Van Life Day 12 - North Uist

We got the first ferry from Leverburgh to Berneray. It was weird as we had to stay in the car on the ferry for Covid reasons which was a shame as it is interesting to see the boat’s meander, following the marked channels.

On Berneray we went straight to the parking space near the dunes and walked across the path through the machair to the beach. We had an appointment, arranged by Amrita, a young woman we met skiing about 10 years ago, to meet her husband Ingo there. We had not met him before. He has come up from London to de-stress after a long stint of working from home following a horrific accident. His bicycle and a motorbike crashed in London and he was badly injured. He is making a good recovery but needed time away. He was unable to entice me in for a swim. He has invited us to have dinner with him at Langass Lodge where he is staying. Imagine - eating in a restaurant! If we want a drink we have to go outside, Covid rules.

Then we drove to North Uist where we had booked a pitch on a site. We stayed in their bunkhouse when we came 10 years ago. We have no view, being surrounded by caravans and Motorhomes but we’ll be off to find our own spot tomorrow. I’m glad of the hook up as I can have a longer shower!

We finally used our bikes for a 12 mile ride. 40 years ago, when Mr C was stationed on Benbecula, the girls and I came up in school holidays to stay in an old caravan with a peat fire on Gearradubh, an island connected by causeway to Grimsay, itself a small island between North Uist and Benbecula. I used to run round Grimsay in the evenings. It was a lot hillier than I remembered. It was a struggle into the headwind on the way back. The tide had just started to come in so we watched it run down from the sea under the bridge onto the sand. The girls and I used to walk there to watch the seals. This time we watched otters. Sadly too fast for photos but I’d not seen them wild before so it was a treat.

Now I’m going to have a welcome shower, dress in smarter clothes and put on makeup in honour of our first restaurant meal in 18 months.

The blip is taken while on our bike ride on Grimsay looking towards Eval.