoods and jackets stop 100% of bites (but you look like a git)
Knowing when & where you are likely to get bitten is the best form of defence.
Knowing when & where you are likely to get bitten is the best form of defence.
Had the pleasure of touring the Western Isles with work recently and stayed/dined at http://www.paircant-srath.co.uk/default.asp - If you fancy a nice meal or warm roof over your head for a night or two you could do a lot worse. The evening meals were as good as any restaurant I've dined in.
OK now have the last week of May booked off work for holidays so this is when we would be going.
Next question - how far in advance do you need to book the ferry tickets?
I am thinking if it rains while we are there, so be it.
However if on the week leading up to it if the longer term forecast is for rain and gales for a week I think it would be a lot tougher to set off into that knowing what is forecast to lie ahead!
Would I be able to leave it till midweek before and then book or is it far too busy (and as I type this I realise the weekend at the start of the week is bank holiday weekend)?
Next question - how far in advance do you need to book the ferry tickets?
I am thinking if it rains while we are there, so be it.
However if on the week leading up to it if the longer term forecast is for rain and gales for a week I think it would be a lot tougher to set off into that knowing what is forecast to lie ahead!
Would I be able to leave it till midweek before and then book or is it far too busy (and as I type this I realise the weekend at the start of the week is bank holiday weekend)?
Craigie said:
OK now have the last week of May booked off work for holidays so this is when we would be going.
Next question - how far in advance do you need to book the ferry tickets?
I am thinking if it rains while we are there, so be it.
However if on the week leading up to it if the longer term forecast is for rain and gales for a week I think it would be a lot tougher to set off into that knowing what is forecast to lie ahead!
Would I be able to leave it till midweek before and then book or is it far too busy (and as I type this I realise the weekend at the start of the week is bank holiday weekend)?
Last week of May is Spring bank Hols (Whitsun - 25th May) ... and REALLY busy. A week before or after much, much, much, much quieter.Next question - how far in advance do you need to book the ferry tickets?
I am thinking if it rains while we are there, so be it.
However if on the week leading up to it if the longer term forecast is for rain and gales for a week I think it would be a lot tougher to set off into that knowing what is forecast to lie ahead!
Would I be able to leave it till midweek before and then book or is it far too busy (and as I type this I realise the weekend at the start of the week is bank holiday weekend)?
Where are you planning to sail from?
I'm in Oban, my sister in law was playing a gig on Mull at beginning of April, forgot to book the ferry and could only get on the 7.15 sailing, and there are plenty of sailings to Mull daily. Not the case to Barra or South Uist. It's mobbed with tourists already here - I often go down to watch the ferries come and go in summer and they're generally rammed; easier to get on as a foot passenger, but limited car spaces.
I'm in Oban, my sister in law was playing a gig on Mull at beginning of April, forgot to book the ferry and could only get on the 7.15 sailing, and there are plenty of sailings to Mull daily. Not the case to Barra or South Uist. It's mobbed with tourists already here - I often go down to watch the ferries come and go in summer and they're generally rammed; easier to get on as a foot passenger, but limited car spaces.
Hope the weather is kind to you 
That's the way we went on honeymoon, a friend gave us a hopscotch ticket as a wedding gift and went Oban - Barra (stayed in the Castlebay hoter) drove over to Vatersay then a lap of Barra, ferry to Eriskay then drove up to North Uist where we had a loan of a house for a week, got the ferry from Berneray to Harris and drove up to Lewis and camped in a site just outside Stornoway for a couple of nights, toured about Lewis then the reverse on the way back. Had planned to go via Skye on the way back, however the weather was abysmal that late August, so we drove to south Uist and got the ferry back to Oban. Would love to do it again, only wild camping instead of a house, but the wee fella is too young for that.
Enjoy, the islands are stunning.
That's the way we went on honeymoon, a friend gave us a hopscotch ticket as a wedding gift and went Oban - Barra (stayed in the Castlebay hoter) drove over to Vatersay then a lap of Barra, ferry to Eriskay then drove up to North Uist where we had a loan of a house for a week, got the ferry from Berneray to Harris and drove up to Lewis and camped in a site just outside Stornoway for a couple of nights, toured about Lewis then the reverse on the way back. Had planned to go via Skye on the way back, however the weather was abysmal that late August, so we drove to south Uist and got the ferry back to Oban. Would love to do it again, only wild camping instead of a house, but the wee fella is too young for that.
Enjoy, the islands are stunning.
Craigie- you may be glad you didn't go from further north. And a heads up to anyone heading out to the (as I call them) Utter Hebrides. I often look at teletext news for Scotland, particularly Highlands & Islands, and whilst Ullapool is undergoing work , all vehicular traffic is now going going through Skye, which is being monitored. So both the road to /from and Uig may well get congested.
Well, came back yesterday from our jaunt to the Outer Hebrides in the tent and no divorce lawyer is required!
Spent two nights in Barra in a lovely ex-croft right on the waterside. Barra is a lovely island with its unique airport on the beach. We were woken on Monday morning by a police car racing past the site with its blues n twos on. The site owner who had lived in Barra all his life had never seen this before! Anyway it turns out that there had been a break in at the café at the airport! No big deal but the café also doubles up as the check in and security! Watched a plane land and then take off again, right up and close! Also took a drive over to Vatersay which has the most stunning beaches I have ever seen in my life. If only it wasn’t blowing a gale and 10 degrees then it would have been more Paradise like!
We then spent 2 nights in Benbecula, what a god-awful god-forsaken place!! Just sparse marshland for miles in all directions, a hellish wind blowing through it permanently and very few trees to be seen! Had chosen to stay here as it was roughly half way up the OH but would gladly recommend to anyone to drive right through.
Then two nights in Stornoway. For a “major” port route and lots of tourists, the town itself is crying out for someone to take it by the scruff of the neck and bring it up to scratch. I get the bit that this is their town and they don’t want to turn it into something resembling Blackpool or whatever. However lots of the industry is fishing and we were wanting to go for a meal that would have lots of fish options, all locally caught, maybe processed through the local Smoke house but nope – there was nothing available. Ended up having a meal in the Chinese restaurant which actually happened to be one of the nicest Chinese meals I have ever hand. The mixed platter for starters had the usual prawn sesame toast – but this is the first time of having this that the “toast” bit was actually jam packed with prawns!
Tent wise, our Vango Icarus 500 stood up to the challenge. Yes, someone’s description of “trying to sleep in a huge crisp packet whilst someone scrunches it all night” was pretty accurate. We picked this tent so that we could stand up in it which of course made it far more vulnerable in the wind however the fibreglass poles have some amount of flexibility in them. Having said that, I think every other camper we met had a much lower down tent!
Saw some strange motoring sights, none more than the rusting Ford Transit sitting in one field (it would appear no one scraps vehicles in the OH they just leave them in their fields) but this Transit looked like it had been left to rust away and you could see all the lines of rust working across it as if it was being eaten away in front of your eyes. I swear one day every door and panel will just fall off the chassis simultaneously!
A huge number of cyclists in the island all doing the camping bit and cycling from one end to the other. We had a car full, boot full and back seat full, and these folk had all their possessions including their tent and sleeping bags in a couple of pannier bags on their bikes!
Have got some stunning photos which , if there was a blue sky in them, you swear you wouldn't ever go anywhere else on holiday!
Spent two nights in Barra in a lovely ex-croft right on the waterside. Barra is a lovely island with its unique airport on the beach. We were woken on Monday morning by a police car racing past the site with its blues n twos on. The site owner who had lived in Barra all his life had never seen this before! Anyway it turns out that there had been a break in at the café at the airport! No big deal but the café also doubles up as the check in and security! Watched a plane land and then take off again, right up and close! Also took a drive over to Vatersay which has the most stunning beaches I have ever seen in my life. If only it wasn’t blowing a gale and 10 degrees then it would have been more Paradise like!
We then spent 2 nights in Benbecula, what a god-awful god-forsaken place!! Just sparse marshland for miles in all directions, a hellish wind blowing through it permanently and very few trees to be seen! Had chosen to stay here as it was roughly half way up the OH but would gladly recommend to anyone to drive right through.
Then two nights in Stornoway. For a “major” port route and lots of tourists, the town itself is crying out for someone to take it by the scruff of the neck and bring it up to scratch. I get the bit that this is their town and they don’t want to turn it into something resembling Blackpool or whatever. However lots of the industry is fishing and we were wanting to go for a meal that would have lots of fish options, all locally caught, maybe processed through the local Smoke house but nope – there was nothing available. Ended up having a meal in the Chinese restaurant which actually happened to be one of the nicest Chinese meals I have ever hand. The mixed platter for starters had the usual prawn sesame toast – but this is the first time of having this that the “toast” bit was actually jam packed with prawns!
Tent wise, our Vango Icarus 500 stood up to the challenge. Yes, someone’s description of “trying to sleep in a huge crisp packet whilst someone scrunches it all night” was pretty accurate. We picked this tent so that we could stand up in it which of course made it far more vulnerable in the wind however the fibreglass poles have some amount of flexibility in them. Having said that, I think every other camper we met had a much lower down tent!
Saw some strange motoring sights, none more than the rusting Ford Transit sitting in one field (it would appear no one scraps vehicles in the OH they just leave them in their fields) but this Transit looked like it had been left to rust away and you could see all the lines of rust working across it as if it was being eaten away in front of your eyes. I swear one day every door and panel will just fall off the chassis simultaneously!
A huge number of cyclists in the island all doing the camping bit and cycling from one end to the other. We had a car full, boot full and back seat full, and these folk had all their possessions including their tent and sleeping bags in a couple of pannier bags on their bikes!
Have got some stunning photos which , if there was a blue sky in them, you swear you wouldn't ever go anywhere else on holiday!
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