Early lunch in Taunton

Homily pie and salads at a lovely deli! Got some miles to get in today (24 down, 36 to go)

Sherston - Street (South Glastonbury)

We had a very good nights sleep in Sherston and were treated to a fantastic cooked breakfast from my aunty. We shed our little-used kitchen gear for the sake of a bit more weight and set off towards Bath. On our way out of Sherston we came to a closed road that was actually closed (no bridge over the railway!) and had to take a random cut through to try find a route round. a few minutes later we ame across the familiar figure of my aunty walking the dogs and realised we were heading back towards Sherston.

Once we'd found the correct and passable route out of Sherston we headed for Bath, where we stopped for a new inner tube an some air at a bike shop and had a pasty and cake for lunch at Pultney Bridge. Leaving Bath we enjoyed a fairly downhill route to Wells where we marvelled at the cathedral and then an even better roll into Glastonbury. Tonight we are staying in the youth hostel at Street (just south of Glastonbury) but didnt manage to find anywhere open late on a Sunday for food supplies so have just polished off a revoltingly large takeaway pizza mountain.

Ledbury - Sherston

We both loved our pod camping experience, although Rob found the floor a bit hard with his lightweight thermarest in comparison to sleeping on earth in the tent. We had porridge for breakfast but unfortunately burnt it so after leaving the campsite had to stop for an emergency breakfast in a lovely bookshop cafe in Newent.

After Newent we passed through the horrors of Gloucester. The cycle route was particularly dubious round here and we kept losing it so often that we ended up wheeling across the middle of a few roundabouts and car parks in search of the right road out of the town.

Having climbed out of Gloucester up Painswick Beacon we were hungry and stopped at Olivas deli for a very good spot of lunch (excellent quesadillas!) and then popped across the road for tea and cake with my great aunt Peggy who it was really lovely to see.

As we cycled our way from Painswick towards Sherston, Rob's back tyre punctured once again so we had a roadside puncture repair session which slightly delayed our progress to Sherston.

However once this was all fixed we rolled our way to my aunty's house in Sherston with no problems where we had lovely hot showers and were treated to a fantastic home made shoulder of lamb curry followed by apple and blackberry crumble. We played with the dogs and caught up with the football and had a very lovely evening.

Brunch in Newent en route to Gloucester

Brunch in Newent after a burnt porridge disaster this morning!

Cardington - Ledbury

The campsite in Cardington was perhaps the darkest place we've been at night, which was lovely and the dawn chorus was fantastic. On our way to the toilet block before leaving to start cycling we met two lovely golden retrievers who we'd seen the night before and had a golden retriever fest, fussing them until we were both covered in dog hairs.

At quarter to nine when we were setting off it was already quite warm, the start of what was a really pleasant day with gentle sun and a lovely warmth. We stuck to a nice woody hedge-lined maze of quiet little roads as we headed into Ludlow, which was very pretty and quaint and which also felt very Southern! We stopped here for tea and a panini (brunch really) and then carried on down the B road towards Tenbury and Ledbury. We did get a little lost trying to leave Ludlow, a common theme for us! 

Being in Herefordshire and it being harvest time there were alot of tractors on the roads today and on the way into Tenbury we pulled over to let a large one with a plough on the back pass by, only for it to knock me over with the edge of its plough which spilled over the side of the road. Fortunately it just hit my pannier and I just wobbled over in the lay by. Alarming though! After this we stopped to pick up a consolatory custard tart in Tenbury and a couple of pasties of lunch and spoke to a guy who was a bike maker - he makes Flying Gate bikes and was very interested in our journies. We ate our pasties on the road out of the town towards Ledbury.

We noticed we passed a lot of orchards today and on the way to Ledbury passed a shop selling local cider so stopped and picked up a few to go with our dinner. This evening we are staying in a camping pod in the woods outside of Ledbury. 

The inside has no furniture but a plug socket and a little light and heater and we have a nice porch to sit on and cook dinner (pasta and pesto). 

We've been sampling our lovely local cider and Rob is working on a fire (not much luck so far as there's little in the dry way of kindling around!). Tomorrow we head for Sherston and my aunty's house, can't wait!

Wrenbury - Cardington

I'm pleased to report that dinner turned out to be eminently edible. Spicy chicken goujons followed by hotpot went down a treat and was excellent, especially for the price.

Today's cycling was a fairly gentle affair through a constant maze of high hedges and small flat roads. The biggest concern was with finding a cafe for our breakfast brew, which was eventually solved by convincing a pub to open early - after being greeted by a noisy but very soft, half-blind, three-legged dog. The pub had seen the tour of Britain pass right outside just last week, and had a picture on the wall of team sky and Wiggo passing by. We like to think that there will be a similar photo of us appearing in weeks to come.

After leaving the pub we headed for Shawbury, home of RAF Shawbury. Having had a light breakfast we were seriously ready for lunch at this point and were very pleased to find a pub doing food where Rob had chicken pie and I had Shawbury toad in the hole (was vey tasty!).

From here it was just 7 miles into Shrewsbury where I was very excited to pick up some miniature toiletries and we found a lovely spot for tea and cake - beetroot chocolate cake and apple cinnamon crumble cake.

Leaving Shrewsbury was hard - as usual with bigger places, but we were pleased to make it out on quiet roads as it was rush hour. After a frustratigly slow time trying to find the campsite just outside but NOT in Cardington(!), we pitched up, showered and headed to the pub for dinner. We have just finished a lovely meal in the village pub, The Royal Oak. Rob had "fidget pie" - a local speciality of gammon and cider and I had slow roast belly pork, followed by fantastic apple crumble and caramel apple pie with some great local beers.

We will be going to bed very full and happy this evening!

Chapeltown - Wrenbury

Waking up this morning in Chapeltown we felt well rested to begin cycling again. We set off cycling at 9 on the dot and made our way straight through the middle of Bolton. After a pretty uneventful trip through the town we emerged victorious out the other side, passing through the highlights of Atherton and Leigh and finally made it into the countryside of High Legh as we headed towards Crewe. We stopped for a very nice lunch in Pickmere at the Red Lion pub where we had filled baguette with chips and for once remembered to get our water bottles refilled as it was quite muggy.

After a scary stint on an A road we hfound our way to Nantwich on a B road and out the other side to Wrenbury, where we at camping in a field attached to a pub (CAMRA summer pub of the year 2013 nonetheless!) we're currently enjoying local pork scratchings and local beer and waiting for our "supper club" dinner, which is £6 for two courses.... Hoping its edible! We'll be watching football tonight before another early night.

Leigh

Made it through Bolton ad stopped we a wee at Leigh library! 

Rest day #2: dossers

We took the (necessary) luxury of a second rest day today. Yesterday was a true rest day - sleeping, eating, washing, looking at the blog, enjoying the strava data, and - most importantly - going to the pub.

Today was about catching up on all the little jobs we still needed to do. Cleaning, fixing, planning, booking, phoning, drying, lubing, degriming, fiddling (with brake tension) and refueling.

We're both now eager to restart the cycling and finish the final 9 days to Land's End.

Enjoying the Wayoh in the sun.

The weather's always like this in Lancashire. Honest. 

Taking in more local food. A Whitehead's butchers steak sandwich,

And of course (Jack's) Holden's ice cream - pistachio on the left and madras curry flavour on the right.

Next stop - somewhere near Crewe.

Chapeltown - rest day

Today we have washed some clothes and rested our tired, tired legs. We also found time for a very good ice cream in Edgeworth and to meet Rob's friend Craig for a few pints in the pub.

Ingleton - Chapeltown

We left Ingleton Youth Hostel and stopped at the shops in Ingleton to buy some bread to go with our tasty cheese and quince from Booths in Windermere. The cycling this day began with a frustratingly devious and uphill route out of Ingleton towards Clapham (not the London one). On leaving Clapham we headed straight up another hill heading towards Clitheroe. This hill turned out to not just be any hill but the most never ending hill in the country. Every 'crest' to the hill turned out to lead to yet another hill. Whilst the weather was for once okay, we were feeling exhausted and covered the first 10 miles for the day in just under 2 hours. The descent was well worth it though and took us much of the way towards Clitheroe.

In Clitheroe we stopped for our ewe's milk cheese, bread and quince lunch in a churchyard (where we met the vicar, who road a bike and stopped to chat to us about bicycles etc). Cycling out of Clitheroe we headed straight for Blackburn on the A-road (since it was Sunday and nice and quiet). Aside from me feeling quite exhausted, this was fairly straightforwards day of cycling (albeit a very slow one!) and we arrived to Rob's parents house at about 6pm to begin our rest day.

Kirkstone - Ingleton

As we set off from our campsite right on Kirkstone pass it was hard to overlook the mizzle and mist. The campsite had an on site bar doing breakfast so we stopped for a bite to eat before tackling the pass. This was when the first puncture of the day revealed itself as Rob's back tyre looked sadly deflated. I stocked up on camping gas at the campsite shop whilst Rob got repairing and then we tackled the pass. Having done it a few weeks ago on my road bike I can say that it is much more of a challenge fully loaded, but I managed it nonetheless.

At the top of Kirkstone

We stopped in Windermere for a visit to Booths supermarket where we bought some lunch stuff and found a bike shop next door so bought a new spare inner tube. This was when we noticed that the screw holding rob's pannier rack on at the bottom had sheared off leaving part of it stuck in the lug. The bike shop near booths was unable to help so we cycled to the massive bike shop in Staveley who took it in for an hour to remove the screw whilst we found a (fantastic!) place for lunch - veg chilli and lovely salads. 

Having already had problems with the pannier rack a few times we weren't surprised to hear that it was the wrong one to fit the bike and it was rubbing the frame. The bike shop fitted a new one which fits beautifully and let us use their Internet to google hostels and campsites for the night. 

Leaving the bike shop we headed for Kendal. On the outskirts of Kendal we noticed that Rob's back tyre was once again flat. We taped up a little hole from the inside of the tyre, patched the inner tube and hoped for the best. Fortunately we discovered bike shop no.3 for the day conveniently on the road into Kendal. Here the shop assistant put some air into the tyre and blew up the inner tube. Dramatic! However, having explained the recurring puncture to him this meant he very kindly took it off to replace and check himself. We stocked up with another inner.

Enjoying Dentdale

Earlier in the day I had booked us beds at Ingleton youth hostel (for a bargain price of £9.50 each!), but we started to wonder if, leaving Kendal at 4, we could make the 30 miles there before dark. Having done only 20 miles already we were keen to get further than Kendal so set off. 

However what we learnt is that there is no quick way to cycle between the Lakes and the Dales. We rode through some beautiful valleys but encountered hill upon hill. As the light faded we got out our headtorches and bike lights and ploughed on through the dark, down from newby pass, arriving in Ingleton at 8:15pm. We checked into the hostel and went to then pub in search of food, who sadly weren't serving food anymore. After a trip to the co-op we feasted on pizza and garlic bread and well-earnt beers before retiring to our dorm rooms for some solid zeds. I can safely say that we will be avoiding any more night riding for the rest of the trip!

Blackford - Kirkstone

We woke on the Dandie Dinmont campsite in Blackford to find a flat tyre on Rob's rear wheel. We had a few oat bars to lift our spirits and once this was repaired (with some chatty support from a few of the elderly caravaners on the site) we were on our way towards Carlisle for breakfast. In Carlisle we completely just happened upon a place called John Watt & Son, a Victorian style coffee house which smelt incredible and had quite the tea selection too. We had a lovely cooked breakfast here complete with Cumberland sausages.

We got lost leaving Carlisle but did manage to stumble upon a bike shop so we nipped in for some air in Rob's tyre. Once we'd evenutally managed to find our way out of Carlisle we began to see the hills of the Lakes looming large in the distance. 

We stopped for lunch (which we'd picked up from M & S in Carlisle) in a small village called Hesket Newmarket on a nice little bench here. A few hills aside, our route into the Lakes was remarkably rolling and we were blessed with a sunny evening as we rolled towards Ullswater to the campsite at the bottom of Kirkstone Pass.

The campsite on the pass had a pub attached to it where we feasted on the best steak and ale pies we've had in a while and some lovely local beers. We went to bed full and happy to finally have made it to the Lakes.

Late breakfast in Carlisle

Kircudbright - blackford (near Carlisle)

We awoke in Chatton house B and B in Kircudbright to a perma-drizzle outside. We enjoyed our continental style breakfast (with a fantastic fruit salad) in the company of another young couple also staying in the B & B whilst pouring over our maps for the day and peering out of the window into the reasonably wet and grey morning, wondering how long our waterproof gloves would hold out today.

Delya gave us some very good advice about which road to take out of Kircudbright to avoid tedious hilly stuff and although the road suggested was closed for repair we took it anyway. This made it nice and quiet. 2 miles down the road we found some loose cows who decided we were trying to heard them whilst their friends in the field started to moo threateningly at us. Rob cycled on through whilst I cowered behind a road works sign at the road side. After some expert herding from Rob, he left his bike down the road and returned to escort me through the bovine blockade.

The last of many Scottish rainbows we saw.

After a recovery bacon butty (should have been beef really!) in Castle Douglas we continued on our way. The weather was still damp but with sunny spells and we saw a lot of rainbows this day. Cycling on towards Annan we began to feel a real excited energy at the prospect of crossing over into England. We stopped briefly in Annan to pick up dinner and hammered on towards Gretna and the English border and county of Cumbria.

Cycling out of Gretna took us on an amusing and slightly alarming road literally alongside the M6 (there just seems to be a fence in between!) but it wasn't look before we found our campsite for the night, "Dandie dinmont".

Having pitched the tent in the rather soggy camping area we discovered that the gas cannister (a non self sealing one) had leaked itself dry in my pannier leaving us with no ability to cook dinner. We sheepishly knocked on the reception door at the campsite to ask if they sol gas canisters or if they could help us out with a kettle full of water so we could cook our emergency couscous and were invited in with our stir dry ingredients to use their kitchen and even eat our dinner at their table. We felt very lucky to be met with such kindness from strangers once again as we ate a good meal and went to bed well fed and warm and back in England.

England!!!!!!

We made it out of Scotland! 

Crosshill (walled garden) - Kircudbright

Waking up to rain from a reasonable night's sleep in the shelter of the walled garden we had flapjack for a quick breakfast in the campers kitchen before returning to pack down the tent. As we packed down the tent Jim chatted to us about life and the campsite and picked us some Victoria plums for us from a tree on the pitch "to keep us regular". We enjoyed our plums whilst he gave us route/road advice and then he waves us on our way and we left promising to send him a postcard when we reach Lands End.

On leaving the campsite we were straight back onto NCN Route 7, which takes in some truly stunning scenery through this area of Scotland.

We climbed our way over Nick O'Balloch pass and enjoyed a sweeping descent down to Glentrool where we stopped for a lovely tea and toastie break at the visitor centre and a look at our maps.

As we moved on toward gatehouse of fleet the clouds were amassing and when we checked the forecast it looked like we were in for a wet one so stopped in a pub in Gatehouse of Fleet (which I was happy to find does have a little gatehouse!!) to use their free wifi and find a hostel or a B and B for the night.

Having reserved a B & B in Kircudbright we peddled our way there pronto, stopping only for directions to the B & B from a lady on a Brompton bike who turned out to be the B & B owner's friend. After a shower and a change we decide to visit Polarbites, the award winning fish and chip shop in Kircudbright for dinner and Rob ha a fantastic fish and chips whilst I had a fairly good bowl of moules with chips. A lovely way to round off our last evening in Scotland!

Brodick - Crosshill (Walled Garden Campsite) (Tuesday 17th)

This day wasn't one to dwell on cycling-wise, but we ended up at a great campsite and met a great character.

After leaving Brodick in the rain, we enjoyed our last CalMac crossing.to Ardrossan in the company of a neighbouring passenger's lovely lurcher-labrador cross. We've really enjoyed the CalMac's (especially Hannah with her ferry fascination), and it seems a shame not to be catching any more in the journey.
It did feel like a mile stone though to be back on the mainland right up until Land's End. Our first cycling back on the mainland was, however, underwhelming to say the least.

We'd expected the size and industry of Ardrossan to be a bit of a shock to the system, and we were fully waterproofed up, ready for another day of squally rain, however what we hadn't counted on was one of the most frustrating cycle routes ever designed.

If you ever feel inclined to cycle along Sustrans national cycle route no. 73, don't.

We were aiming for national route no. 7 (which is really good), and saw no reason not to follow 73, that led onto 7, and promised a traffic free route through the Glasgow sprawl. On that front it delivered but otherwise we had to endure an indirect, inconvenient, badly signed, and badly surfaced path through the unsightly backstreets of some already unpretty towns.

By far the biggest annoyance was just how long it took to get anywhere on it. We were directed across busy traffic flows, along pedestrian walkways and footbridges (unsurprisingly full of pedestrians), through gates, through dog parks, and on narrow windy singletrack paths.

Let me out of here!

After much frustration we emerged at a t-junction in Prestwick opposite a bikeshop and took the opportunity to get the tyres pumped up and get niggling problems looked at. Hannah - gears, a new tyre, and new chain; me - truing my wonky back wheel and replacing the tent peg pannier rack fixing with a proper mono-stay adapter. Whilst the bikes were being looked at, we followed a lunch-spot tip and got a toastie and wrap refuel.

Onwards, we endured the last of 73 before meeting the much better route 7 for a few hills and relatively direct cycling.

This took us to the night's campsite just south of Croshill (near Maybole), a 17th century former walled garden full of caravans. The sheltered pitch amongst nearby woodland and good facilities really impressed us (e.g. classic fm piped into the shower block, and a home made putting green) but we were most taken aback by just how friendly the owner was!

Jim met us when we arrived, gave us the tour, and even supplied a few tarpaulins for under the tent. He then told us of a good local pub that did two for one meals and drove us out there (at breakneck speed) and waited whilst we ate (fajitas, nachos, kullen skink and steak pie) before chaffeuring us back again whilst regaling us with local info, funny stories, and route advice for the next day.

A comfortable nights sleep in the sheltered walls with only a barn owl to disturb us set us up well for more of route 7. Onwards to Kircudbright!

Kilmartin - Brodick (Monday 16th)

After a really good night's sleep and a fine breakfast at Isabelle's b and b in Kilmartin we hit the road into more rain. As we hit the road south we powered through wet damp places, honing in the miles and hoping that the ferry to Lochranza, which was on amber alert, would run and let us reach Arran!

We met two other cyclists at some traffic lights who were heading for the same ferry but on road bikes. As we cycled (not that far behind them) we enjoyed the coastal road along the Kintyre peninsula, taking in beautiful views of misty windy sea inlets.

As we rounded a bend we were met with the beautiful views of Tarbert's harbour which even in the rain was very pretty. Having stopped at tourist information to check that our ferry was still running we got a tip for lunch and enjoyed a hearty bowl of Cullen skink and chips (a new favourite for both of us!). This stop gave us the warm through we were desperate for and we hopped back on our bikes to steam ahead to our ferry. We popped back in to see the lovely old ladies in tourist info who gave a the lowdown on the ferry and said it was still running.

With this welcome news ringing in our ears we steamed our way out of tarbert towards the ferry. However the road was quite hilly and our lunch feasting sat heavy in our stomachs as we slogged our way up hills being overtaken by lorry loads of pine trees. It was hard to believe how much ascent we were enduring to reach a place that was surely at sea level!   As we crawled up hills at a painfully slow pace we could feel the clock ticking. If we missed the ferry it was almost another 2 hours! Fortunately we got lucky and just as we thought we could take no more hills we rolled down into Claonaig ferry port, 8 minutes before the ferry. Plenty of time! 

We huddled in a bus shelter with a number of other cyclists and hopped on the ferry the moment it arrived (it was so small it took them but seconds to unload the two cars on it). We met the other cyclists from the traffic lights there who were doing the three peaks and cycling between them.

We rolled off the ferry onto Arran conveniently close to the Arran whiskey distillery and popped in for a tour. The distillery tour was great as we sampled whiskey and got a proper tour round the distillery. We also got warm and dry! There's a campsite over the road from the distillery and apparently their morning tours are very popular with cold damp campers.

We climbed stunning hills from Lochranza to brodick, even being graced with two rainbows en route. We absolutely flew up some of the hills (an later discovered the gusts were 50mph!!). Having popped into Arran cheese shop and made the most of their samples we found our B and B for the night in brodick, a very very clean house. Almost too clean. We were recommended a place to grab some dinner where we had pizzas but it sadly wasn't a winner, although it filled a hole! After an enjoyable but pricey drink in the hotel in brodick we returned for a good night of sleep out of the rain and very high winds.

Lunch in Tarbert

Plat du Jour

Cycling is only one element of our  JOGLE, we're also eating our way from north to south.

Here's some of the local fare so far:

Lochboisdale: Salar smoked salmon bagel, mars bar cake.

Ardmaree, Bernera: Red Anster cheese, with annato and chives, Hebridean shortbread, Hebridean ales.

Leverburgh co-op: Ginger and dark chocolate Hebridean biscuits, treacle scone.

Harris Hotel, Tarbert: Harris black pudding, cooked Scottish breakfast, 'traditional' Scottish porridge.

Stornoway: Smoked salmon from the smokehouse.

Durness: Local goats cheese with paprika, Haggis with drambuie and oatcakes, fisherman's pie, venison in red wine.

Ullapool: Local ale - Sunchaser...

CalMac canteen on the way to Oban: Barra Hake Goujons (excellent!), macaroni cheese.

Benbecula co-op: Macaroni pie.

Lochboisdale general store: Stag seaweed Stornoway water biscuits.

Oban, Ee-Usk: Loch oysters, Hake in mussel sauce, haddock and chips.

Oban to Kilmartin: Riders on the Storm

An inclement day of cycling.

The storm forecast from Oban certainly arrived, although we escaped the worst thunder and lightning, and luckily avoided hail later in the day.

We headed due south on the a-road towards Arran with ambitions to arrive in Lochgilphead by the end of the day. Squally rain and strong winds made progress slow, but we pushed on through impromptu fords and over one decent climb for a late lunch-cum-tea at the Kilmartin museum cafe before deciding on where to stay.

The cafe was a great tip (from Hannah's parents) and we enjoyed a really good  steak baguette and cake feed-stop. The cafe staff told us the road north (we'd just come down) was shut due to flooding and with the storm still storming outside we decided to find a non-canvas roof for the night rather than extreme camping.

Ringing around from the cafe we struggled to find vacancies until being recommended a b&b in Kilmartin, handily just across the road.

Cosily settled in the b&b, with just as importantly, with the bikes cosily in a warm utility room, we can now enjoy the rest of the storm.

Onwards to Arran tomorrow.

Breakfast in Oban Tesco

The coffee shop we'd eyed up last night was shut on Sundays so we celebrated our return to civilisation with an Oban Tesco 8-item-cooked-breakfast-special to set us up for what would be a modest day of cycling in terms of mileage, but ambitious in terms of the upcoming battle with the elements.

Hannah was so well fed by her selection she didn't even feel the need to eat the hair-adorned mushroom!

After breakfast, and stocking up on a few supplies, we took the wet and windy A816 towards Lochgilphead.

Berneray - Dalabrog (just outside Lochboisdale) - 51 miles

We left Berneray hostel early as we both woke up quite early with the sun. It was quite cold as we left the hostel and we cycled the 2 miles to the store feeling very chilly. At the store we paid for our beers and stopped for a coffee/tea (where we bumped into the walking ladies) and picked up some lunch and dinner. I had beans on toast as my porridge eating skills had abandoned me earlier on. The cafe was great and as the woman brought the beans on toast to the table she talked herself into the idea that it needed cheese. After I obviously agreed she disappeared off to put cheese on it for me chattering about how it's such a naughty treat. We found the Berneray islanders so trusting and friendly it left us feeling very fond of the island.

From here we set off to cycle our way down to Lochboisdale for the ferry to Oban on Saturday. We found the cycling on the Uists windy and hard work on not much sleep. There were a surprising number of large lorries on the A road, despite it being single track in places, although they generally weren't going too fast. From Berneray we cycled across a whole chain of islands linked by causeways (which we learnt from the hostel warden were not so popular with the locals when they were constructed in the 1990s). Berneray led to North Uist which led onto Grimsay, onto Benbecular and then onto South Uist. It was amazing to cycle over so many different islands on the one same road. The weather held out for us and although the wind brought a chill, we stayed much drier.

After a bleak moment by the roadside phoning round about places to stay near Lochboisdale we found a bunkhouse in Dalabrog, not too much further to cycle and on our way to the ferry port. We landed on our feet with this as we paid £40 for a very comfy and warm en suite room with a fantastic shower. From here we hope to have a relaxed morning and make our way to Lochboisdale for the ferry which leaves at 2. Onwards to Oban!

Berneray Hostel

Last night we stayed in Berneray Hostel, a converted Black House owned by the Gatlif Trust - there are 3 or 4 of them across the Hebrides. This was an amazing traditional thick-walled, single-story, thatched building. It is affiliated with the SYHA but unlike hostels such as the one at Ullapool there are no wardens on site, meaning that you turn up and make yourself at home and a warden shows up later in the day to collect the money (£12 each). The hostel has 3 rooms with bunk beds, with each room sleeping 4-8 people. We found ourselves sharing with two lovely ladies who were walking the length of the Hebrides who arrived on the ferry before us. 

The main room of the hostel was amazing, with a coal stove fire in the hearth and plenty of seating and cooking space, including gas hobs and hot and cold running water. The place was really warm and cosy, even before lighting the fire thanks to the think walls and thatch.

Having spoken to some of the other hostellers we realised we could pick up a few beers at the store down the road so rolled down (with my newly repaired bike chain working well) only to find that the shop was just closing. At first the woman seemed to just say they were shut but on learning that we just wanted a few beers she invited us in to pick our beers and said to just come back and pay for them in the morning as she was already cashing up.

Berneray hostel is situated right on the beach edge which makes for amazing sunsets and gave us the opportunity for a great evening beach stroll on the clean and sandy beach:

After we cooked up bubble and squeak with some venison sausages we had bought from the co-op in Leverburgh (mmmm), we drank our beers and had a lovely evening chatting to the other guess in front of the fire sharing chocolate shortbread.

Unfortunately the night that followed was not the most restful. The room was really very hot and there was a bit of snoring and the bunk beds were shorter than either of us!! 

Despite the poor night of sleep the hostel at Berneray was a great experience and one of the most interesting and unique places we've stayed so far.

Tarbert - Berneray

It's a just as well that we woke up in the Harris hotel yesterday to a hot shower and a fortifying breakfast - our ride south through Harris to catch the Leverburgh to Berneray ferry was somewhat challenging as the cold rain poured down. Harris looked like it was rather beautiful - some stunning white sandy beaches and vivid clear blue sea which no doubt on a sunny day looks mediterranean, however we mostly saw grey wet stuff! We made it to Leverburgh with an hour and a half before the ferry left so stopped in their Co-operative for tea and cake and a much needed opportunity to warm up and dry off a bit. The co-operative at Leverburgh was fantastic, with a decent range of food downstairs and a cafe upstairs with home baking (including treacle scones!) and a shop upstairs full of local crafts of various varieties, including Harris Tweed.

The cafe didn't do food so we got some lunch stuff from here which we ate sheltering from the rain in the ferry terminal hut. The ferry to Berneray featured a number of other wet bedraggled cyclists and we spent the hour long journey trying to dry off some more in the passenger area above the car deck. This turned out to be quite enjoyable as a man in the corner played reels and jigs very well on a harmonica. Reaching Berneray we decided to look for the hostel there rather than push on as we were already going to struggle to make our intended ferry crossing on Friday first thing from Locboisdale so we decided to enjoy our time in the Hebrides and allow ourselves to see more of it by catching the Saturday ferry to Oban instead. Upon arriving in Berneray we decided to stay the night there rather than push on as we were well and truly soaked and thought we were in for more rain to come so we headed north from the ferry port to find Berneray hostel only to find that the rain began to ease. On our way to the hostel we spotted roughly 8 seals basking on rocks in the bay off the 'main road' (another tiny weaving single track road!). Approaching the hostel my chain snapped rather dramatically but this was very fortunately within wheeling distance of the hostel where we arrived and used a quick link to prepare it.

Breakfast of champions

The Harris Hotel breakfast should see us through most of the wet day ahead.

Today's leg: Tarbert-Leverburgh-(ferry)-Berneray-somewhere in the Uists.