The Monkey Puzzle Tree Nut: Outer Hebrides

Tuesday, 21 February 2023

Outer Hebrides

Me and Nathalie decided to visit the Outer Hebrides back in February 2002. On paper it might not be the best time of year to visit, with the weather always threatening to mess up the best laid plans,. However despite one or two 'scares', such as the ferry company cancelling all future sailings of one ferry with a day's notice to catch the last crossing the next day, we managed to complete our trip from Barra in the south island hopping to the Isle of Lewis in the north. The plane landing on the beach at Barra was the perfect start to the holiday. As it was it turned out, by visiting out of season, we were given the chance to explore the beautiful islands without encountering the mass of people that appear during the summer tourist season.

Nathalie enjoying the solitude of Baleshare Beach

We weren't expecting to see any Monkey Puzzle trees during our trip but happily we were proved completely wrong quite early on. The first trees we spotted were on a small inaccessible island near Askernish on South Uist, we can not be certain how many there were but from counting their tops we decided upon four.

Askernish - South Uist

The next tree we saw was one in Carinish, North Uist which appeared to be doing well in its roadside location. This was followed by three young roadside trees near Seilebost on the Isle of Harris. It would be good to return when they have had a chance to mature, to see whether they have managed to survive in their quite exposed location.

Carinish - North Uist

Seilebost - Isle of Harris

The final 5 trees we spotted were all on the Isle of Lewes, they seemed to pop up when we were least expecting them. In fact the trees we spotted qualify as the most Northerly and Westerly trees seen so far. I'm sure there must be more trees on the Outer Hebrides that we missed but having seen 13 different trees, when anticpating none, made what was a magical holiday just that little bit extra special!