Tue 19 Jul 2011
The wind continued through the night with some rain. My first objective is to catch the first ferry from Berneray to Leverburgh on Harris. As I'm camped at the top of the jetty that wasn't a problem. After packing up I was able to use the waiting room until the ferry was due to leave at 07:15am. The room had been open all night and I suppose I could have spent the night there if I'd known. Another cyclist arrived so there were 2 bikes on the ferry. It was still very windy as we crossed the sound of Harris and the crossing to Leverburgh took about an hour.

the ferry about to leave Berneray

arriving in Leverburgh

As I wheeled my bike up the ramp and on to dry land I noticed a van selling teas and hot sandwiches. I stopped for a bacon sandwich and chatted to the owner about the best was to Tarbert. The west coast road is the one most people use but would be battered by the full force of the wind. A minor and hilly road to the east of the island would provide some shelter. I set off and just to be sure of the turn off asked a postman. He pointed me in the right direction but warned me of the hills, saying I would be better off on the west coast. Undeterred I set off for the hills. The first part was a long and steady climb but at least there was a nice descent down to the shore area.

The next few miles were a series of small settlements with many hills but they were all relatively short. As with the whole route so far most houses have a wind vane generator on a pole and all are rotating so fast the blades are just a blur. I reached the main A859 and followed it to Tarbert. Up to now the road signs have been in Gaelic on the top and English below in small print. Now the tendency is for Gaelic only. I was surprised how small Tarbert looked as I passed but the road north doesn't go through the town so I passed it by. The main road to Stornoway started off with a short climb around the coast then a very steep section which seemed relentless. It didn't help that the rain started again and I had about 3 miles of constant uphill to the summit. The scenery was now much more interesting with lots of things to see even though the mountain tops are all shrouded in cloud. When I reached Stornoway I took a wrong turning and was heading in to the town centre before realising my mistake.

the east coast of Harris

I found the A857 and headed off for the next settlement. There was another long climb but not as steep as that out of Tarbert. The road was incredibly bleak and there wasn't a single house the whole way for about 10 miles. The village is called Barabhas on the map but the sign said Barvas. It has the highest concentration of Scottish Gaelic speakers in Scotland at 75%. I stopped at a filling station to buy some water and biscuits before continuing along the A857 coast road towards Port Nevis or Port Nis as the map shows. I still had a head wind but not too many hills. I was heading for the Butt of Lewis but it wasn't signposted at the main road. Following the map I found the single track road out to the headland and lighthouse.

Butt of Lewis lighthouse

The Butt of Lewis lighthouse stands 37 metres high and 52 metres above sea level. It was designed by David Stevenson in the 1860s. Some years ago the location appeared in the 'Guiness Book of Records' as the windiest spot in the United Kingdom.

David Stevenson

I reached it at 18:20 and after visiting the lighthouse perimeter I returned along the track to find an excellent spot behind a sheep shelter wall to pitch my tent. There was a very dirty stream nearby but the map shows a small spring nearby which turned out to be very small and mostly surface run off. As it was much cleaner looking I used it to collect the water for my tea. It was quite impressive watching the waves crashing on the rocks as I sat in my tent. 83miles today.

view from the tent