Cows on the beach and driving across Jupiter!

Sunday 7 September 2025

Nido's parked up on a small gravel car park adjacent to the Leverburgh ferryport.  Weather permitting we'll be catching the ferry to Bernaray on North Uist in the morning.  On the car park is the Butty Bus, a bus that serves breakfast rolls.  It should be open early enough tomorrow morning to grab a couple of breakfast baps before we have to catch the ferry!

We left Luskentyre yesterday morning after a quick cup of tea and drove to Leverburgh to use the laundrette in the Leverhulme Community Hub.  It opens at 0900, so we were straight in to get the washing and drying done. During that time we sat and had breakfast, parked up next to the Community shop overlooking a sea inlet.  It was an easy admin morning but the machines only take pound coins; luckily I'd got plenty from the bank before we left home.

From there we drove back along the coast and pulled into a layby next to Traigh Iar.  There were cows laying on the beach, despite the wind and occasional rain showers; every day must be a beach day for them!  The tide was out but the waves were pounding as we walked along, eventually climbing the dunes and hill to reach the Macleod's Stone, standing tall with a view over the sea and Taransay.  It's been dated to the prehistoric Neolithic period and is believed to have been part of rituals, including funerary rites.  We worked our way back along the dunes and behind the cows (none had mooooved since earlier!) and sat in the van with the side door open to have lunch, watching the waves crash even high as the tide returned.

One minute down the road was the West Harris Trust Camping Spot 1.  It's a layby just off the road and is one of six designated and approved overnight park-ups provided by West Harris Trust, including three campsites.  It cost £10 per night, which can be paid by text or Paypal via their website.  Another van was parked already, but we managed to find a level spot just in front of them, again with a great view of the sea and Taransay.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chilling; Cathy carrying on with her sewing project.  I did a bit of research for the Uists before cooking dinner - Keralan chicken curry with some flatbreads; I made the dough when at the laundrette stop and it rose well during the day, sat on the dashboard!

This morning it was windy but actually quite warm.  After showers and breakfast I drove a mile up the road to the Horgabost campsite, where they offer black waste dump and drinking water for £3.  The beach there is beautiful - soft white sand that shelves gently into clear blue water, so we had a quick walk and decided to come back later in the day and try for a swim when the tide's in.

Before that we took a drive around south Harris, following the 'Golden Road' that tracks the east coast.  This area is much more rocky, with lots of sea inlets and tiny harbours.  There were also hundreds of small inland lochs, some covered in lily pads, which must look beautiful when in flower.  The area's so stark it was used to depict the planet Jupiter in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It still has a beauty all of its own though, with loads of quirky houses, some old and original, others new and very modern.  We stopped at one of the few parking spaces on the road, high above the sea at Finsbay for lunch.  Despite the strong wind we managed to shelter the side door so we could open it and enjoy the view.  The road continued to wind down towards the small village of Rodel with a medieval church; this was busy with lots of visitors so we didn't park.

We returned to Horgabost beach to sit and wait for the tide.  Unfortunately the rain started and stayed heavy for several hours, which killed off our chance of our first sea swim here, so we drove up to this current spot by the tiny ferry port.  The ferry was just a few minutes away when we parked up and we watched it unload, load back up and quickly return to Berneray.  The alarms set so we're up in time for breakfast rolls if the Butty Bus is open before we continue our journey south to the Uists.