ISLAND LIFE
“Get the ferry, set for sea
As fast as can be done.
Let go the ropes and free our hopes
Of western skies to come.”
Skipinnish, Land Below the Waves
IT WAS A LAST-MOMENT decision inspired by a radio playlist on the drive back from the supermarket. The band Peat and Diesel proudly growled ‘Oh, this is my island!’ through our crackling car speaker, offering us a taste of freedom and open spaces we'd almost forgotten. The travel restrictions had recently been relaxed just enough to allow us to leave mainland Scotland and cross the watery border of our local authority. The track that came next sealed the deal. All the signs pointed west. Once home, my husband Max made a quick route check before we emailed our annual leave requests and booked four one-way sailings. Suddenly, we were walking the Hebridean Way in two days’ time!
‘OH, THIS IS MY ISLAND’
The Outer Hebrides sit eighty kilometres north-west of the Scottish mainland, with the unbroken and unrelenting Atlantic
