The Outer Hebrides is made up of over 100 islands of which only 14 are populated. Unless of course you count sheep. Our 130 mile journey South passed through all the islands from the Butt of Lewis at the top to tiny Vatersay at the bottom. The Arrivals building at Stornoway Stornoway is the main gateway to the Outer Hebrides. 3 ferries a day from the mainland and a number of flights from Glasgow, Aberdeen and other Scottish hubs. For us, flying there from the Home Counties, took a 10 hour day including transfers etc. If we were to drive,…

    5000 year old Callanish Stones, West Lewis Loch Eireasort, from Keose – Lewis Luskentyre Bay – Harris Loch Einort – South Uist Seilebost – Harris Islibhig Peninsula – West Lewis Balranald RSPB reserve – North Uist Shiant Isles 10 miles off Harris Einacleite – West Harris Guillemots – Shiant Isles Arctic Tern Brenish – West Harris The Airport Bay – Barra Valtos Beach – Lewis Fulmar Colony – Lewis Shiant Isles Cnip Bay – Lewis Ness Harbour – Lewis Leverburgh – Harris North Uist Balranald – North Uist Barra Airport Keose – Lewis Bernereay Island Red Deer –…

Our 15 year old map showed the route from the top of South Uist down to Barra as being pretty much single track ‘passing places only’, and it was right. What it also showed was that the ferry to Barra needed to go by the tiny island of Eriskay. Joy upon joys, the map did not show that a new causeway had been constructed connecting these two and that it was possible to get straight to Eriskay by road. Half an hour [at least] saved. Disaster 1 Above: Causeway view of a seagull and tiny island – centre – that…

“Unashamedly, I am the noisy Plover King A keen spotter of more than just a Lapwing. Eagle-eyed I scan the skies, Searching for just about anything that will surprise…” The King and Author (on the left) with The Spotter Team ‘On the Road to No-where’. The road to Keose and the ‘Rhododendron Lochan’ The imposing scenery at the end of the road at remote Brenish. Out to sea, not visible here, we could see the distant St Kilda island group “And when there’s a fluttering dot or just a plain jackdaw It’s me that claims it in the car-competition score….

Through the Sound of Scalpay, down the Stream of the Blue Men and across the Minch, past the Galtachans and on to Na h-Eileanan Mora. The view across Luskintyre bay. En route to Leverburgh wharf Not the Bay we wanted but it looked the part. Terry had already cocked up and our ten compatriots knew it. Gaelic or no Gaelic, we were late and had gone to the wrong port. Not the wrong jetty, the wrong port. 20 miles further down the coast. Captain Sean [we later became friends] didn’t show his frustration [really] but out we went under the…

Map Coordinates: 50.577N; 3.961W Photographs from the Primordial Woodland that lies due North of the hamlet of Two Bridges in central Dartmoor. April 5&6 2018.     Set on a remote Dartmoor hillside, this little patch of ancient forest still holds as one of Dartmoor’s most impressive natural attractions. Looking at the map and realising the trail to the nearest point of the wood is a good 2 miles; I’d thought that this would filter out the majority of trippers. Not so, this place proved popular and very much on the visitor circuit. The track as seen from the car…

October 2017 Autumn, and a 1200+ mile trip to the Highlands with a view to getting some seasonal colour and pitching up at those sites you just know would have been full a couple of weeks before. A view up Glen Nevis, with wet cloud concealing the Country’s highest mountain at 4000+ feet Once you have motored north of Glasgow, the route to the Highlands seems to divide into 2 – both of which are picturesque and at times breathtakingly scenic. The West Coast Route takes its winding time to pass Loch Lomond before heading out to the great sea…

It’s two weeks since I left the summer heat of the Southern Hemisphere and now find myself plunged into a world of whiteout and sub-zero temperatures. Two weeks since Australia, and the memorable Antipodean extremes that were so publicised by the local press at the time. From the Forties to the Cooler. My temperature range for the last month has now stretched to 57 degrees – and only 10 of them below. A post-it note here should get this into perspective. Australia – or the bit I visited, doesn’t suffer extremes of winter cold – Jersey weather down to [only]…

Trees from my journey… some of the hundreds of varieties found in Australia