We all had a fabulous time in the Western Isles. The weather was sunny most of the time, although cold and windy. But we had planned for this, and as Sir Ranulph Fiennes said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing".
Logan was sensational during the travels to and from Stornoway. He had a wee turtle rucksack with some toys and happily played with them on the plane up. We were in a very small plane that was very loud but it didn't bother him. On the way back we had to take the bus to Stornoway before going on the plane, and again he was amazing in it. One hour journey and he spent most of it standing on my legs looking over the seat in front of us. A very happy little boy.
I'd bought a Patapum baby carrier before travelling as the Western Isles are an outdoorsy destination with pathways to go to sites and pushing a buggy on gravels or soil or sand isn't easy. It's a great carrier that's very comfy and really takes Logan's weight off. The only downside is that I can't use it on my own: another adult needs to be there to put Logan in. Maybe when he's a bit older he can climb on my back and I can then strap him in.
We stayed in a 3-bedroomed cottage in Tarbert which I can highly recommend for its convenience all round (next to shops, all you need and more in the house, fantastic views to the sea and Skye). Logan got a bit spooked by the change of surrounding and completely stopped trying to walk that whole week.
We visited the Isle of Harris with its gorgeous beaches and lonely standing stones. We had a picnic on Borvemore Beach, complete with winter coats and woolly hats.
We travelled to the Northern tip of Lewis and nearly got swept off the cliffs by the strong winds at the Butt of Lewis lighthouse - but the sun was out and it was magnificent. We got sent back in time at the different attractions on the Western coast. We had lots of fun playing between the impressive Sea Stacks at Tolsta Beach on the East coast.
We took the bridge to the Isle of Scalpay - just to be able to say we'd been there! Turns out it has a lovely little harbour.
We sailed to Berneray in order to visit North Uist and Benbecula, and to be honest the best bit was the half hour or so that we spent on the breathtaking East beach as we were waiting for the ferry home. As we waited for the ferry we let Logan clamber around the car and he managed to get from the back seat to my knees (driving seat) on his own, then sat on my lap turning the steering wheel making vroom vroom noises! It was hilarious!
So all in all we managed to visit 6 of the Western Isles - even if Scalpay is tiny and we did Benbecula, North Uist and Berneray in one day, it's not bad at all in a week.
