Western Isles, just back!

[Tomo3090]

We have just come from The Hebrides and Skye and I can report that the reports of problems for motorhome owners visiting the islands seem to be a little "over hyped". We were there from April 23rd until Friday and had no problems at all finding somewhere to stay either overnight ,"wildcamping", or at a recognised site.

 

We went from Oban to Barra and then drove to Vatersay where we stayed at the Community Hall. There is parking for about 4-5 vans depending on size and which way you park. They ask for a £5.00 donation using the honesty box, (which we were happy to pay). There is a water tap and a toilet opened 24hours. They do ask you not to deposit chemical toilet cassette contents down it but we have a "Sog", with no chemicals, so I did! We'd only got a days' contents in it anyway and I did only empty about half of it per flush so it didn't block the loo. I cleaned up what little splashes there were with a "Wet Wipe", so it was like new. For anyone thinking it's because of pollution and wanting to critisise my actions, the public toilets and official CDPs we used on the islands nearly all emptied into the sea anyway! At Eoligarry you can see where the sewerpipes end at low tide!

 

From there we drove not Barra again and parked outside the Co-op to shop. The local people were friendly and were asking about the van and what and where we were visiting. They even suggested places to park overnight.

 

You can't park on the dunes near the airport anymore because of people abusing it and ruining the environment. There is a great deal of evidence of campfires and tyre ruts to confirm this. Although to be fair it isn't possible to attribute this to motorhomes alone. We did also find evidence of fly tipping nearby and that certainly wasn't vans!

 

Everywhere we stopped we found quite a bit of plastic and other rubbish on the beaches, mostly washed ashore judging by the state of it, so we did our bit by picking up a bin bag or two and putting it in the skip. If everyone did that it would make a big difference fairly quickly.

 

There is overnight parking about a mile or so further up the road past the "airport" at Eoligarry, where there is a CDP, toilets, (24hr) and level hardstanding parking for about 6-ish vans, (again depending on how people park). There are also 2 small crofts that can take 3-4 vans and only charge a few quid to park up. There are no recognised official sites on Barra so if you have an aversion to wild camping then perhaps it's not for you.

 

The ferry point from Barra to Eriksay has a CDP and toilet too. Infact most of the ferry points on the Western Islands have them. All have at least a tap and you are free to use them to top up with.

 

Eriksay is about big enough to turn your van round on! So not many people park up there, but the Western side of South Uist has plenty of picnic areas, some have toilets, some don't, and overnight parking is allowed.

 

Benbecula has a campsite or two if you need to stop over to do the washing. We used Shell Bay for a night and, (despite the shock!)paid £14.00 to stop in, what is in effect, someones front garden! It was another £3.00 for electric, so I politely declined! It does have a laundry and what are, at this time of the year, the coldest shower/toilet block this side of Stalingrad! (But it is clean!)

 

North Uist too permits overnight stays at it's picnic sites and I can recommend the one at Solas. We were there alone for the night and surrounded by wild birds, sheep and cattle grazing on the mud flats. No facilities but again the ferry point to Harris/Lewis has everything you will need.

 

Harris/Lewis, (I don't know where one finishes and the other starts!) is well equipped for motorhomes. There is something called The Grazing Trust that runs three sites right on beaches. One at Horgasbost, one at Cnip. These cost £10 & £8 respectively and have all the facilities needed by a motorhome, (no electric). We didn't use the other one, at Huinnish Point, so I can't comment, but I have been told it is fantastic, if a long way to get to.

 

We also parked up at the car park in Tarbert to get the first ferry in a morning to Skye and there was no problems. There is water and toilets nearby at the tourist info centre.

 

Skye has more official sites but still didn't seem averse to vans parking up sensibly for a night.

 

We found everyone from the islands very helpful and friendly. They virtually all wave! The roads are very good and even where they are single track with passing paces they were easily navigable in our Cheyenne. The only people who did sound a bit "off" about motorhomes were English people who have moved there. For some reason the islanders are welcoming of strangers but those who have moved there and were no doubt welcomed themselves are the ones who aren't. If you see what I mean!

 

For example, at one village I spent about £15.00 in the local shop and postoffice, and asked the checkout girl if I could have half a tank of water from their outside tap. She smiled and said she couldn't think of a reason why not and got the stockroom guy to help me move some pallets so I could get near to it. After 10 minutes of filling and chatting the English manager came out and actually accused me of "stealing" their water! I told her, politely, that I'd asked for permission, she went inside to check with the staff I had and the stockroom guy and other employee both confirmed this. She never actually spoke to me again but she then told them off for letting me use it without asking her!

 

One cautious note. People with long vans with a big overhang should approach the ferry ramps between Barra and Eriksay and North Uist and Lewis/Harris with care! The ferry staff just suggest "going for it!" But it isn't their van!

 

You can't get a "dongle" signal either on The Hebrides or Skye, so if you want t'internet you will need to use a internet cafe or similar. Fast broadband isn't available either on The Hebrides so everything is at dial up speeds.

 

Our solar panels, 2X85 Watt, proved their worth as we never came close to emptying the leisure batteries. The weather was mostly cloudy and rain but occassionally bright with the odd patches of sunshine and on most days the batteries were showing 14.7 volts by lunch time. Even when we didn't move off the pitch.

 

All in all apart from the weather we had a really nice time and would recommend going there in a motorhome. It cost us £255.00 for a "Hopscotch 23" ticket.

 

 

[Caroline]

That was really interesting and full of info, thank you very much.

[AliB]

Tomo3090 - 2010-05-13 12:49 PM

 

 

One cautious note. People with long vans with a big overhang should approach the ferry ramps between Barra and Eriksay and North Uist and Lewis/Harris with care! The ferry staff just suggest "going for it!" But it isn't their van!

 

How long is "long"?

 

Really interesting post, thanks.

[SAS]

Sounds great...how cold was it?

[Tomo3090]

"Long" in our case is 7.4 metres! The temp. varied from freezing or thereabouts at night to no more than 10 degrees C during the day. It felt colder because the North wind was bitingly cold for most of the time. It was also blowing a gale for a few days, but fortunately not during the ferry crossings.

[berti]

hi tomo

 

glad to hear your trip went well....

the weather has been no better over the pond...

we are at st jean de maurienne ..at french/italian border near frejus tunnel

it's been either cold/windy ..or..cloudy /raining with heavy downpours every afternoon /evening ..all the way through france :-(

 

cheers

berti

[AliB]

Tomo3090 - 2010-05-13 4:35 PM

 

"Long" in our case is 7.4 metres! .

 

Thanks Tomo, with us at 7.3 metres we now know we can go for it!

[magbrin]

Excellent post - both interesting and informative - thanks. Not sure when we will get there - I last camped there about 15 years ago with 2 teenagers in tent and landrover - even though we live in the Highlands. Trouble is, like so many in the Highlands, our business is seasonal, so we can't get away very far in the summer. That said we spent Monday and Tuesday nights this week in the Gairloch area which for those who do not know it is stunning (and atmospheric, with storm clouds and snow in May:->) but because of the temperature and wind not a sign of any midges :D

[zeddykay]

Very useful post, thanks. One question. Was it necessary to prebook any/all of your ferries or did you just roll up and take pot luck? Thinking of going early June and have no real idea how busy these places get. Any advice gratefully received.

 

[Big Momma]

Brilliant write up Tomo, thank you. How did you get on with Gas (I don't mean as a result of too much fibre)? Any need to fill up en route (Again, not talking about too many heinz 57)?

[747]

As Big Momma has brought up the subject of gas, I will chip in here.

 

When we went up in March, the filling stations on the A74(M) were no good for us. You need an adaptor for filling. Luckily we managed until Oban and filled up with Autogas there.

[Tomo3090]

For the ferries we looked on the CalMac website to plan ot itinerary and decided which Hopscotch Ticket we wanted, (23 in our case), then we went to the office at the docks in Oban to see about buying it. We did it this way then we could wait until the day before to check on the weather for the crossing from Oban to Barra. It takes 5 hours and we didn't want to be sick for it! The girls in the office was very friendly and helpful and sorted it out for us. You can pre book your boarding passes but that them tiesyo to actually fery times and dates and we wanted the maximum flexibilty. It lasts 28 days from your first sailing and we weren't sure how long we wanted to stay on each island because of weather, thngs to do and places to go etc.

 

The gas was quite easy as it turned out. We topped up in Oban and that lasted for about 14 days by which time we were on Harris/Lewis at Stornaway. Because we had been using the gas for heating, water heating and cooking it was down to about 1/4 of a 60 litre tank. We then topped up again on Skye when it was at about half. I can't be more accurate on amounts needed because as anyone who has a tank knows the gauges aren't the most effective at measuring. Ours is 4 green lights when full and one on 1/4 with red when it's empty. So actual amounts in the tank isn't possible. We're still on 3 lights now but have been using electricity to heat the van and water since we've been on CL/CS sites with leccy. In all we've spent about £35 on gas.

 

I can't give an estimate of your consumption because it will be warmer, (hopefully for you!) when you go and your partner might not need a van with the internal temperature of Morocco in July to "avoid freezing to death!"

 

In Stornaway the gas was 75.9 pence a litre and on Skye was 69.9. I didn't need any adaptors the pumps just went straight onto the filling point.

[Hymer C 9.]

Tomo thanks for taking the time to do that report so much good information in it will cut and paste it so can look it up if the search engine does not work. thanks again. Carol.

[Tomo3090]

Carol, PM sent to you with info I have gathered on the islands. If anyone else wants a copy please ask

[Hymer C 9.]

Thanks Tomo, very helpful, so much information. Carol.

[John.N]

Tomo3090 - 2010-05-16 7:05 PM

 

For the ferries we looked on the CalMac website to plan ot itinerary and decided which Hopscotch Ticket we wanted, (23 in our case), then we went to the office at the docks in Oban to see about buying it. We did it this way then we could wait until the day before to check on the weather for the crossing from Oban to Barra. It takes 5 hours and we didn't want to be sick for it! The girls in the office was very friendly and helpful and sorted it out for us. .

 

Do you mean that you delayed the actual booking until the day before?

We aim to go there in the beginning of June but the specific date of our arrival is uncertain