The Outer Hebrides - South Uist

Have to start by saying thanks for all your comments on winding yarn. I can't imagine using my knees or feet to do it, as some of you do! Of course, lots of you remember holding the skein for your mum. I forgot to say that I used to hold the skein for my mum many, many times. There's something I really can't understand though. I learnt to wind a skein myself from her. But why, if I'd been there at the time, did I not just hold the skein for her? A puzzle that I'll never solve as I can no longer ask her.

Now, at last, to really get on with my recent holiday. When we left the Village Inn in Arrochar, we drove to Oban to catch a ferry to Lochboisdale on South Uist. The weather had been very bad the previous few days and some of the ferries had been cancelled. Ours was still on though, so we were happy not to have to re-arrange any of our accommodation or other sailings.

Leaving Oban

 Mind you, the weather still wasn't very nice! The journey from Oban to Lochboisdale took over six hours. Initially the ferry sails between the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Mull, a narrow stretch of water so very calm. Here are some photos of the first part of the journey.

Once we got out into the open sea it was a different matter! It was a very rough crossing.

Even so, I managed to get my sister-in-law's crocheted bag started.

By the time we arrived in Lochboisdale and drove to South Boisdale, where we were staying, it was getting quite late. We had intended to have dinner on the ferry but that was out of the question! The very kind lady who owns the B&B we were staying in phoned the Polochar Inn and asked them to keep the restaurant open for us. She actually conversed in Scottish Gaelic with the waitress at the inn! So we headed out straight away, travelling a few miles in the completely wrong direction before I - Mrs No-Sense-of-Direction - realised what was happening. A quick U-turn and we were thankfully heading in the right direction. The Polochar Inn is on the coast so we had lovely views while we ate our delicious dinner. So delicious, in fact, that we went back again the following night.

South Uist is an amazing place. The west side is all big beaches and very flat. This is where all the houses and farms are. The east side is mountainous with very few inhabitants.

I'll just let you look through some photos to give you an idea of what it's like.

The most amazing thing we saw or heard on South Uist was a corncrake. Can you see it right in the middle of the picture?

There's some more holiday posts to come though the weather got worse and not a lot of photos were taken.

This is probably the funniest thing we saw on South Uist.

Sorry, if you've never seen Father Ted you probably won't have a clue why it's funny.

All the best for now.