While our journey to Lochboisdale on Hebridean Way Day 1 had been a marvellous introduction to the island scenery, Hebridean Day 2 would prove to be an eye-opening introduction to the island’s weather!

It started gently enough as we made our way back to Daliburgh and back onto the Hebridean Way route.

However, when we turned north onto the A865, which the Hebridean Way now begins to follow from this point, we began cycling directly into a strong and persistent headwind.

We briefly stopped off at the Kildonan Museum.

We considered having a coffee at the cafe, but unfortunately, we had arrived before opening. Since we had quite a bit of cycling to do today we decided to move on.

The above sculpture casts word shadows of a Gaelic emigrant song onto the ground below. We were beginning to see how important history and island culture were to these islands.

It may not be immediately obvious, but the building we were passing below was Ormacleit Castle. It was built in 1701 and was the residence of Allan MacDonald, the clan chief of Clan Ranald.

A few miles further on from the castle we decided to take a brief trip to one of the beaches en-route.

Then it was back on our bikes again to continue our journey.

After returning to the A865, we came across Our Lady of the Isles sited on the top of Rubhal hill.

We decided to climb up and take a look. The statue was built in 1957 and was intended as both an expression of the devotion of the people of South Uist to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and also to be a public and permanent reminder to ‘strangers’ that they were entering a ‘different’ world.

A little further on we crossed onto our next island, Benbecula.

We had some brief respite from the wind as we turned slightly west towards Linaclate, and passed yet another abandoned building.

It was, however, only a brief respite.

Eventually, we arrived at Balivanich. By these island standards, this was quite a big community. However, even though we had pinpointed some eateries, they were all closed. It was Sunday.

So, we ended up by a sandwich from the local supermarket and eating it on the grass in front of the store.

Balivanich also has a small airport.

We needed the use of some facilities, so we took a little trip to the airport lounge.

Back on our bicycles, we briefly crossed over onto the edge of our next island, Grimsay, on our way to our final island of the day, North Uist.

Other than scattered homesteads, North Uist proved quite a desolate place except for a few war memorials we passed.

Eventually, having cycled 46 miles, seemingly almost all of it into a headwind, we arrived in Bayhead, our final destination of the day. We were staying at The Old Shop House.

For our evening meal, we cycled back up the road to the Westford Inn and joined a hearty meal as a reward for the day.

Finally, it was time to ride back to our accommodation.

You can view our Hebridean Way Day 2 route from Lochboisdale to Bayhead below: