The Hebrides, or more specifically the Outer Hebrides, are an archipelago of islands off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are Gaelic speaking and their name Na h-Eileannan an Lar is Western Isles in Gaelic. They were Norse for 400 years until the treaty of Perth transferred them to Scotland in 1266. They had always held a strong romantic fascination for us and we had wanted to visit them for some time. We bought the BMW motorbike, in 1994 and we had many adventures on it touring in Britain, Ireland and Europe. But it was getting too heavy for us and we were riding it less and less. So we conceived the idea of a last big ride through the Outer Hebrides and back down the west coast of the mainland. The idea was to tow the bike from our home in the Peak District to Oban and leave the car there while we toured on the bike. As the crow flies it is 130 miles from Castlebay in Barra to the Butt of Lewis. By road we did 240 miles over three days. But the whole trip was well over a thousand miles, nearly 500 of which was on the motorbike. The weather on the first two days riding the bike were unkind with rain and cold but it was exciting and challenging and we enjoyed the thrill of riding across such a unique landscape. When we got back to the mainland the sun came out and we had a wonderful time on the bendy single-track coastal roads. We were away only ten days in all but it seemed much longer. This was not an easy place to earn a living and you can sense the turbulent history of the region. But the Gaelic culture is alive and thriving. The white sand beaches, the rugged mountains and the incomparable light are truly magical. We stayed in comfortable hotels and bunkhouses and met some lovely people. The logistics with CalMac ferries worked perfectly. We couldn't have asked for more from our last trip on the motorbike.
