In the footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie…

It was an early breakfast this morning as we needed to drive the four miles or so to the ferry port at Aird Mhor.  There was already a smattering of vehicles waiting but no sign of any officials from CalMac as it is an unmanned port.  There is just a toilet (many people actually wild camp here I believe) and an interesting otter carving, in honour of the many otters who frequent this part of the island (no sign today unfortunately).

The Lochalainn arrived in good time and we were soon loaded up.

The crossing to Eriskay only takes 45 minutes and the weather was fine and sunny, although out on the water, of course, it was pretty windy.  We went up on deck and Peter happened to spot these seals cavorting in the water.

It wasn’t long before we had landed and were driving past what is known as the Prince’s Strand, the beach on which Prince Charles Edward Stuart first set foot on Scottish soil in 1745.

We took the right hand turning and found ourselves in a smallish bay with a floating pontoon and some fishing boats.  There was a fisherman from Uist stacking his crab pots onto the pier.  He told us that the recent bad weather had made it difficult for the fishermen to go out but that better weather was expected for the coming week.  Good news for him and us!

This tiny rabbit made a brief appearance – we have seen very few on the islands:

and we could hear a cuckoo calling in the distance.  Our first this year.

After lunch in Bessie, we carried on our journey up the main road towards the causeway over to South Uist where our next campsite is, passing this sign for the public house, AM Politician, in memory of the infamous wreck of the SS Politician in 1941 and the cargo of whisky which had been “liberated” by the islanders.  Sir Compton Mackenzie wrote a fictionalised account of the episode in his novel, “Whisky Galore”, which was made into a film in the late 40s and actually filmed on Barra.

The pub itself is rather disappointing.  It’s a modern pub more of the kind you might find in the south of England.

Eriskay is as beautiful an island as I had expected and I will simply let these photographs tell the story.

What an amazing setting for a pitch – our football-loving grandsons take note!

Then the causeway hove into view with a suitable warning about otters!

Once over the causeway, we headed east towards East Kilbride where our campsite is and the coastline is equally stunning.

The campsite is a relatively new one and the owner, Donald, greeted us on arrival and showed us our pitch which has a wonderful view of the sea, with the beach just a minute’s walk across the road.  The rocks here are magnificent and sea was glistening under the early evening sun.