Phoebe's favourites

Phoebe's four favourite Outer Hebrides experiences:

1. Machair
Machair is only found along north-west Scottish coasts where low lying sandy soils, a lot of wind, just the right amount of rain and grazing have combined to create what looks like neatly mown lawn covered with several different flowers only a few inches high backing on to wide sandy beaches. Machair flowers in early summer and it is spectacular. The best examples we saw were on Vatersay and Barra.

 This soft and stunning landscape sometimes hides traumatic stories.

The machair would not have been flowering when 350 people, trying to find a better life in Canada, probably after being evicted from their homes as a result of clearances by greedy landlords, were shipwrecked here. The monument below reads, "On 28 September 1853 the ship Annie Jane with emigrants from Liverpool to Quebec was totally wrecked in this bay and threefourths of the crew and passengers numbering about 350 men women and children were drowned and interred here."

2. Waiting for the plane to arrive at Barra Airport.
Seriously. The beach is HUGE, very smooth and flat with a large tidal range.

Barra airport is the only airport in the world with scheduled flights that land on a beach and are determined by the tides.

Flights are also effected by fog and the little terminal was full of people hoping another plane would make it through the fog so they could fly out. It is only a small plane.

3. Luskentyre Beach

Another huge beach with a large tidal range, and a long wide white beach. This is only one end of the beach. Can you see the artist sitting on the dunes, painting the colours?

Can you see tiny Sheryl walking to the waves? The water was actually warmish. We paddled and collected tiny shells for an hour or more...I lost track of the time.

We waved to the coast guard who circled the beach a few times, so low we could see them waving to us.

Quite a few families swimming and dogs running in the shallow water - pure happiness. There are no shops at Luskentrye, only houses, a cemetery, a public toilet and a small, very full carpark.

4. Otter spotting

We had been looking for wild otters at numerous locations in Shetland and the Outer Hebrides, places marked on maps, places locals told us about and places where there were otter crossing road signs. Nothing.

We did not like Lochboisdale much at first. This is where we stayed for three nights in the little hobbit pod. It grew on us as it was very quiet and peaceful. We saw very few people inspite of the number of houses. Every night we looked for otters. They are apparently most active at dusk.

 No, we have not converted to Islam. This is midge protection! It is the beginning of summer and the nasty tiny stingy midgees are starting to come out.

On our third night, at about 10.00, we were about to give up when we saw something swimming toward us. We sat as still as we could on the rocks while he floated about 5 metres away for a couple of minutes, staring at us, and then swam off to continue fishing.

Phoebe also took us to lots of other places too. She helped us to see far more than we could have managed without a car.

Besides the above there were numerous historical sites, some restored; others ruins.

Pre BC foundations of houses in the machair on South Uist.  11 bodies were buried under the floor.

Callanish Standing stones . Arranged in a circle with lines of stones in four directions like a cross.  There are several more small stone circles on nearby hills.

Restored Viking mill and corn-drying kiln.

Blackhouses, still lived in until 1974. Now a museum and one used as hostel accommodation.

And there were a few castles, lots of old churches and graveyards, and I do have lots more pictures but this already a long post.

But this is my personal favourite Phoebe moment.

Oh, and this beach!

We said goodbye and thank you to the fabulous Phoebe when we returned her to her home in Stornoway before boarding the ferry to return to the mainland.