Tales from the Trail: Outer Hebrides Roadtrip 2022 - Part I
Community Engagement Officer Siobhan spent two weeks visiting Hebridean Whale Trail sites in the Outer Hebrides, running events, catching up with the locals, and spotting some incredible wildlife.
Day 1 - Ullapool
Ullapool is a great place to start an adventure to the Outer Hebrides, and has a lovely wee buzz about it. After a wander along the seafront I met up with the Ullapool Sea Savers (USS) - a group of inspiring young people dedicated to protecting our oceans. I joined their after-school club and each of the members told me cool facts about the marine species they champion. I have a whole new appreciation for flame shells, flapper skate and lots of other fascinating marine species. We had a good look at the collection of whale and dolphin bones I had brought with me and I answered questions about the different species that can be spotted here. The USS are seriously awesome and I was really impressed with their passion and drive to make Ullapool a leading light in marine conservation.
Don’t Miss: There are a couple of fab wee bookshops here where I picked up some reading for quiet moments on my travels (spoiler alert - I didn’t open a page!)
Top wildlife spotted: Gannets diving just offshore
Day 2 - Crossing the Minch & Tiumpan
I started my second day of the trip actually getting across to the Outer Isles. The ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway is a wildlife-watchers dream. The ferry travels through the beautiful Summer Isles, crosses the Minch and arrives in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. During the summer you regularly spot huge pods of common dolphin that come and bow-ride the ferry. Unfortunately I didn’t spot any on this crossing, but I was out on deck in my t-shirt enjoying the sunshine for quite a while. Once on Lewis I headed straight out to Tiumpan Head Lighthouse to catch up with some locals and, hopefully, spot something! Tiumpan is generally considered to be one of the best places to whale watch from land, but so far I hadn’t had much luck spotting here. However my luck changed and while chatting with the local WDC Shorewatch volunteers we spotted minke whales! Hurrah!
Don’t miss: Head up the wee hill above the lighthouse where there is a walled enclosure that gives you some protection from the wind, and somewhere to rest your elbows while glued to your binos! This is where the WDC Shorewatch volunteers can regularly be found, and are always happy to chat and offer advice for spotting!
Top spot: Minke whale!!
Day 3 - Gallan Head and Uig
My third day on Lewis was spent out on the west coast of Lewis, in an area known as Uig. The site on the Hebridean Whale Trail here is Gallan Head, a dramatic peninsula that was once home to a busy military base, and is now a stunning spot to visit with great views - on clear days you can even see St Kilda! The local community are making their mark on this site by painting fabulous murals on the abandoned buildings! I headed to Gallan Beag, a great wee cafe, shop and is the headquarters of the Gallan Head Community Trust. Here I joined folk from the local community of Aird Uig, as well as visitors to the area, to teach a masterclass on whale spotting and identification. The group were great fun and asked loads of interesting questions. We did head outside for a wee watch, but the wind had picked up and the sea was packed with white-horses, making spotting anything in the water tough.
In the afternoon I headed to the Uig Community Centre for a community café talk on Whales & Gaels: Our Relationship with the Sea. It was another fab group who came along, and I shared the fantastic film our Jenny made about the Hebridean Whale Trail, which features beautiful interviews with some of the lovely folk across the trail.
Don’t miss: The Uig Community centre has a fab wee museum, the Comunn Eachdraidh Uig, which gives insight into life on the island through the ages.
Top Spot: Fulmars soaring round the headland
Day 4 - The Butt of Lewis
The northern tip of Lewis is known as Ness, and is where I used to live. Coming here, even for work, feels a bit like coming home. Gaelic is very much alive in Ness, and is spoken by most locals before they learn English. I joined lunch club at the Comunn Eachdraidh Nis, a regular group of older members of the community who meet at the local historical centre once a week. I gave them a short talk on Whales & Gaels and they were very kind and helpful as I attempted to pronounce the Gaelic names for the species. After my talk we had lunch and I got to hear some of their stories and memories of living by the sea here in the Hebrides.
In the afternoon I headed up to the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse and was joined by Shona, the local corncrake warden for RSPB. We set up our scopes and sheltered from the wind in the lee of the Lighthouse. The sea was very rough, so we were not lucky on the cetacean front. However we happily watched a colony of seals out on the jagged rocks, and marvelled at some of the fantastic seabirds nesting on the cliffs. In particular the shags, were catching the sunlight and looked absolutely iridescent. The fulmars at colonised the tops of the rocks, in amongst the blooming sea pinks. The shags had built seaweed nests on precipitous nooks and crannies, and it was amazing to see them swapping over who sat on the eggs!
Don’t miss: On the road out to the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse you will pass Port Stoth, a gorgeous wee shelterd cove with a golden beach. This is one of my favourite places to swim, as the seas around Lewis are usually pretty wild, but its calm and protected here. I used to swim here after work, bobbing about in the turquoise waters and fulmars circle overhead as they come in to roost.
Top spot: A lone razorbill atop a sea-stack posing and showing off for us!
Day 5 - Huisinis, Isle of Harris
Unfortunately the weather broke for my day on the Isle of Harris, and the rain poured down. I set off down the long and winding road to Huisinis, its great fun to drive with lots of twists and turns and as you go over each rise another stunning view is revealed. I have never driven this road and not got stuck at some point in a cow traffic jam. At the end of this road lies the breath-taking beach Huisinis, with golden sand, machair studded with flowers, and the hills of Harris behind. Even with the rain pouring down this is a beautiful spot. Luckily the North Harris Trust have built a Gateway Building here, with indoor facilities and picnic benches set up next to panoramic windows looking across the bay. So I was able to enjoy the view without getting soaked! I was here to meet with Fañch, the North Harris Trust ranger, and we spent a lovely morning set up in the Gateway building, chatting about the local natural and cultural heritage with visitors. Originally from Brittany Fañch is is fluent in Scottish Gaelic, and uses his linguistic knowledge to interpret maps of the local area and read the history recorded in place names. Every Monday during the summer you can join Fañch at the other Hebridean Whale Trail site on Harris, as he runs a guided whale and dolphin walk to Eilean Glas Lighthouse on Scalpay.
Don’t miss: As you turn off the main road, down to Huisinis you pass a tall red brick chimney at the edge of the water, just by the road. This is all that remains of the UKs last Whaling Station, Bunnavoneader, which shut in 1953.
Top Spot: Not a great day for wildlife today but top spot goes to the eider ducks bobbing about in the bay
Siobhan’s role is supported by players of the National Lottery through the National Heritage Lottery Fund for Scotland Gateway to the Trail Project #thankstoyou