Monday 1 September 2025
Nido's parked up at Loch na Cartach on a parking area just a short walk from Traigh Ghearadha (Garry's Beach in English). It's on the east coast of Lewis, north of Stornoway. I'd planned on somewhere to just relax after the ferry journey and we arrived here mid-afternoon. It's very windy and with occasional bursts of heavy rain, but we've had a few sunny spells too , so took the opportunity to take the short walk down to the sandy beach, with the mountains of the mainland in the distance.
We left Drumbhan yesterday morning and took a slow drive across from the east to the west coast of Scotland, mainly on an A road comprising a single track with passing places. We were in no hurry, so just ambled along enjoying the scenery. As we moved further west we entered the region of Ross and Cromarty, barren hills interspersed with very high, pointed mountains with peaks of quartzite and limestone. One of the possible park-ups for the night was the car park at Knockan Crag Nature Reserve, which charges £10 to stay overnight. We parked up but decided it was too early to stop for the day, so had some lunch before walking up to the information point, which gave an interesting geological explanation of the origins of the Scottish landmass and the various make up of rocks over millions of years.
Carrying, on we descended further west and after about 20 minutes entered the town of Ullapool, from where we'd be catching the ferry in the morning. There's a car park next to Tesco that allows vans to stay overnight for £10. It was quite busy but we had no problem finding a spot with a view of the mountains. It was also much warmer down on at sea level, maxing out at about 21'C in the late afternoon sunshine. I did a quick food top-up in Tesco then walked down into the town to order two fish suppers, which we ate in the van. An evening walk along the coastline and river path finished our day, so with the alarm set, we settled down for what was a quiet night.
This morning my alarm went off at what I thought was 0700 but I'd actually set for 0600! Back in bed for a while, I couldn't get back to sleep so took Salty out for a walk, where he excitedly managed to spot some rabbits! On our return Cathy had breakfast on the go and told me that the loaf I bought yesterday was in fact a cheese bloomer, so it might not be that great toasted for jam or marmalade! I must have been tired last night when I set alarms and bought food! Nevertheless, our muesli and buttered toast breakfast went down well.
The ferry terminal was a short 3 minute drive, the check in process was easy and we were soon parked up in Lane 3 ready to embark. The ferry was berthed just across the road and we drove on, settled Salty down (who had the pleasure of staying in the van for the crossing) and made our way up to the seating lounge. The ferry left on time and we watched our progress passing several islands for a while, before I bought us hot drinks, which we had with sandwiches Cathy had made this morning. Despite the wind, it was relatively calm crossing and the time passed quickly as we watched some old daytime TV programmes; enough to send even the worst insomniac into a deep sleep!
Once disembarked in Stornoway, we'd planned to park up and have a walk around the town, but it was raining so we decided just to drive on to this spot and spend the rest of the day relaxing and finding our feet. There's no phone or wifi signal here, so it's been nice just to read, look out of the window and take Salty for a quick walk during the breaks in the showers. Tomorrow we'll start to explore Lewis properly. I've been researching places to visit and tend to refine this the day before, so we have some ideas for tomorrow, along with a campsite on a croft that sounds interesting. Until then, I think it's an early night to read and listen to the wind and rain. We're not complaining about the weather though; we knew what to expect at this time of the year (on the day the Met Office published the names of this season's future storms) and will plan our days around it.
