Papal Tour of the Outer Hebrides - 2016

[Jumpjim]

Just to flesh the ride out with some more details for those thinking of heading up to the Outer Hebrides....

My magic week of the last week of May came good for the fourth time on the trot with wall to wall sunshine for the entire trip, bar one heavy shower at Glossop on the way up.

The first day route consisted of meeting up at Oxford services and then a motorway schlep to north of Birmingham before peeling off through the Pennines. All in all a nice days ride with a heavy shower as we did the Snake Pass.

Overnight accommodation was at the Clapham Bunkhouse which was fine but basic with a 10 foot walk to the pub downstairs. Great brekky in the morning at the village shop which does fresh coffee and bacon sarnies to order so promptly got swamped by 9 hairy arsed smelly blokes..

Day 2 started with a stunning loop through the Lake District and lunch at a bikers cafe in Keswick before heading North up the motorway. Arsey decided to "self cater" when it came to tea in Windermere.... eyes:

Slightly marred by one low speed drop on a corner on Hardknott pass, compounded by Binky trying to pick the bike up on his own and sustaining a grade 3 tear of his calf muscle... Stunning weather for the day...

Night stopped at the Balmaha bunkhouse on the east side of Loch Lomond which is in a stunning location right on the edge of the loch. Three rooms (2x2's and a x4), clean showers, comfy beds and a pub just up the road - Highly recommended..

 

[Jumpjim]

...cont...

Day 3 was a ride from Balmaha to Mallaig, via Glencoe and Fort William.

The first gem of the day was a road called "Duke's Pass" around Loch Achray. Absolutely stunning ride with great, perfectly surfaced twisties made for a VERY entertaining start to the day. Great views down the Loch past the Trossachs church.

Stopped in Glencoe for another self catered cup of tea whilst enjoying the view. Quick spin up to the commando memorial at Spean bridge before a good hoon on the Fort William to Mallaig road (Another stunner.....). Caught the 5pm ferry from Mallaig to Lochboisdale arriving around 9pm.

Night stopped in the Lochboisdale hotel which was frankly a bit shit.... Rooms were in a tatty state, no shower but a plastic jug on the bath, holes in the ceiling in the lounge etc... and £100 a night per room Anyway Brekky was nice but overall not very impressed... Accommodation isn't exactly burgeoning in Lochboisdale though which made accommodating 9 a bit of a challenge.

 

[Jumpjim]

Day 4 part 1was a quickish run up through South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist to catch the Berneray to Leverburgh ferry.

I'd originally planned to get the mid-day ferry but due to the tides they had changed this to a 1025 departure. We left Lochboisdale at 8am and made it comfortably for the 1005 checkin time. The Uists are pretty bleak and not much in the way of roads - If you want to explore you've pretty much got to walk.

The ferry to Leverburgh is like watching something out of pac-man.... There's 90 degrees turns thick and fast as he picks his way through the rocks but beautiful scenery surrounds you throughout.

Day 4 Part 2, after dumping our kit at the bunkhouse, was a beautiful run up the west coast of Harris. We stopped at the Temple cafe for a stunning lunch in an incredibly beautiful spot - Highly recommended. Then passed Luskentyre beach (Did that the next day), ad followed the road through Tarbert and then along a 14 mile single track road to one of the most stunning beaches I think I've ever seen - Hushinish beach.

The route back went back through Tarbert and then followed the "Golden Road" down the east coast of Harris which is totally different to the west coast and very pretty. Coffee at the Scoon Art cafe and back to the Am Bothan Bunkhouse. I can't recommend this place highly enough. Comfy, a bit kooky but very atmospheric and fantastic value. We had the most amazing lobster meal down by the harbour in the cafe/bar there which was a highlight of the trip....

More after I've mowed the lawn...

 

[Arsey]

Did the mower break down ?

 

[doyle]

Mibee a big lawn

 

[Arsey]

Mibee a big lawn

It's a reasonable size but possibly wouldn't take 30 hours to mow.

 

[doyle]

Slightly off topic,but how does the Africa Twin compare with your 950SE? Power wise and in general?

 

[Arsey]

Slightly off topic,but how does the Africa Twin compare with your 950SE? Power wise and in general?

Power-wise,the AT definitely feels like it has more.But it has been Hilltopped now.The SE does feel a bit more planted but I'm putting that down to the Conti TA2s on my SE compared to the shite Dunlops on the AT.The SE was never as good on Pirelli Scorpions as it is on the TA2s.-I've ordered TA2s for the Honda.

Other than that,I would say the AT is like a more modern SE.It has the same 'feel' that I love with 21/18 wheels,especially in gnarly mountain passes.The brakes are better on the AT with the twin disc setup and ABS,plus obviously the AT has a few more gizmos like traction control.

I'm very impressed with the seat and screen on the AT-I can ride visor up at 70 mph and it's quiet,yet it's not like a GSA where you get buffeting instead.I've always preferred clean air,with a small screen like on the SE over a full on GSA style jobby,but the tall screen on the AT seems to be a perfect mix.

I ordered the AT as I had a feeling that it would be a natural successor to the SE.This near 2000 mile trip to the Hebrides and back proved it is much better than that.

A large chunk of that is due to three letters-DCT.It is sublime.Just brilliant.

Heading on a 3000 mile trip to the Dolomites and back next month,most of it 2 up,so let's see how it copes with that !!

 

[doyle]

Cheers for the reply.

I think the AT twin has been one of this years best selling bikes.

 

[Micky]

Good one

 

[Jumpjim]

...cont...

Day 5 started with a 141 mile jaunt around Harris/Lewis before getting the Tarbert ferry to Uig on Skye.

We had a trot past Luskentyre beach, which although rated as one of the top 5 in the world, I personally think was surpassed by Hushinish the previous day. The ride up towards Callanish was stunning with fabulous views throughout. We took a spin all the way to the west coast and then back to check out the Callanish standing stones which are impressive.

Then retraced our route to Tarbert, and a nice lunch at the Cafe by the ferry carpark before embarking for Uig on the 1600 ferry getting in at 1740.

On getting to Skye we took a fantastic route past the Quiraing, down the East coast past the Old Man of Storr and then a stunning loop around the west of Skye before reaching Carbost and the Old Skye Inn where we had booked the bunkhouse.

Live music ensued as well as a lovely dinner although the pub was really busy. Nice accommodation although on balance I prefer the bunkhouse at Sligachan.

 

[Jumpjim]

...cont...

Day 6 started with a run to Armadale to catch the ferry which is a lovely run down the coast. An unexpected hi light was the loop to Toksavaig which proved stunning with some great views of the Cuillins and an almost mediterranean feel to it.

We caught the 1210 ferry to Mallaig arriving at 1255 and then headed off down to Oban...


We popped into check out Castle Tioram on the way past which was stunning, and then had the delights of a 14 mile single track road down to catch the Kilchoan to Tobermory ferry. Middle of bloody nowhere and had two electric car charging points! Long live the EU....

A note of caution, although you can't book the Kilchoan to Tobermory ferry, which led me to believe it was a regular service, it actually only runs every 2 hours so watch the timings if that's your preferred route.

 

[Jumpjim]

On arriving in Tobermory we decided to take advantage of the fantastic pier fish and chip van for fresh mackerel and chips which was absolutely fantastic, and then headed off on what turned out to be a slightly over-optimistic loop around Mull but covered a large part of it nevertheless.

Again all single track roads and some excitement with enthusiastic tractor drivers ensued.

The accommodation at the Craignure bunkhouse was superb. Very comfy beds, great power showers, all new accommodation with sitting rooms, USB ports by the bed for charging gadgets etc. and a pub next door. Whats not to like for £20/night!

A beer was in order after another day with the mob...

Day 7 started with a run through the glens (Beautiful) and then a boring motorway schlep down to the top of the Pennines followed by one of the best runs of the trip, through the pennines and then some absolutely stunning scenery and FANTASTIC roads through the Yorkshire Dales.

It was a bit of a thrown together route but turned out to have some absolute gems on it and I can highly recommend the route to anybody.

Day 8 was a tedious motorway spin home, with the usual idiots road-raging us on the M25 before arriving home absolutely knackered.

Overall the routes and ferry timings worked out extremely well with just the Mull route being a tad over-optimistic.

 

[chilipepper]

Nice report, love the Islands up there, we got Married in Tobermory

 

[bod]

I was up there the last week of May also!

Oban - Castlebay - Eriskay . Up the Uists to Lochmaddy, and over to Skye.

No point posting any pics as it would just be more blue.

 

[Micky]

On getting to Skye we took a fantastic route past the Quiraing

Walked up and round the Quiraing last September with my new metal knees ... beautiful for sure