I woke up nice and early to pretty grey skies, but no rain! So I packed up and was on the road before half 7.

For much of the morning I had a pretty stiff wind that was mostly helping. I was rattling off the miles, looking forward to getting off South Uist after what felt like days of being stuck on it!

Eventually I crossed a causeway that I assumed was to North Uist, but was actually Benbecula. I spotted a Co-op so decided to stock up on supplies. Now, I think I may have moaned about Co-ops and their lack of staff and any sense of urgency previously. Well, imagine that, but on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere! It was tortuous. I was in there so long, I was even on first name terms with locals in the queue. Of course everybody knows everybody else, so no transaction can be completed without a ridiculously long conversation. Tina in front of me was particular annoying as not only did she discuss her entire like life with the woman on the checkout, she then decided she needed some fags, so Moira had to get up and go to the tobacco counter (which was obviously unstaffed) which took about a year.

I did eventually manage to make my purchases and get on my way. Briefly stopping outside the shop to chat with a couple of Germans who were completely bemused by the whole situation. I just shrugged and said "Co-op for ya" and left.

By this time it had started to drizzle. After 10 minutes it turned into horizontal rain. The wind was now starting to switch to the north more. Great - a headwind blowing freezing rain straight into my face.

This part was a real struggle, but I had no choice but to just grind it out - there was absolutely no shelter anywhere.

Eventually, the rain suddenly stopped and I was just left with wind to contend with.

I was now crossing loads of causeways - I lost count in the end, but finally crossed to North Uist.

As I'd had a tailwind earlier, I realised I could actually make the last ferry of the day to Harris. But I checked online and it was listed as fully booked. I didn't really believe that, but decided not to bother as I could do without the stress of "Will I or won't I get on". Plus I'd have to mingle with loads of other humans which I didn't really want to do as I'd got used to talking to no one other than sheep and the odd German. I was also pretty cooked after battling the elements all day.

I decided I'd camp at Clachan Sands, which is a kind of designated wild camping area. The facilities include a bin and a tap. Actually, those are the only facilities!

Anyway, I had loads of time so stopped at a little coffee / snack hut thing. I'd been looking for somewhere to get a hot drink for about 4 hours by this point! It is a little remote out here!

I had a coffee and some food then carried on to the camping area. I was a bit concerned about the wind and it was a real struggle to get my tent up, but once pitched it was fine. There's one other tent here, but no sign of the occupant. Even though it's about a mile of rough track to get here, that hasn't put off the persistent and invasive species that is the camper van. There are a couple here now and I think I heard another pull up a little while ago.

I have plenty of food, so will have a cook up in a bit. Remarkably, here - the remotest place I've been so far has a 4G signal! Further south there was nothing at all.

Tomorrow I get an early ferry to Harris - the final island!