Week two of our holiday saw us heading to a very small Island in the Outer Hebrides, namely the Isle of Eriskay. Situated at the very southern tip of South Uist and only joined to Uist by a causeway in 2001 it is an absolutely stunning Island. The cottage we had booked was right on the beach, by the ferry port to Barra. We had several rush hours during the day, sometimes even seeing a dozen cars in one go! Other than that and one coach trip, we more or less had the place to ourselves.
We waved goodbye to Granny and Grandad on a dry Saturday morning, not that it would last long, and headed south across the Isle of Harris to the port of Leverburgh. Here we were catching the ferry across to Berneray, from which we could drive across the Uists to Eriskay, a trip of about two hours. The crossing was flat and peaceful which was a surprise seeing what the weather had been like the few days before.
Leaving the dark and brooding Isle of Harris
Let the adventure begin
Having got a few hours to kill before we were able to get into the cottage, I had completely forgot to ring ahead about key collection so there was a panic to find some signal on the drive down, we headed to Charlie’s Bistro on Benbecula for lunch. It was an amazing lunch, we all left really full. If only we had been staying a little closer, we would certainly have come back.
After lunch we headed south again, it is a truly amazing placer. Lyns and I were in awe. The Isle of Harris is stunning, but , in my opinion, the Uists take it to another level. The beaches on the west coast easily rival Luskentyre but there are more of them, and the scenery is easily as beautiful, especially at this time of year as the heather is in full bloom.
I will apologies, there are very few family pictures from this week as, well, we were all too busy having fun on the beach. Come rain or shine were were to be found on the beach. That being said, I did manage to make the most of some of the nicer patches of weather to take some pictures.
Our cottage in the bottom left corner with the Isle of Barra on the horizon
We had all of this beach to ourselves most days
One thing Lyns and I had promised ourselves this holiday was that we would be adventurous and try some more seafood, especially as a lot of it is locally caught. We took a drive to Namara Seafood in North Uist to see what they sold. We walked away with both a pack of scallops and some langoustines. Go big or go home in our household. I was very nervous cooking the scallops having never cooked them before, following a BBC recipe to serve them with black pudding, Stornoway black pudding of course, they were absolutely stunning.
Next up were the langoustines. These I was less nervous about as they were pre cooked. We had them for lunch one day, simply grilled with some garlic butter. I was apprehensive about trying them but they were truly yummy. James was intrigued by them. At first he did not want to try any until he saw me picking the meat out of the claws when he asked to try some. As he put it in his mouth, his little face lit up. That only meant one thing, less for Lyns and I as he gobbled them down.
What a pair of posers
Other than our culinary adventures, and a meal out in the local pub, we did not do a whole lot other than go to the beach and relax, just want we wanted from the second week of our holiday.
One of the most stunning sunsets to wave us off after our holiday
Due to the early ferry we packed the car ready to go on the Friday night. We were sailing from Lochboisdale. Unfortunately when I had looked at the ferry time I had read the departure time as the check in closing time. This meant a mad panic when we woke up on Saturday morning as we had very little time to get going. A quick dash in the dark and driving rain and we made it to the ferry port with time to spare. Nothing like a little excitement to finish the holiday off. What a lovely two weeks we had - back to normality when we got home, unfortunately.