On Wednesday, July 23rd we circumnavigated the island of Scalpay, just off the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. With a population of about 350, most of the islanders make their living from the sea, and the name scalpay comes from the gaelic word for scallops.

Aside from the heat, this walk was lovely. We hiked up to the headland of the island, then circled around the southern coast with some amazing views out over the water.

But, wow, was it hot!! Almost 30 degress Celcius with little wind. Our B&B host said that it hadn’t been this hot here in at least 20 years. But, at least it was too hot for the midges!! The sheep also looked very warm and were huddled as close to the cool peat as they could get.

We did manage to catch some breeze while having our lunch break at the lighthouse. We watched the gannets fish for their lunch by diving into ocean and we even spotted a minke whale swimming by.

After a cool shower, it was out for a dinner of Harris scallops over some famous Charles Macleod black pudding. Then, back to the B&B to watch the sun set over the tidal flats.