Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) Day 4

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Outer Hebrides: Day 4 – Harris

This was the main day we went to the Isle of Harris, which is the southern part of the Lewis / Harris island. Harris has a somewhat different landscape from Lewis – it’s generally more mountainous (the highest mountain, Clisham, is 799m) and rockier than Lewis; and it has some very remote and beautiful sandy beaches. Like Lewis, it has numerous lochs of all sizes nestled among the scenery.

We drove south from our cottage near Callanish via Stornoway to Tarbert (Harris’s main port and biggest ‘town’ – population 550); then drove a clockwise circuit round the southern part of Harris. Like Lewis, many of the roads are single-track tarmac with passing bays, but Harris has even more cattle grids and sheep on the road.

We passed seals, a few wild deer, Amhuinnsuidhe Castle and the mediaeval church of St. Clements at Rodel, and finished with a late barbeque on Hushinish Beach.

By the time we left Harris, is was sunset. – while we were staying on Lewis / Harris, the sun disappeared over the horizon about 10.30 pm. and rose again about 4.15 am.!

Note: These photos perhaps don’t quite do justice to Harris, as it was a cloudy day, and the landscapes wide and high, so it was hard to capture the very special place that Harris is…