Playing Hopscotch In The Wild Hebrides
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday November 25, 1995
DIANE ARMSTRONG visits a string of small islands on the edge of the Atlantic where the scenery is stunning and the tourists are far between.
DR SAMUEL Johnson, who had a strong opinion about everything from table manners to travel destinations, was aghast at the primitive conditions that travellers encountered in the Hebrides Islands. Boring vittles, draughty huts and hazardous transport were only some of his complaints about an area which he said was less frequented by British travellers than Borneo.
Visiting these specks floating in the Atlantic off the north-west coast of Scotland is still an adventure, but food and accommodation have improved, while transport has become punctual and predictable, thanks to Caledonian MacBrayne car ferries which ply between these islands, making it possible for visitors to play a kind of Hebridean hopscotch from one to the other.
Starting from Ullapool, the first hop is to the outer Hebrides, a wispy bracelet of islands that float on the edge of the Atlantic, consisting of Lewis and Harris, and North and South Uist, with still smaller islands like Barra and Eriskay sprinkled around them.
Lewis and Harris, which are joined at the waist like Siamese twins, are a bygone world where everything shuts down on Sunday, ferries included. Along tranquil one-lane roads, where drivers invariably salute each other, apart from solitary thatched crofts, lone farmhouses on the edge of sapphire lochs, and a few black-faced sheep, there is little sign of life, and the prehistoric monuments that dominate the landscape add to the timeless, brooding atmosphere.
Crofters still dig peat for fuel in the moors and the men of Ness still row over turbulent seas to an uninhabited isle for their annual gannet hunt, as they've done for centuries. Harris tweed, which is unique to these islands, is still a cottage industry, and costs about ?7 a yard ($14.50 for .9 metre) direct from the weavers like Murdo Maclean of Ness.
Stornoway, the only town in the outer Hebrides, is a good base for exploring Lewis, whose highlights include the Butt of Lewis, the golden sands of Uig, and the mysterious Callanish standing stones which resemble Stonehenge but are far more accessible.
As you'd expect, there are no luxury hotels or trendy restaurants in the Outer Hebrides, but cottages offer spotless bed and breakfast accommodation, mainly around Stornoway and Tarbert, for about $32 a person.
Dr Johnson would be delighted with the cuisine of the Harris Hotel in Tarbert, which was favoured by playwright J. M. Barrie, who etched his initials on a window. In Stornoway, the Park House Gardens restaurant serves succulent garlic langoustines, partridge in red currant sauce and luscious raspberry tart.
From Tarbert, an hour's ferry ride brings you to North Uist. The Uists really separate tourists from travellers because most signs are in Gaelic, monuments lack signposts, and there are few roads.
These isles are even more untouched than Lewis and Harris.
You can drive for hours without seeing a tearoom, shop or hotel, and the occasional travelling grocer's van appears like a mirage. Before setting out for the day, it's a good idea to stock up on bread, cheese and fruit for picnic lunches. In North Uist, the Lochmaddy Hotel charges about $145 a double with full breakfast. Orosay Inn has pleasant rooms and a good restaurant, but the best Sunday lunch is the buffet at the Dark House Hotel.
North Uist consists of a chain of lakes where islands float like scraps of emerald carpet while South Uist is more mountainous. The Balranald Nature Reserve on North Uist is a piece of heaven, with a magnificent beach, meadows carpeted with poppies, marsh marigolds and Hebridean orchids, and flocks of ringed plovers, lapwings and oyster catchers.
There is a lush 18-hole golf course in Stornoway, and a nine-hole beachside course at Askernish in South Uist. But with so many inland waterways, game fishing is the most popular activity. Catches of 5-7 pound (2-3 kg) brook trout and salmon are not uncommon, while one keen angler recently recorded a 14-pounder.
The spectacular Isle of Skye is close to North Uist, but after the haunting, ethereal atmosphere of the outer Hebrides, we found the beauty of Skye too assertive and its atmosphere too touristy, so we headed for Mull instead, which meant driving to Oban to catch the ferry.
On Mull we were again in the wild Hebridean landscape, where dark mountains glowered over rolling hills and lonely roads led to remote bays and forbidding cliffs.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie lies buried in an impressive granite mausoleum at Gruline in a peaceful woodland setting. For visitors from NSW, it is moving to see the final resting place of this visionary administrator, and read the tribute to the man and his achievements.
Dr Johnson was right in one respect. Even today, probably more tourists visit Borneo than the Hebrides. That's what makes them so captivating.
* Caledonian MacBrayne's Island Hopscotch fares are the cheapest way of visiting these islands. A package that includes Lewis and Harris and the Uists costs about $60 a person and $225 a car. For timetable and brochure, write to Caledonian MacBrayne, The Ferry Terminal, Gourock, PAI9IQP. Fax: 0475 637507.
The British Tourist Authority has information about the Outer Hebrides, ph: 02 267 4555.
© 1995 Sydney Morning Herald