Whoa! We’re Going To Barbados

The summer of 1975 was a time of upheaval in the life of 13 year old Neil. I’d just lost my dad which is, of course, a major life changing event to come to terms with. I was a slightly awkward adolescent that had only recently become interested in aircraft, a hobby that would go on to shape my life. It was a long hot summer, the first of two in a row, and our planned holiday to Italy had naturally been cancelled when my dad died. Our holiday to Sorrento would have seen us fly to Naples from Manchester in a Dan-Air DH Comet. I never did get to fly on a De Havilland Comet and if there is an afterlife I’ll be having words with my dad about it. Anyway, in that hot summer of ’75 there was a song that reached Number One in the charts called ‘Barbados’ by a couple of English blokes that called themselves Typically Tropical. It told the tale of a West Indian London bus driver who couldn’t wait to get back to Barbados, in the Sunny Caribbean Sea. What’s more, it had significant aviation content with announcements from Captain Tobias Willcock of Coconut Airways. That, along with its outrageous catchiness, has made it stick in my mind for the past fifty years and I will refer to the Caribbean Sea as the Sunny Caribbean Sea to this day and have probably done so in previous blogs. Here’s the song if you would like to be reminded of it.

Why do I bring this up now I hear you ask. Well, some fifty-one years later we went to Barbados. Whoa! The story really began nine or ten months ago. Elaine and I were approaching our 40th wedding anniversary and felt we’d rather like to go on holiday somewhere with the kids. We had done this a couple of years ago when we had a week in Mexico over the New Year and enjoyed it so what better excuse than to do it again. With daughter Rebecca living in the far west of Canada we started looking for somewhere equidistant for us to travel. Barbados fitted the bill almost exactly (Troon is 200 miles closer to Barbados Airport than Victoria, less than 5% of the total distance). We were initially a bit hesitant about visiting the Caribbean having had a family holiday in St Lucia in 2001. Whilst there was nothing wrong with the place, we didn’t really enjoy it. I’ve been to Antigua in the meantime for the cricket – Calypso Collapso – which was great (apart from the actual cricket) but I don’t think there was quite enough there to keep us occupied for ten days. Barbados, however, came with the recommendation of a couple of friends of ours who have been there on multiple occasions. We found that we could hire a villa that could comfortably fit our party of seven and booked it for the end of April just as the Caribbean peak period had ended. That saved us quite a bit of money. We then booked the flights, found some flights for Rebecca and Harry that arrived at a similar time to ours and booked them too. All we had to do was pay the accommodation balance, sort out some other bits and pieces and turn up at Glasgow Airport on the 19th April, the actual day of our Ruby Wedding anniversary. Our son Nicholas and his friend Mollie were there to join us on the 07:30 flight. That flight got us to Heathrow where we had to transfer from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, meet up with our friend Caryn who was joining us on this adventure and catch flight BA255 to Bridgetown Grantley Adams Airport. Meanwhile, Rebecca and partner Harry flew overnight from Victoria to Toronto and then onto Bridgetown beating us by an hour and a half. Part of booking the villa early was complimentary VIP arrival service which meant someone met us off the flight and guided us through priority lanes at immigration and customs which was great as the airport was a bit busy at the time and we were last off the plane. The VIP arrival people also made sure we met up with Rebecca and Harry and called the minibus taxi we had pre-arranged to collect us and take us to the accommodation. Charlene, whose taxi had an impressive gear stick, duly appeared and a 45 minute drive took us to our villa.

Villa Calliaqua with pool cottage. A magnificent base for a Barbados holiday.

Villa? Yes, we had hired a villa though it could also be described as a big house. When we were planning this break we had considered hotels, all-inclusive or not, Airbnbs and any other type of accommodation you can think of with the possible exception of tents. We came across a number of companies that offered villas with pools. They looked fantastic as they always do on the websites and we were severely tempted to get one of them. They are not cheap but they accommodate a lot of people. What’s more, they all appeared to come with staff. Some provided you with a cook and housekeeper. Slightly superior properties gave you a chef and butler. We narrowed it down to two, one of each and in the end plumped for the former. It wasn’t because it was a bit cheaper, welcome though that was, it was down to the fact it had a fresh water pool rather than saltwater. The villa was called Calliaqua and was situated on Sugar Hill Resort near the town of Holetown, midway up the west coast of Barbados. We booked it through a British based agent called Hammerton Barbados which as the name may suggest, specialises in Barbados villas. They answered our many queries but even so, we had a bit of trepidation when we arrived. Would the villa be ok? How would it work with the staff? What would be for dinner when we got there? We needn’t have worried of course. The villa had five bedrooms. Well, to be precise, the villa had four bedrooms and a cottage by the pool that can, and was, used as a fifth. Prices are tiered for three, four or five bedroom occupancy. Rather than give you the full brochure description I’ll give you a link to the listing on the Hammerton website as they do it better than me. I will only add that we were not in the least bit disappointed. Villa Calliaqua.

Al fresco dining on the verandah, the balcony and the view from it.

Garden visitor.

The ‘staff’ were there to greet us. I’m going to stop calling them ‘staff’ from now on as that does them a disservice. The idea of having people ‘to do’ for you might make you feel a bit uneasy, harking back to colonial days. Our ‘staff’ were people and wonderful people at that. Celeste and her daughter Anika were the housekeepers. Janelle was the cook. All three worked eight hours per day, six days a week based in the kitchen and utility rooms which got rather hot. On some days we altered the hours to give them some extra time off which was the least they deserved. Housekeeping included getting your laundry done daily – had we realised we could have packed much lighter! – whilst Janelle would produce three hearty meals a day if we wanted, breakfast, lunch and dinner. She would have shopped for the food too had we wanted her to though after the first visit we tended to visit the local Massy’s supermarket ourselves to get the supplies. We decided on the menu when we first met her. This was basically for her to cook local dishes as she saw fit. Local dishes are good! We did have some requests like pizza for lunch one day and pancakes (crepes) for breakfast but most of the time we left it up to her and were always more than happy with what she made for us. Tipping culture is a thing out there and there were suggested amounts, purely at our discretion you understand. However, we had no hesitation in generously tipping these lovely ladies at the end of our stay. They had made a good holiday great and deserved it.

We were there for ten days. Just what do you get up to for ten days in Barbados? Naturally, a lot of time is spent relaxing either on a golden, sandy beach or by the pool. The villa’s pool was really good so we tended to sty there for chill time. Chill is a bit of an oxymoron of course, Barbados is just 13 degrees of latitude from the equator, right in the tropical zone and has temperatures to match. Never too hot though. During our stay the daytime temperature was in the low 30s celsius. That heat did generate clouds so the sunshine wasn’t uninterrupted but we only suffered rain on a couple of occasions. Peak time for Barbados is from Christmas to Easter where the temperatures are a degree or two lower and the humidity is less but no matter when you go it is going to be warm. We were there at the end of April, taking advantage of off-peak prices but still before the rainy season or the humidity got oppressive. Sitting in the sun, or indeed the shade along with mucking about in the pool is all well and good but doesn’t make for an interesting blog so it is just as well we did some other stuff too.

Compared with my previous experience of the Caribbean, just two whole islands, Barbados has a plethora of activities that can occupy your time between cocktails. Having a hire car is a good idea. There is a good network of buses on the island but schedules and frequency are a secret only the locals will know so we decided car hire was best. We needed one to get the shopping anyway. In fact as there were seven of us we got two. With them you can discover the rest of the island. We ventured out to the east coast to a place called Bathsheba which has the Andromeda Botanical Gardens to visit as well as an interesting beach with sea stacks and rock pools. Going in the sea here is a big no-no unless you have a surfboard and are a competent surfer. However, you can bath in the rock pools at low tide which we intended to do but didn’t. There’s a nice restaurant for lunch too called Zemi.

Andromeda Botanic Gardens with a couple of roses (Elaine and Caryn), some pretty flowers and me holding up a Bearderd Fig, the tree which gave Barbados its name.

Bathsheba Beach with Harry the king of the rocks.

Not quite Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Biscay perhaps but a pretty decent effort with a bonus beach dog.

At the very top of the island is Animal Flower Cave. This is a sea cave that you can visit (for a fee) and it too has a rock pool. This time some of us did take the plunge which was pretty cool, both literally and figuratively. The cave gets it strange name from the anemones that grow in the pools that react to stimulation in what’s, presumably, an animal like manner. Sadly there’s not many of them left, probably because tourists like us go there and keep prodding them although the current guardians of the cave are supposedly taking more care of it than the original owners.

Welchman Hall Gully is situated in the middle of the island next to the highest point in Barbados. The gully is a collapsed limestone cave that forms a valley in which our guide, Ashae, told us all about the flora that occupied it. Not all is native, the site having been developed back in colonial days into another botanical garden by a plantation owner’s wife who presumably lived in Welchman Hall. It now belongs to the Barbados version of the National Trust and was a lot more interesting than a load of trees should be. That was mainly down to the guide but also because it is a home to a couple of troupes of Green African monkeys. These monkeys were brought over in colonial times as a food source for the plantation workers but no one told the monkeys that and they are now found all over the island. We enjoyed seeing them – who doesn’t like a monkey – but we needn’t have gone anywhere for monkey action as we got them in the villa garden later. Monkeys or not, Welchman Hall Gully is worth the trip along some very rough roads.

Welchman Hall Gully Guide Ashae was also the group shot photographer.

Botanical stuff including nutmeg, not a native plant.

Welchman Green African Monkeys, not a native animal but don’t tell them that.

If you are looking for a bit more of white knuckle experience there are a couple of options. We passed on the zip wire but three of us did take the chance to indulge in a bit of off-roading in a Dune Buggy with a company called Off Road Fury. This takes place in the south of the island near Brighton Farmers Market of which more later. We had two buggies between the three of us and we able to swap between driver, passenger and solo at a number of stops as we sped at alarming speed (up to 65kmh if you push down on the accelerator really hard) through sugar cane fields and, surprisingly, past the nodding donkeys of oil wells. I can’t emphasise how much fun I found it and I believe Harry and Mollie felt the same. They even have a break to have a super soaker water fight for no other reason than they can.

The obligatory ‘no helmet but yes balaclava’ shots.

The oilfields of Barbados and three Super Soaker Assassins.

It might seem a little tame in the video, believe me it isn’t!

For a more traditional tourist attraction, at least for your average Brit, you can head to the north of the island and visit the St Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway. Nicholas Abbey isn’t an abbey, it is an old colonial house connected to the Cumberbatch family of Benedict fame. That isn’t really interesting enough to visit in itself so they went and built a heritage railway in what was once a sugar cane plantation and is hoping to become one again. It isn’t original though a railway did once run from Bridgetown up the east coast of the island. The new ‘heritage’ line tells the story of that and was built to the same 2ft 6in gauge as the original. A 100 year old German built steam locomotive hauls three open sided carriages rather slowly to a nice lookout point before returning and then heading around a newly completed loop amongst the former sugar cane fields. They have two steam locos and a diesel back up which was required for later tours when ours conked out as we were approaching the end of the journey. As part of the quite pricey ticket you get to wander through the downstairs of the house and to visit the rum distillery, tasting the different rums produced which were pretty foul neat but I’m sure they’d make a decent cocktail.

St Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway and St Nicholas himself on the footplate giving the whistle a toot.

St Nicholas Abbey and one of the two rooms we saw.

Gin thingy and more importantly, the station cats.

Arguably the best trip in Barbados is to take a catamaran ride to see the turtles. Turtles are a big thing in Barbados with murals of them all over the place. You can sometimes see them laying their eggs in the sand and those eggs hatching though we didn’t. The catamaran trips, of which there are several companies to choose from, almost (but not quite) guarantee turtle sighting and supply snorkelling equipment for you to go and join them in the Sunny Caribbean Sea. Just three of us decided to go on the trip, the others slightly worried about the barf potential of the voyage. As it turned out, the only real chance of getting sick was from imbibing too much of the included alcohol with another beer or rum punch arriving just as you’d finished the last one. The company we used was called Silver Moon who have three or four vessels, ours was Silver Moon 3. The passenger limit is 12 or 13 and the three of us (me, Nicholas and Mollie) were joined by a party of Canadian ladies from Ontario, a Scottish couple making their first venture out of their all-inclusive resort and a mum and her two teenage kids from New Hampshire. Transport to the port in Bridgetown is provided. We had opted for the twilight cruise which was departed in the afternoon, arriving back in Bridgetown shortly after the sun had set. We headed north under sail up the west coast, passing Holetown and our villa on the way, and after an hour or so we stopped and those who wanted to donned the snorkelling gear and jumped into the ocean. Now, I’m not a very confident swimmer and hate the taste of salt water. I had, however, been enjoying beer and rum punch which was enough to break my better judgement and armed with an inflatable lifejacket to stop me from sinking I followed the rest into the briney. In total there was one crew member with some bits of fish, twelve self supporting passengers, one big girl’s blouse in a life vest and two turtles named Bobby and Christina in the same bit of the Sunny Caribbean Sea. I quickly realised that I most certainly wasn’t going to sink and began to enjoy swimming with Bobby and Christina. The pair are presumably regular visitors to the catamaran tours, hence the names. It was all rather special though I don’t suppose everyone would approve. The turtles seemed happy enough though and weren’t going to miss a free dinner. Following the snorkelling we were served with a Bajan dinner that had been prepared on board. Some tours do this, others provide snacks. Then we headed back south under power as the sun set over the Sunny Caribbean Sea whilst the rum punch was flowing once more.

Silver Moon 3 is over there somewhere and just to prove we were under sail, here’s a mast selfie.

Me being a jessie in my Mae West and Mollie bobbing around unaided.

Bobby and Christina or maybe Christina and Bobby.

Mollie was our Jaques Cousteau.

Enjoying the sunset over the Sunny Caribbean Sea*.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the Caribbean if there was no golden, palm tree edged beaches. We only visited a couple though, the one to the north of Holetown and another one at Carlisle Bay near Bridgetown. Both were golden and glorious, the palm trees were evident and beach bars provided the required amounts of hydration. If you are a beach person I imagine they will be right up your alley. Whilst we can appreciate the aesthetic of a beach we aren’t really beach people, possibly because right up your alley is where the sand gets. The young ‘uns lasted longer there than the old ‘uns and as an aside, on the way back from Carlisle Bay they stopped to get a photo outside the birthplace of Rhianna. She’s a singer you know, and the most famous Barbados citizen after Gary Sobers. In fact, Gary has probably been relegated into second place by now.

The golden sands of Porter Beach near Holetown.

Savvy on the Bay, part of Carlisle Bay near Bridgetown. Rebecca and Harry go for a dip, Elaine, Caryn and I go for a walk.

The younger members of the party at Rihanna’s house. She wasn’t in.

There are other attractions but they will have to wait until we go back. Instead I’ll talk about eating out. There isn’t much to say though as we tended to eat at the villa as Janelle was a remarkably good cook. It meant a few visits to Massey’s Supermarket but saved us hunting out a restaurant every day. We did eat out a few times though. We went for breakfast at Brighton Farmers Market. It’s been going for 25 years now so is a bit of an institution with folk turning up from all around the island every Saturday morning. It’s mainly food outlets with a few craft stores. I can’t say I was overly impressed but some folk love it. A popular place for lunch is Caboose, situated in Speightstown a few miles up the coast from where we were staying. The fun thing is it is a boat that has been dragged over a small seawall, across the road and onto a bit of park land where it has been turned into an unlikely cafe. They only really do fish cutters (sandwich by any other name) along with beer and rum punch but it is good and a genuine Bajan experience at a relatively modest price. Another institution is the Oistins Fish Fry. This takes place, fittingly, in Oistins on the south coast and on a Friday evening is basically a big party with a number of fish cafes selling, well, fish. (Non-fish dishes are available) One of the stalls seemed particularly popular so we ignored it and went to another one called Fred’s as we liked the name. We had our dinners, mainly fish. I went for dolphin. Now, before you send an angry posse round to my house to protest, it wasn’t actual dolphin, it is a local fish called Mahi Mahi. It was rather good. The other place we ate out was La Cabane. This is a beach bar and restaurant that is situated down the coast towards Bridgetown. It has its own stretch of beach though not really, all beaches are public in Barbados, and is a great place to watch the sun go down and get those all important instagram photos. As a restaurant it doesn’t have an extensive menu but the food is quality. We recommend going but if you do take a torch. It was an interesting experience eating in the dark.

Caboose. Shame to waste an abandoned boat.

Good customer service and a fully loaded tuna cutter.

Oistins Fish Fry at Fred’s Bar and Restaurant.

Not the most colourful food you will see but damned tasty. Mahi Mahi on the right.

La Cabane has a bit of a swing thing going on.

Including this one over a beach which provides good portrait opportunities.

I would show you the food but it was a bit dark by the time it arrived.

Practical information:

Money – the currency is the Barbados Dollar which is fixed to the US dollar at a rate of 1.98:1, in effect two Barbados to one US. Everywhere accepts either currency at the 2:1 rate which makes things nice a simple. Electronic payment is very widespread, though it’s a good idea to have some cash for the odd place that doesn’t have the facility and for leaving tips. There are ATMs in the supermarkets.

Driving – Brits will feel pretty much at home here. They drive right hand cars on the left hand side of roads full of pot holes. Actually, the roads are in a pretty bad state, especially the minor ones. The main roads are ok but road markings are largely faded which makes night driving a bit tricky. It’s definitely worth getting a car though if you want to get around and see the island.

Arrival – Bridgetown Grantley Adams Airport in on the south coast. It’s not big and can get a bit crowded when a number of long-haul flights pitch up at the same time. The VIP Arrival service which we were offered as a special promotion by the Villa’s agent is great and got us through the arrival formalities in just a few minutes. We didn’t have much in the way of queues on the way home. There isn’t much to do in the airport whilst you wait to board your flight though there is a basic lounge you can pay to enter where you can get a bit of peace and quiet. If you are lucky enough to be flying Business Class, BA and Virgin have their own lounges.

Prices – I would never say that Barbados is a budget destination. Prices of everything tends to be relatively high, though not extortionate. Buying our own food in the supermarket allowed us to compare prices with home and it is, on the whole, akin to doing your shopping at Marks and Spencer rather than Asda. In fact Massey’s has a tie up with Waitrose in the UK and sold quite a bit of their branded stuff. Attraction entry fees are perhaps a bit higher than you might expect and eating out is too. Car hire wasn’t particularly expensive though it pays to shop around. We used Stoutes Car Hire which was significantly cheaper than the company offered by Hammertons. Petrol was similarly priced to home and each car used about £40 worth over the course of the nine days we had them. As for the catamaran tour, we ended up paying a bit more than we had intended as the cheaper one, recommended by friends, was full by the time we’d decided who was going.

Accommodation – If you clicked on the link above you will have worked out the cost of the villa by now. Along with the villa you get access to the Sugar Hill estate’s facilities and also membership of the Fairmont Hotel club down at the beach. The aforementioned staff are included in the price though you will almost certainly want to tip them at the end of the stay. Booking through Hammertons was easy and they were a good company to deal with. There are other companies that offer villas too, it seems to be quite a normal form of accommodation on the island. Of course you don’t have to stay in a villa, there are plenty of hotels from all inclusive to basic situated mainly on the south and west coasts.

Climate – Tropical. Hot but not too hot, can be a bit rainy but when we were there we only saw a couple of showers. with temperatures hovering just above the 30C mark. Peak time is the northern hemisphere winter. Summer can be very humid and have more rainfall and whilst it has a hurricane season like the other islands, it hasn’t actually suffered a one since the 1950s. I’d say that when we went was ideal, you have the advantage of it being (relatively) inexpensive, it is largely dry and the humidity is manageable.

Mossies – Take some insect repellant. The mossies are determined little buggers. If you are lucky, like Elaine was, they may decide you are not quite tasty enough and leave you alone. If you are unlucky, like everyone else but particularly me and Caryn, your legs will quickly be bitten to high-heaven and you will be cursing the little sods for much of your holiday. A good blast of Veto Mosquito on all your exposed skin certainly helps.

Summary

Barbados delivered for us. That may have been due to our specific needs for this holiday but unlike our previous trip to the Caribbean we were quite sad to leave. You can go there purely to relax or, like us, mix relaxation with a bit of tourism and are unlikely to be disappointed. We had a fantastic ten days there and would consider it as a destination for a family meet-up again. Oh, and the next time there’s an England cricket tour of the West Indies, Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, here I come.

Footnote. Devastating news: I discovered that Barbados isn’t really in the Sunny Caribbean Sea. Typically Tropical got it wrong! The Caribbean Sea is situated to the south and west of the big arc of Caribbean Islands that stretch from Cuba to Trinidad. Barbados is an outlier, 100 miles to the east of that chain of islands and therefore completely surrounded by the Atlantic. I don’t care though. To me Barbados will always be the Sunny Caribbean Sea.

Outer Hebrides

Despite this site being primarily a travel blog, I never really expected to be writing anything about this particular location. It is a place we have been meaning to go to for quite a while but something alway put us off. Maybe that location was the issue. Situated off the northwest coast of Scotland, the Isles of Lewis and Harris form part of the Outer Hebrides, a collection of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. With the exception of the main town, they are sparsely populated and that town, Stornoway, itself is hardly a large metropolis, though it does boast the island’s only Tesco. The island’s attractions are spread thinly across a land largely devoid of trees but perhaps the thing that has put us off the most was the weather we were likely to encounter. The UK as a whole tends to get battered by frontal systems moving in off the Atlantic but a high pressure system over the country can deflect them to the north. These banks of cloud may well miss the bulk of the UK but the far northwest is rarely spared. Of course that doesn’t mean permanent rain but the probability is that a holiday without cloud and wind is unlikely to happen and the mercury will seldom top 20C. Or so we thought. Elaine has lived in Scotland for more than 39 years now and it’s even longer for me. Earlier this year we decided to bite the bullet and book a place on Lewis. So what if it would rain a lot, we’ve got waterproof coats and stuff and it’s only water anyway. Little did we know that yes, we’d get wet but that moisture would come from within rather than from the sky.

We chose our accommodation for the week. We went for a cottage, not through Airbnb this time but Cottages.com. The cottage was called The Summer House and looked pretty good in the pictures on the website. They always do, don’t they? This one, however, had won awards and was, as they used to say in the beer adverts, reassuringly expensive. Interestingly, expense was one of the things that has put us off in the past as there isn’t much in the way of cheap accommodation up there, especially in the summer months. Thus, being a tight Yorkshireman I had to grit my teeth when I made the reservation. It was a lovely place. The Summer House is based in the village of Achmore, assuming a widely dispersed handful of houses can be called a village. It was handily placed in the middle of Lewis and just 20 minutes from Stornoway. A word about the island. Despite there being an Isle of Lewis and an Isle of Harris they are, in fact, just one island. Harris is the southern third, Lewis the northern two thirds. Harris is quite hilly whilst Lewis is more moorland and the bulk of the population live there. Why it requires the two names I do not know. The island is quite big so a car is essential. To get yours there you have two main options. Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne provide services from Uig on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on Harris, and Ullapool on the mainland to Stornoway on Lewis. You can also get ferries from the island of North Uisit if you want to combine all of the Outer Hebrides in one trip. The ferries get busy in the summer and the advice is to book early. The summer schedules go on sale in January and I was in there at the when they did. We decided to take the Uig-Tarbert service to get to the island and Stornoway-Ullapool to get off it. The former takes an hour and a half, the latter an hour longer. For two passengers and a normal car the price was £56.90 and £91.35 respectively. We decided to break our journeys in both directions with a hotels in Invergarry, about half way to Uig on the way up and Ullapool on the way back. Although this added time and expense we are glad we did it as the journeys, whilst very scenic (especially to Uig), are rather tiresome.

Information technology is a wonderful thing but you can get obsessed with things. In the run up to this holiday we had been checking the weather forecast frequently. We knew that forecasts are hopelessly inaccurate any more than a few days in advance but we did it anyway. It was, at first, a rather dismal picture but the closer we got to departure we were feeling optimistic that we might get some sunny spells. There were reports of a heatwave hitting Britain on the weekend we were going but, as previously mentioned, it was unlikely to bother the Outer Hebrides. Maybe, just maybe it would keep those Atlantic fronts at bay? Our Friday crossing from Uig to Tarbert was in unbroken sunshine and the temperature was such that we could sit on the deck. Promising. As it turned out we were visiting the island on the hottest weekend anyone could remember. Temperatures would reach 29C that weekend before it cooled down to a more manageable 21C. We had lovely weather most of the week, maybe one evening and one morning of light rain and a bit of low cloud later on in the week. Otherwise the sun shone brightly during the day and well on into the evening too. I thought I’d done well weatherwise with my Saga cruise in May, this was just as good and even less expected. So what dose Harris and Lewis have to offer the enquiring traveller? I’ll split it up into three categories: Beaches, walks and ‘visitor attractions’.

Beaches

It may seem strange to count beaches on an island situated on the 58th parallel as a major selling point. However, if sitting on a beach is your thing there are plenty to choose from and you may have it all to yourself. We are not great beach dwellers but we certainly appreciated the golden, sandy beaches that abound on Lewis and Harris. Perhaps the most famous beach is Luskentyre on Harris and having already gone for a walk along it, we decided to plonk ourselves down on it to have our lunch. Whilst other folk were embracing the beach life, we lasted about twenty minutes though we did at least dip our feet in the water. Luskentyre is a stunning place and when the temperature is in the high 20s celsius it easily beats any Mediterranean or Caribbean beach. By Hebridean standards the beach was a busy though the few dozen folk there were spread out thinly.

Luskentyre Beach on a ‘busy’ day which, thanks to the Gulf Stream, is lapped by the waters of the Sunny Caribbean Sea.

Luskentyre Beach residents, Toby the white horse and Morag the Highland Coo. (Morag is the name we give all Highland Cows)

Some other beaches we encountered, not that we lingered there, were either deserted or had two or three other people on them. There are plenty to choose from. We particularly liked Garry Beach to the north of Stornoway which we only discovered the morning we were leaving the island. It had sea stacks you could wander through at low tide, a bit like a mini Hopewell Rocks at the Bay of Fundy.

Another great beach was at Uig Bay. Not the previously mentioned Uig on Skye, but out on a limb on the west coast of Lewis. The Gaels do tend to reuse place names a fair bit. Ardroil Beach is situated in Uig Bay and is where the Norse chess pieces that now reside in the British Museum were found and whilst it is unlikely you will find any others, you can always get a tourist photo next to a carving of a King that stands there as a reminder. It’s a bit of a drive to get there but worth the effort.

The Norse King with the Essex Queen at Uig Bay

I cross a surprisingly deep burn to get off the extensive Ardroil Sands.

The view across the bay is enjoyed by a few visitors and the souls of those long since departed.

There were plenty of other great beaches we saw in passing and plenty left to discover the next time we are there. They are easy to find – they are right next to the sea.

Just a few more beaches for your enjoyment.

Walks

Going for a walk is a major draw of the islands. The above mentioned beaches are good for walking of course. We had a nice walk at Uig Sands. It wasn’t overly long or particularly taxing but it was worth that long drive to get there as the views were stunning. The Luskentyre beach walk was another easy amble along the sand and back along the road with the benefit of Toby and a couple of Morags enjoying the warm weather. The first walk we did was a coastal walk near the village of Carloway which took in Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. Unlike Uig Sands, this was fairly taxing. We did it the first full day we were there when the temperatures were high though there was a stiff breeze coming in off the sea which prevented us from overheating. Much of the walk was close to the cliffs, not dangerously so, but close enough to enjoy the dramatic scenery. There was no distinct footpath to follow either so planning the next few hundred yards of travel became very imnportant. It was not so much ‘off piste’ as ‘no bloody piste in the first place’. We passed no one on the way and whilst it may well have stretched our definition of a ‘pleasant’ walk, there was definitely a sense of achievement when we reached the top of a hill and the Blackhouse Village came into view. Not that we had finished. I discovered our chosen direct route down the hill was a bit of a mistake when I took a tumble on uneven ground which was hidden in the long grass and ended up on the deck in a less than elegant manner.

Borghastan and Carloway Harbour were the last bits of civilisation on the walk to the Blackhouses.

There was a bit of a path and then hardly any path.

There’s a lighthouse. It isn’t a very good one but we had to go up there and put a stone on the cairn.

By now there was no path to follow whatsoever but keeping the sea on our left made navigation a little easier. This settlement was abandoned years ago.

We reach the brow of a hill and catch sight of the Blackhouse village, just tumbling down the hillside to go!

A similar cliff walk at the Butt of Lewis was a little easier. The terrain was less of a challenge and whilst there was no defined path again, the ground was ‘machair’, a fertile soil covered in short grass and meadow flowers. The highlight was the Butt of Lewis lighthouse, a splendid red brick structure, situated at the northern tip of the island. It seems a bit counterintuitive that the Butt is at the top of the island rather than the bottom.

The Butt of Lewis walk starts at Ness Beach (another cracker) and whilst there’s no distinct path, there are a few marker poles to keep you right.

Cool geology, decorated by the seabirds.

David Stephenson’s red brick lighthouse, keeping sailors off the rocks since 1862.

58°30’57” N. I was the most northely person on Lewis at the time.

Speaking of lighthouses, we visited another one on the Isle of Scalpay. Scalpay is an island near Tarbert in Harris and is accessed via a bridge. Despite the link with the rest of the island, it retains its own personal character and gives the impression of what island life may well have been like thirty years ago. There are a number of walks you can do, all of which take in Eilean Glas lighthouse on the southern tip of the island. We chose the short one to get there a longer one back along the coast. More on the lighthouse later.

Across the hill to Eilean Glas where locals cut peat and cake awaits.

The coastal trail back from Eilean Glas, a little trickier but some nice views. (Lighthouse photos later)

The Eilean Glas lighthouse walk was in fact a last minute decision. We had intended to complete a walk from Urgha to Rhenigdale and back, a seven mile round trip to a tiny settlement that was the last such settlement on Harris to be accessible by road. The track over a hill was known as the Postman’s Trail as that was how the mail was delivered before the road arrived. We set off with the top of the hill shrouded in cloud but when we came to the other side, we were put off by the near vertical precipice we would have had to negotiate via a precarious zig-zag path. Not only down but up again on the way back. The mist was clearing so we did at least get the benefit of the views and once back at the car we had the time to visit Scalpay and any disappointment we felt at not completing the walk was soon forgotten.

The Postman Trail to Rhenigdale. This memorial posed more questions than it answered. Did Duncan die and immediately get a second chance?

The hill fog was reluctant to clear but once we’d reached the top of the hill and headed down the other side a bit it began to disperse.

To get down to that bridge at the bottom of the hill onto the path beyond would have meant going over the side. There was a zig-zag path down the vertical drop but we decided not to risk it and had our picnic with the now clear view instead.

I was disappointed not to complete the walk but I hid it well and we enjoyed the views we’d missed out on on the way up.

These are just a handful of the many walks that are possible on both Harris and Lewis and it is safe to say that we would need several more weeks to discover them all.

Visitor Attractions

The words ‘visitor attractions’ may strike fear into the hearts of those who want to choose a destination to get away from it all but don’t worry. There’s no theme parks, amusement arcades, water parks or anything noisy at all with the exception of the waves crashing into the cliffs. There are, however, a few attractions for the visiting tourist that are worth a visit. I’ve already mentioned the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village. This collection of traditional houses was restored after the last residents left in the 70s. Some are let as holiday homes but three are preserved as a museum and cafe. It’s definitely worth a visit either the easy way by car or the more difficult way that we did it, on foot.

Blackhouses. Named to differentiate them from newer white houses.

They have restored one to what it would have been like in 1955 complete with Harris Tweed hand loom.

The Callanish Standing Stones is another popular attraction. There’s a lot of neolithic standing stones in Scotland and several examples at Callanish alone. The main one sits atop a small hill and consists of a small stone circle at the apex of a much larger cruciform arrangement. As is the case with most of these standing stones, we don’t really know precisely why they were built, maybe there isn’t a precise reason to be discovered. The neolithic people may have just liked them.

A Neolithic couple perform the pagan selfie ceremony.

A drive out to Bernera Island takes you the Iron Age House of Bosta. This turf covered building is a replica but stands where archeologists discovered the remains of a small village that dated back 1400 years. It is open for viewing from midday as long as the guide does not go off sick, as was the case when we went there. It’s interesting enough to see from the outside though and there are a few walks on Bernera Island you can do if you don’t mind traversing a bit of boggy ground. The main settlement on Bernera Island is Breacleit and like a number of other villages we passed through it has a museum/shop/cafe/petrol pump. Whilst describing these as visitor attractions is pushing it a bit, these are always handy places to stop and the small museums are worth the two or three quid donation to look around.

As mentioned in the Walks paragraph, Eilean Glas is a lighthouse on the island of Scalpay. Whilst getting there requires a walk, the destination counts as a visitor attraction in its own right, not only because it is commands a very attractive setting but you can also get cake and a cup of tea there. We had a very nice chat with the elderly couple who own the land and most of the buildings there – the current lighthouse is still operational and owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board – and whilst the place is by no means in a pristine condition, it appeared they were doing their best to keep the place going for the benefit of passing walkers. It wasn’t until we got home that we discovered that the couple had a very ‘interesting’ back story that they had somehow failed to mention to us when they were describing how they came to own a lighthouse. This involved them both serving time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for being a little less than honest with someone else’s money. That was over twenty years ago though, I’m sure they are reformed characters now and are genuinely trying to run the place legally. The cake was nice at any rate.

The original lighthouse, minus the light and the foghorn with its rusty compressed air tanks.

Stornoway’s major visitor attraction is Lews Castle which is part hotel and part museum. It has grounds through which you are normally free to wander. We missed our chance, however, as the week we were there was the run up to a large (in Hebridean terms) music festival called HebCelt. This did mean that we could go to the festival on the opening session which was on Thursday evening, the day before we left. We got to see Eddi Reader and Tide Lines doing their stuff though missed out on the legend that is Lulu who was the headline act on the Friday. I’m not a lover of music festivals and wouldn’t go to Glastonbury if you paid me a lot of money but HebCelt is much less crowded and being the first session following a dry spell it never got too muddy. If festivals are your thing, plan your break to Lewis accordingly.

Lewes Castle and Tide Lines doing their stuff.

If visiting a mighty cathedral is your thing then you may want to consider somewhere else for your holidays but we did discover one interesting place of worship up near the Butt of Lewis. St Moluag’s Church, or Teampall Mholuaidh if you prefer your churches in Gaelic, dates back to the 12th or 13th century and sits on or near a 6th century site believed to be the first consecrated ground in the Hebrides. Having originally told people it was in the care of the Church of Scotland, I’ve since discovered it is Episcopalian (Anglican) and having confidently said that the small altar wasn’t an altar, I’m happy to altar that statement (sorry for the pun).

St Moluag’s Church is so old that windows were deemed an unholy extravagance so the building has few of them.

The plaque tells the story of the church so I don’t have to. Moluag, patron saint of folk with thin, pointy fingers.

It’s an altar and a window. Not original. “Christ be our light” may be a special request as there is no electricity in the building.

The Whalebone Arch is worth a photo. The story behind it is pretty grim though. Back in the 20s a blue whale washed up on a nearby beach with a harpoon embedded in its body. It had obviously escaped capture by a whaling ship but slowly expired from the harpoon wound before being washed ashore. The islanders waited for a whaling company to come and collect it but no one did so they extracted what useful products they could get out of it. A local chap decided that he’d make a memorial to the sad creature by mounting two jawbones to form an arch. In what today might seem a bit tasteless, he included the harpoon that had killed it too. The arch is in someone’s garden but they don’t mind you going in to take a photo.

Whalebone Arch complete with grizzly form of whale execution.

The Bridge to Nowhere is near the Garry Beach mentioned above. It’s not particularly attractive but with a name like Bridge to Nowhere there has to be an interesting story to it. The bridge was built in the early 20s as part of a plan to develop the northeasten part of the island. It never happened and this bridge, along with a few miles of rough track, are all that remains of Lord Leverhume’s, the landowner at the time, dreams.

The Bridge to Nowhere. We went to check. It didn’t go anywhere and there were no pies.

Visitor Information

Visitor information? I’m getting all Berlitz Guide here, aren’t I? Still, you might well be wondering about the sort of stuff we were wondering about before we went. Getting around was one of those things. I was half expecting the island to be covered in single track roads and indeed there are plenty. However, most roads you are likely to be travelling on are perfectly normal single carriageway, two-way roads. The single track roads with passing places tend to be on the island’s extremities and even then they tend to be interspersed with sections of dual track. Roads are very quiet, even the main one between Stornoway in Lewis and Tarbert in Harris. The only remotely busy traffic was in Stornoway and it was hardly gridlock. Don’t let the roads put you off, they are fine. You’ll need those roads too. The island is fairly big and there are a lot of peninsulas and extremities to be discovered. There is a bus service but a lot of planning would be required to rely on that to visit everywhere you might want to visit. Take your car, motorbike, motorhome or other jalopy of choice. I don’t have an EV but if you do you should be okay. If the long journey to the ferry ports put you off you can hire a car at Stornoway Airport, though I don’t imagine it is particularly cheap. The island was popular with cyclists too.

Apart from the wandering cows, a typical road and apart from the wandering human, a typical single track road.

Shopping for provisions was another thing that we wondered about. Wonder no more, it’s easy. There is a Tesco in Stornoway which covers your every need and is even open on a Sunday (see below). They even have the delivery service which seems to serve everywhere on the island no matter how much on a limb they might be. As mentioned there are stores in most villages to pick up bits and pieces and there are a lot of roadside honesty box places to pick up some locally produced products (especially eggs).

Sunday trading: this was highlighted as a possible issue. The islands are known for their traditional views on the Sabbath. There’s a lot of churches for a smallish population with a Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland in most villages. When I first came to Scotland some forty years ago I was told that the islands were so devout that hanging your washing out on a Sunday was illegal. I think those who told me might have been exaggerating a bit but even now not much opens on a Sunday. We did pass a caravan in a lay-by selling coffee on the road between Tarbert and Luskentyre so it is obvious not everyone is afraid of the wrath of the Presbyterian ministers, but this is the exception rather than the rule. In answer to the age old question, however, yes, some people do hang their washing out on a Sunday.

Ignoring the wrath of the local clergy, and maybe that of Jesus himself, Coffee Isle Harris is open for business on a Sunday.

Language: apparently 60% of the residents of Lewis and Harris speak Gaelic. Road signs are often in Gaelic first and English second and even the Tesco aisles are signed in Gaelic, with English below in a less conspicuous font. Place names are almost exclusively Gaelic although many are of Norse origin rather than celtic. Does this mean you will have a problem communicating when you are there? No, not at all. All of the Gaelic speakers also speak perfectly good English and along with the 40% that have English as a first language, you are unlikely to hear much Gaelic at all.

Mobile phone coverage: we all like to keep connected, even if we go somewhere remote to get a way from it all. The mobile signal was a lot better than I expected. There’s obviously a few places on the extremities that are masked from the nearest mobile towers but in general I had a decent 4G signal all over the island. The internet access at the accommodation was reasonable too. It may have been slightly more laggy than on the mainland but it worked fine for anything we needed it for.

Eating: The island is not awash with dining out options. There’s a few restaurants in Stornoway and one or two others in larger settlements but being in Achmore meant we tended to eat our evening meals at the accommodation. We did try one restaurant in Stornoway and on another evening we got takeaway pizza from a company that produced them in a shipping container in a lay-by not far from where we were staying. Very nice they were too. There are plenty of coffee shops and community cafes for lunch and cake though.

Crust Pizza is a small, but popular concern. The pizza closest to the camera is ‘Out of Stornoway’ with haggis and the local speciality, black pudding.

In Conclusion

Is Lewis/Harris worth the effort to get there? Yes, absolutely, if you are looking for a week or so away from the crowds with nice scenery, golden sands and a more relaxed atmosphere than most other places in the UK. We thoroughly enjoyed our week there and would happily go back. Our judgement is, of course, enhanced by the weather we had which was better than we could have reasonably hoped for. Our previous break on Northwest Scotland (on the mainland, not the islands) had seen rain of biblical proportions and had that happened whilst we were on Lewis we may well have formed a different opinion. As it is though, that remote island out in the Atlantic proved us with a magnificent summer holiday.