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8MileBU

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5 hours ago, ArmadaleKillie said:

 

 

The best day of the week involved a visit to Berneray West Beach which was stunning.

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Final photo was the best bit of our trip to the Isle of Flodaigh to see some Seals. There weren't any!

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I enjoyed Berneray. Definitely one of the better islands. I take it you missed the seal colony there? 

Enjoy the ferry crossing to Harris, if you are sailing from Berneray. it is something special, not for the scenery, but for the amount of twists and turns the boat takes. 

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I also had a three hour trip to Iona. I just took a walk which included climbing its highest peak, Dun I, at the mighty height of 100m. Despite there being a few folk about, it was the most peaceful place of my holiday.
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When you get away from the main village and the abbey there's some wonderful and peaceful spots on Iona. Dun I is a simple but rewarding climb on a clear day. My favourite beach is probably Traigh an T-Suidhe in the north west of the island.

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On 12/07/2019 at 16:00, I'm Brian said:

I enjoyed Berneray.  Enjoy the ferry crossing to Harris, if you are sailing from Berneray. it is something special, not for the scenery, but for the amount of twists and turns the boat takes. 

It's certainly different to any other ferry crossing I have ever done. 

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Was up in Kinlochbervie at the weekend with the missus. It's a long way from anywhere...

Walked to Sandwood Bay on Sunday (her idea - our anniversary) and on Monday went over to Handa Island. There's a pic of the Great Stack of Handa below. I seem to remember a story about some Lewismen trying to get on top for the birds' eggs and they stretched a long rope between the two points on the main island so it passed over the stack, then went over hanging upside down in what nowadays is called a Tyrolean Traverse.

And have a look at how clear that water is...IMG_5035.thumb.jpg.b53f6c9bd201535ae818a478add2bdbb.jpg

 

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Was going to put this in the photography thread, but I'll put it here instead. Got one of the runner-up prizes in the Calmac calendar competition for 2020. Don't know which of my 3 entries it was. Have to wait till the free calendar comes in August. Got £50 in vouchers too. Don't enter many comps as I feel it's a bit of a scam to get photos for free. Calmac have paid £250 to the winner and 11x£50 making £800, but they must have got thousands of images out of it.

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Weather dependant, heading to Bute this Saturday for a weekender. Been to Rothesay for a couple of hours before so this is effectively virgin territory for me

Mount Stuart and Rothesay Castle are the only two things I know of, so any hints and tips out with these would be appreciated

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The Port Inn at Port Bannatyne does good food (sometimes seafood specials depending on the local catch) and has got a superb suntrap of a beer garden out the back. There's another pub in the village which is quite lively though definitely more spit and sawdust. The Kingarth Hotel on the south end of the island does good food and has a decent beer garden as well. Ettrick Bay is the most popular beach on the west coast and has a tearoom serving food and ice cream etc; Scalpsie Bay is nicer and quieter as it's a little off the beaten track. The Galatea Bar just around from the castle has got a good beer garden as well; the Black Bull inn is always busy with food bookings.

The West Island Way walkong path is a good way to a get the full experience of the island. The first two stages (up to Rothesay) can be done in a day quite comfortably, as can the remainder on the northern half of the island starting from Rothesay. The Kilchattan Bay circular is well worth doing on its own as a shorter distance walk. 

 

Edited by vikingTON
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Weather dependant, heading to Bute this Saturday for a weekender. Been to Rothesay for a couple of hours before so this is effectively virgin territory for me Mount Stuart and Rothesay Castle are the only two things I know of, so any hints and tips out with these would be appreciated

 

 

There’s also the Bute Museum which was good and my daughter really enjoyed it, but other than that, I’d get out of Rothesay, it’s a fucking dump! [emoji1]

 

Seriously though, I do always feel Rothesay is predominantly a shabby, run down, terrible reflection of what is otherwise a nice wee island following the coastline, with some great views over to Arran. Inland the bulk of the island appears to be mostly farmland and a couple of Lochs. Loch Fad is a good for fishing though you’d maybe need to watch out for Donald Campbell’s Bluebird hurtling toward you over the next couple of weeks.

 

If you’re there this coming weekend then Highland games are on on the Saturday so despite Rothesay being a bin, it should be pretty lively.

 

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On 06/08/2019 at 09:42, The Minertaur said:

Anybody any recommendations for motorhome hire in Scotland? Going to Skye next month and plans have changed so this looks like the best option!

Don’t know if you’ve looked at costs yet, but if you’re going to Skye I’d look at hiring in Inverness or even west of there if you can get it.

We did a 3 day hire a couple of years ago - had to be from Callander as it was groupon or wowcher or whatever. It was great but our 3 days were restricted to Glen Etive, Oban, Dalmally etc. Had fancied the far north west but even Ullapool is 200 miles from Callander and you were only covered for 100 miles a day (which is actually a lot of work in one of those things).

We could book extra miles at 25p/mile or do it unbooked at 50p 😱 I don’t think the company were ripping us off - I think that’s fairly typical. Anyway I was only about 250 miles and topped it up in Callander - £53 for diesel which is not outrageous but my 2 litre Skoda Octavia would have done about 700 miles for that 😂

Because it was a groupon they cut a couple of corners, £25 for a spare gas cylinder, £40 for a generator which we refused. You don’t need a generator unless you’re wild camping most nights. You can use campsites in between and get charged up. We did 1 campsite and 2 wild camps.

The whole thing was great and we’ve been meaning to do it again. Some of the above probably makes me sound tight, I think it’s just that with all the add-ons  it ended up dearer than the basic price which was only about £295. Remember campsites aren’t cheap either. If cost is no object and you can share the driving, even better. It was just me and the missus so the responsibility was all on me.

Edited by The Mantis
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10 minutes ago, Le Tout P'ti FC said:
16 minutes ago, The Mantis said:

A good week in Lewis with the missus. Actually made an effort to take a few shots, even got up early one morning emoji41.png
 

Outstanding. What time did you have to get to Callanish to get that sky? And was the druid guy with the dog sitting down near the cat park steps at that time of day?

I was over there back of 9pm as I had been in Stornoway shooting other stuff. Stayed till about 10.30. The beach one was at dawn, which was about 7am.

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Just back from a week working in Stornoway. Managed to get a half day on Friday so went down to Harris. 

Was quite excited about going to Talla na Mara. Setting is superb and beautiful building but food wasnt great. Its community owned though so give them a go.

You cant argue with views from the restaurant though.

 

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