The Outer Hebrides at last

It was cold last night - very cold.  I found myself in a dilemma: should I get out of my very lightweight sleeping bag to get more clothes from my panniers?  In the end, my sleeping mat decided it by deflating itself, so I had to anyway.

Early to rise at 6am wasn't much of a sacrifice, and I was on the road by 7, hurrying north, into the wind again, to catch the 9.30 ferry from Uig.  As I struggled up one hill, I met a stoat coming the other way, carrying a hot breakfast.

The ferry cost £6.10, very reasonable for a 90 minute crossing.  I paid as much again for a two course breakfast. The sun was shining. All was good.

We docked at Lochmaddy on North Uist, a small place of maybe 40 houses, unloading a few lorries, motorhomes, motor bikes, and perhaps a dozen cars - not busy at all.

The outer Hebrides are a chain of islands: Lewis/Harris conjoined in the north, then North and South Uist below, plus many smaller islands. My cunning plan is to cycle to the far south, and then north, taking advantage of the prevailing wind.  Yeah, right.

Well it's working so far.  As I headed south over smooth, gently undulating tarmav, my legs were caressed by gentle zephyrs of a following wind.  The landscape is mainly peat bog, sprinkled with lochans snd giving way to acres of white sand and light blue water at the coast, which is never far away.

Leaving north Uist, I did a brief circuit of tiny, deserted Grimsay before crossing Benbecula.   There was a café on south Uist but it is Sunday. I couldn't risk it, so I'm in the Dark Isles hotel in Liniclate, which sounds like an Italian airport to me.