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Well, I'll admit it straight away, I stole that title from Martin Martin, who wrote an authoritative report on a visit to St Kilda in 1698. It is available on Undiscovered Scotland and a highly recommandable read:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usebooks/martin-stkilda/index.htmlAnyway, we were able to do a trip to the St Kilda archipelago on 7 August 2013 in the finest of weathers with Niall Johnson and his powerboat from Uist Outdoor Center, reputably the fastest way to get there unless you are using a helicopter.
This is the boat lying on Griminish pier on North Uist:
The crossing takes approx. 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the wildlife you encounter on the way. In our case this included two schools of common dolphins and a minke whale and, of course, tons of wild fowl such as puffins, gannets, fulmars etc. No photos of these though, it is impossible to do decent photos on a fast moving powerboat. Five miles off the islands, the skipper slowed down for us to take pictures.
Boreray and the Stacs:
Hirta and Dun
Entering Village Bay with a few boats already there. To the right is Conachair, the island peak, to the right Mullach Mor with the missile tracking station on top (missiles are fired from South Uist). The modern buildings on the right side of village bay are also military buildings, power plant and baracks :
Once landed we took a walk down the "Street", where the St Kildans had their houses. There is always a "modern" house built in the 1860s and between one of the older blackhouses. Some of the houses have been rebuilt and are now occupied by researchers and volunteers who rebuild and maintain the buildings:
From the Street you have nice views to the Village Bay. To the right is Dun, the jagged island which is home to the biggest Puffin colony in the world. No puffins on the main island, Hirta, but you see plenty of them on your approach to the archipelago. We picknicked in front of the houses and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. The stac to the left is Levenish.
All over the island roam the feral race of Soay sheep:
After our lunch we started to climb up to the gap, the cliff between Oisebhal and Conachair. On the way up, you have good views of the bay. As you see, above the village, a stone wall marks the end of the arable land, above which the sheep would roam:
Further uphill you come to a plateau called An Lhag Bho'n Thuath with four sheep fanks. All over there are stone structures, the Cleits, which served to store peat and fowl:
You can also see the St Kilda wren, a sub species of the regular wren only found on St Kilda which is a bit bigger than an average wren:
The gap reveals spectacular views to Boreray and the Stacs as well as to the cliffs of Oisebhal to the right and Conachair to the left where the St Kildans would hunt fulmars.
Boreray and the Stacs:
Oisebhal cliff with a bonxie harassing fulmars in the background. Bonxies only came to the islands once people left in 1930 but are now omnipresent. They did not attack me but I saw gannets and fulmars given a hard time until they dropped their catch which the bonxie would catch in flight.
A fulmar eyeing me suspiciosly in the cliffs. The fulmar nests on Hirta cliffs whereas the Puffin is on Dun and Soay and the Gannet on Boreray and Stac Lee and Stac an Armin.
Conachair cliffs are the hightest in Britain:
My fiancé was exhausted by the climb to the gap. I had eyed the Conachair but felt intimidated. Nevertheless I wanted to get some more glimpses of the cliffs so followed the cliff path up the Conachair slopes, encouraged by other walkers going up there. I only took my camera and told the girlfriend I was just having a look further up. Views improved on the way up.
Looking back to the bay:
View from the cliff with Boreray and the Stacs:
Oisebhal to the left and Dun to the right:
I had a fellow walker who sometimes passed me only to sit down and take pictures or take the views a few meters later where I passed him in turn. Few words were shared but he motivated me to go up further and I obviously encouraged him too. So we made our way up and up.
Another look back to the bay (sorry if this is getting repetitive but I could not choose as these views were so awesome)
On these cliffs there are rusty hooks the St Kildans would use to fix the ropes when climbing down the cliffs. I would not have seen it had my fellow walker not pointed this out for me so, cheers if you read this.
Slowly but surely I reached the top after about 30 minutes from the gap. The climb is without technical difficulties but rather exhausting (at least for an unsportive dude like me). I was glad my fellow walker pushed me to the top.
The views were awesome and what struck me most was the fact that 360° around me was no land on the horizon. This really gives you an impression of how isolated this place actually is. They say on a fine day you can see the Uists, alas this was a fine day but I didn't see anything but the sea.
To the South you have Oisebhal with Levenish laying out in the sea to the left and Dun to the right:
To the West you have Ruabhal and Mullach Bi:
To the Northwest is Mullach Mor with the missile tracking station, the Cambir and Soay to the right:
The Cambir and Soay without the military structures:
To the East is Boreray and the Stacs, with the cairn in the foreground:
As I told you, I did not actually plan to go up to the top and my fiancé was waiting some 250 meters below me without knowing where I was so I decided not to linger. In my hurry, I did not realize I had not seen the actual trig point which according to the map (which I did not have with me) is below on the South face and can be seen from the village - and from which, you would have absolutely stunning views of the village. Little did I know and so I made my way back down only to find out later about this fact. Now you know why my nick name is John D'oh
I did return to the gap in a hurry only to find my fiancé relaxing in the sun. She was not annoyed but still glad I returned as she did not know if I had fallen down a cliff or was just walking on the hill.
On the way back we had fine views of the village. Only one picture where you can see the street, with cleits above and the wall limiting the arable land from the sheep grazing land:
After that, we just had the time to visit church, school and souvenir shop, before our 4 hours stint on the island came to an end.
The church, were zealous missionaries were one of the factors (amongst many others) which lead to the decline of the St Kildan culture:
The school with one eager student:
All too soon, we were back on the boat. Here is a shaky glimpse of the cliffs I was standing upon some hours ago:
After that, the skipper took us on a tour of the avian city of Boreray, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin, the biggest Gannetry in this part of the world. The experience was awesome and pictures fail to capture the sight of the majestic birds above our heads and on every part of the rocks. Bear in mind that the St Kildans climbed Boreray and the Stacs to purchase the fowl and even stayed up there for days if the weather was too foul to return
:
Stac Lee:
Boreray from the West:
Stac an Armin:
Stac Lee from the South:
With Stac an Armin in the Background:
Leaving St Kilda, with Soay to the right and the Gannets in the sky:
Stac an Armin from the Southeast:
The bizarre peaks of Boreray:
Gannets in the sky above Boreray:
On the way back we saw some Sunfish, a rare sight. Also, we saw Hasgeir which I post for the benefit of the Islandlovers:
Hasgeir Eagach:
Eilean Hasgeir:
Back at Griminish Point, with views over Vallay:
An awesome day, the best daytrip ever, came to an end and we were grateful for this experience and can not thank the skipper Niall Johnson and his sidekick Christian enough for that trip. This is recommended to anyone in reasonably good health, the boattrip made no one sick (the boat goes too fast to get sick), and the price of approx. 160 quid per head is justified. I would recommend to read up on St Kilda, its history and birdlife prior to going there because it enhances the experience.
This was the highlight of our trip and for me as an island hopper, it was definitely one of the best days of my life!
