Walking Mends My Mind

A publication by G J Meldrum – Part of the Escape to Nature series.

I will kick off my new blog with one of my more recent trips, a trip that was always on my bucket list however, it was not actually planned, more of a spur-of-the-moment decision to get away from the world.

My mental well-being had taken a huge hit following the sudden passing of my Mum and processing her loss at home was proving more than just a challenge I just had to be on my own to grieve.

I have always recognised and managed my own mental health and well-being through certain coping mechanisms one being my writing and the other being alone time and if there was any time in my life that my mental clarity was brought into question it was now, so getting away from it all and going on a solo trip always allows me time to think, heal and reset my mind.

Some of my nearest and dearest would say that I probably should stay on my own, and have a house in the middle of nowhere with a whole country between me and any other form of human existence. Well, that someone would be mainly my wife and my daughter.

I can’t say there are many arguments from me in that matter as they are both spot on.

The reality is that I like my own company more than anything these days, it must be an age thing. So when I afford myself this time away that is when my creative spark kicks in. And I can breathe get all my thoughts in order and process them as I see fit.

My journey, stories and personal challenges are my journal, my personal account of how making time for myself and basically allowing myself to just be me.

The overwhelming benefits I gain from escaping reality while I use Mother Nature’s surroundings to pause, reflect and reset.

“Getting away always makes me realise what I have and why it is so important to me”

Day 1

As I set off on my road trip to the Isle of Skye & the Outer Hebrides with a 5-day itinerary to clear my mind. The first stop was a wee visit to the picturesque Eilaen donan castle, located just a little outside Kyle of Lochalsh.

This iconic castle is considered one of the most iconic, recognised, and photographed castles in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on a small tidal island in the western Highlands, it has even enjoyed some movie stardom, featuring as the ancestral home of Clan MacLeod in the 1986 fantasy film Highlander as well as a temporary Scottish MI6 headquarters in the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough.

Castle tour done and I’ve worked up a right drooth so as always I couldn’t pass up a visit to the local cafe for a wee cuppa and a wee bit of blogging before heading further north to my first overnight stop.

Then back on the road heading to my first digs for the night, which was only a short journey to a little village called Bradford.

To my delight there was a chippy, ice cream shop and a wee general supermarket, all rolled into one which was very common in these quaint little villages , The Fisherman’s Kitchen delivered a lovely, battered piece of haddock although the 9 quid price tag for 1 piece o fish with nae chips certainly brought oot the Fife in me.

Another plus was that the weather was decent so I sat down enjoying the local produce with a braw view overlooking the Skye Bridge.

That’s when I found myself reminiscing on previous visits to Skye when we were kids before the bridge even existed and the only passage to the island was by boat from Mallaig.

The last time I had fish in these parts as my memory serves me I was served a rainbow trout full with head, eye and fin at 6 years old it’s not something you know what to do with lol, so being a 6-year-old, what do you do yep I poke its eye out with a fork.

Thankfully, Dad used to fillet fish back home in the fish factory and he helped me out with dissecting it for human consumption.

Scran done and choking for a drink and while categorically refusing to pay another 3 quid for a tin of Irn Bru it was back to the car for some lukewarm council juice.

Belly now full and now heading over the sea to Skye while singing the song in my head was quite apt and thankfully after the long drive not far from my first night’s digs which was only a wee 7-mile trek from the bridge.

Tent Box all set up and settled into a lovely little site called Skye Camping it was basic but with all the amenities you need shower, toilets, laundry and a nice wee fish and chip van that visits in the evening till 8 pm, which, if I had looked at the website when booking I could have shaved a couple of quid off my single fish.

Selfies and all that done for the family back home to let them know I’m all good. It was now time to open a wee can of the new Doddie Beir from Cold Town Brewery i must say I was impressed very nice and smooth. An ode to the great man Doddie Weir

Now with my palate suitably refreshed it was off out to explore the local walking routes. So down by the sea I go along a narrow, wee community path, that’s when I nearly shit myself when a Robin nearly landed on me before nestling into the nearby buses, it looked very friendly so I decided to say hello expecting it to fly off, but it didn’t. Instead, it came even closer, just a pity I never had any food to give, then I thought was this a little sign from my mum!

After all, this was the reason I was on my trip to grieve, give myself some headspace and scatter some of Mum’s ashes at the sacred spiritual site of the Callanish Stone Circle on the Isle of Lewis.

Was this Mum letting me know she was with me on the journey not just in the wee container in my rucksack but also in spirit?

Wandering along the river bank the sight of the sun beautifully reflecting into the moored-up fishing boats and a perfect rainbow stretching over the bay and downwards towards Loch Carron.

It wasn’t too long before the rain started again so I’m glad I made the sensible decision to head back to base for another tin of Doddie Bier while reading a chapter of my book before heading to bed for a good night’s kip. 

Well, that’s what I thought anyway, but you’re in the Scottish Highlands and you just know the wind and rain are not going to be playing ball. 

Welcome to road tripping on the west coast of Scotland 

Day 2 

Life moves fast. Between the endless demands of work, the constant pull of family responsibilities, and the daily noise of a busy world, it’s easy for the mind to get overcrowded. The “monkey mind” takes over jumping from one stress branch to the next, overthinking, and holding onto worries that wear us down.

That’s exactly why I occasionally step away from it all and seek peace in other ways.

Welcome to Day 2 of my Highland and Island road trip.

Well after a horrible night with the good old elements it was time to get up and pack away, windy, wet and soggy, but hey it’s Scotland we stay in so get on wi it. All packed up nice wee cup of kenko instant before heading down to the picturesque Portree harbour for a wander around the gift shops. Well that didn’t last long there’s only so much Highland coos, Harris tweed bags and bottles of whisky you can look at before losing the will to live.

Next stop Old Man Storr a braw wee hill known in Scottish Gaelic as Bodach an Stòrr, is part of the Trotternish Ridge on the Isle of Skye. It is a remnant of an ancient volcanic plug formed around 60 million years ago by a massive landslip, leaving behind striking pinnacles and cliffs that dominate the northeastern landscape of the island.

Up and down in 145 mins wasn’t bad given that the 4 seasons in one day decided to make an appearance, which made the conditions a little bit tricky. I always reflect on the quote by the big yin.

“I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little.”

Billy Connoly

Up on the summit the opportunity for a wee photo was had so the Saltire flag just had to come out of the rucksack. And a very nice Japanese man was kind enough to take the picture. What happened next wasn’t what I expected as the response from around 50 walkers at the summit was overwhelming as they cheered me as I posed for the photo.

Then what followed was even more unexpected when they all wanted a loan of the flag for their own Instagram posts so I kindly obliged, took a load of pics, shook some hands and then had a blether before quickly hurrying off the hill before I was stuck up there for half the day.

On the way down I thought I could have made a killing up there with a wee sum-up machine charging a few quid for a loan of the flag, haha missed opportunity maybe next time.

Walking just 30-45 minutes per day can deliver some major physical and mental health improvements, helping lower blood pressure assist with weight management, improve brain function and improve mental and physical health. That’s why for me, walking really does mend my mind.

On the way back down the Storr and seeing the cafe and visitors centre from a distance I quickly realised that the sat nav had taken me to the wrong parking spot. Resulting in me starting the climb up the hard way, through a peat bog field for half a mile to be precise ahh well I enjoyed the climb anyway.

With plenty of time to spare before my ferry departed for the already twice-delayed time at Uig for reasons only CalMac ferry operators know or if what the nice lady that served me in the Isle of Skye candle co was telling me is true that the ferries break down all the time and delays are very common. This filled me with loads of confidence, would I actually make Harris let alone get there at 11.30 in the evening?

As I had loads of time spare and was in no hurry to get anywhere because I was enjoying the breathtaking scenery I had a wee look at the map to see what was nearby.

The Kilt Rock was only a few miles away and was surely worth a visit, a huge 90-meter sea cliff featuring basalt columns that resemble a tartan kilt hence the name.

Next stop was the Fairy Glen info.

The Fairy Glen is located in the hills above the village of Uig a very strange landscape created by a landslip over 100.000 years ago. It really is a special place to visit, leaving my mind consumed with calm creativity and peace, well for a short time anyway.

Only a 3-mile drive down to Uig ferry terminal where I was expecting to find a few places to get food, a cuppa, or a zero beer.

How wrong was I, a cafe that was shut, Isle of Skye Brewing Company shut, the local pub had 2 punters sitting in the beer garden and no one inside, not even any staff members. Or maybe that was the staff enjoying a couple of beers in the garden.

I was pretty hungry by this point and went back to the map to see what was close by and bingo back up the road a little was a nice cafe called the Galley.

It was mostly sea food on the menu but it looked really nice and as I’m not a seafood kind of person and I had already had fish the night before I enjoyed some lentil soup and a nice apple and blueberry crumble followed by a cold tin of Irn-Bru.

Energy levels back to normal and finally getting closer to boarding the ferry.

As I proceeded to get checked in albeit still a wee while to go before boarding so out came the old gas stove to make a wee cuppa, a much-needed caffeine boost as it was sure to be a late night with a half-hour drive down to South Harris once the ferry docked.

The sailing was very smooth with the CalMac supplying hot & cold food and a good selection of drinks and snacks. It had to be a nice Latte and a wee tube o BBQ Tex Pringles for me and they went down a treat. Managing to squeeze in a few chapters of my book the crossing over to Harris was very quick and there was no mucking around getting everyone off the ferry and I was soon on my way south towards Luskentyre Beach where my digs for the night awaited my arrival.

Now I won’t go too much into the shambles of a campsite but let’s just say I hope the view of the beach in the morning is worth it.

Trying to find a pitch in the dark proved more than just a challenge, after over half an hour round and around the site and what felt like I was on an off-road jeep safari I just parked up and set up for the night.

And of course it was my first time putting the tent box up in the dark. However with a tiny wee little torch for assistance the process went a lot smoother than actually finding a spot to park the bloody thing in the first place.

After a very long day on the go I certainly deserved a wee night cap before bed.

Day 3

As an avid walker and writer, my quietest moments aren’t found indoors; they’re found out on the trail, surrounded by nature. Solo journeys into the outdoors are my way of hitting reset.

After a very late night pitch-up, I was up at the crack of dawn to see where I had actually parked. Yep, you guessed it – in the middle of nowhere.

But I wasn’t too bothered because the excitement was just too much, kind of like a wee boy waiting for Santa to come.

I had been researching the island for quite some time and couldn’t wait to see the amazing beaches that Harris and Lewis have to offer, and boy, they didn’t disappoint. Breathtaking doesn’t even come close.

Once I got my bearings and found where the toilet was, I then went for a wee stroll in search of some adventures.

At 6.00am, there was not a soul anywhere to be seen, so along the beach I went, and as you do when the sand is untouched, I drew a picture of a monkey.

Then I followed up with a bit of morning qigong practice. Well, the beach was all mine for a short time, so I made the most of it.

I must have taken about a million photos, then I remembered I was in Scotland, not the Caribbean.

I spent the next hour or so mindfully strolling back and forth, breathing in the amazing Outer Hebridean air and calming the monkey mind.

Wow, what a start to the day.

Back to pack away the kit before planning the next step of the trip.

After a short drive back to Tarbert, where I had disembarked the ferry in the dark, it didn’t take me long to decide to head up to Stornoway a day earlier than planned. This was mainly due to the horrendous midge infestation in Harris.

I was already half eaten to pieces, so the whisky distillery and the Harris Tweed shop would have to wait until my return.

After a great start to the day, it quickly went south—first the midges, then a system malfunction on the car with the infotainment system deciding it didn’t want to play ball anymore. Leaving me with no sat nav and no music for the rest of the trip. Well, that’s not entirely true, as I had to go old school and connect the iPhone via USB-C.

The joys of motoring, eh.

So, after the early morning midge fest and the rubbish technology produced by Vauxhall, I was back on the road heading to Stornoway, with about an hour’s drive ahead. Although I did stop halfway for some nice scenery, a wee sit down for a cuppa and some muesli.

Arriving in Stornoway, I was struggling to resist the temptation of the local delicacy—a black pudding roll, obviously topped with a sunny-side-up egg.

Now that I had done everything there was to do in Stornoway—which wasn’t much—and after visiting every shop in town and a good old trek around Lews Castle, I was getting a little hungry.

I sat down at the delightful Woodland Cafe for my roll and a nice latte that I had been craving for most of the day.

The simple things in life are so enjoyable.

Now it’s time to head across Lewis to the Callanish Stones.

But not before I took a detour when I saw a signpost to a place called Garry Beach, and then another sign pointing to the Bridge to Nowhere.

I just had to visit these places, even if they spelt Garry with two Rs. After exploring what is probably the most amazing beach I’ve seen—not just because it’s named Garry, but because in my opinion, it was spectacular in every sense of the word.

But then, once I walked over Garry Bridge and took the 1.5 km walk to what was known as the Bridge to Nowhere, the sight was unbelievable—blue seas, white sandy beaches, wow, just wow.

The walk to nowhere seemed to take forever, but that was because every bend, turn, and view was a picture-perfect postcard shot. I was like a Japanese tourist, snapping away like crazy, and to top it off, I was treated to the sound and sight of a spectacular waterfall nearing the end of the walk.

Being a walker myself—and I’m sure most walkers would agree—you usually look for a final destination, not on this walk. As it clearly states on the tin, the road to nowhere. There was a small mound that, from a distance, looked like a summit. Well that was to be my end point, standing no more than around 50 feet high. So I wandered up and made that my summit. And after the spelling mistake while naming the beach and the bridge, I decided to name it Gary Hill, obviously with one R.

The day was already packed full of adventures and surprises, and it wasn’t even lunchtime, and I still had the Callanish Stones to visit.

A world-famous, cross-shaped alignment of prehistoric standing stones erected during the late Neolithic period, around 2900 to 2750 BC the stones are roughly around 5000 years old and the 7th oldest in the world.

The real reason for this trip—mum was always a very spiritual person and a believer in all things supernatural—so I couldn’t think of a better place to say my private goodbyes.

Not being a believer myself, the strangest thing happened while walking up the hill towards the stones. A few hundreds visitors all gathered around the stones then the heavens opened and within seconds everyone made a beeline for the visitors centre leaving only me.

Albeit wet I was alone and proceeded with a small dusting of ashes inside the stone circle, I paid my respects and recited my final goodbye poem.

Feeling that this was another sign from Mum, it left me feeling at

My day swung from happy to sad and back to happy again a rollercoaster of emotions.

I popped into the cafe, as you do when you have a serious addiction to lattes and all things sweet.

A nice cuppa and a Tunnock’s caramel wafer.

This little pit stop prepared me for the teary but comforting journey back across Lewis to Bosta Beach on the coast of Lewis for my nights digs.

Bosta Beach didn’t disappoint either—the beach was equally stunning.

Realising I had no signal on my mobile and hadn’t checked in with the family I went in search for enough bars to send a message, walking a good bit i managed to get a good reception so i managed to call home.

Meanwhile not paying much attention to the 2 Highland Coos nearby that were looking to be my new best friends, well to be honest I nearly sh*t myself as they were huge and coming closer to say hello.

I quickly started to head back to base camp while Harris & Lewis the new names I had given my new pals started following me back down the hill.

I started a video call to show my daughter and stupidly let them past me haha bad mistake I couldn’t get past them again for over an hour, so I just sat on a rock and watched them.

Just as I thought that was them heading off Harris & Lewis were clearly wanting to play and started locking horns and charging at one another. Being the huge beasts they are and those horns I was a bit apprehensive whether to try and get past, they probably would not have harmed me but I thought I wouldn’t scare them just in case, and Getting gored by a Highland coo wasn’t on my bucket list.

Once they had had enough they trotted on down toward the beach where they just disappeared, where to god knows?? Mystery

Getting pretty Late and down on Bosta Beach I spent some time reflecting on my day I lit the lovely lavender candle for Mum that I had purchased on Skye, and raised a beer to her while watching the sunset.

Getting a nice glimpse of the Golden Eagles hovering and circling the area, looking for prey was a bonus albeit too far away to photograph. Then I thought maybe they were partial to a Highland coo or two and that’s where they had disappeared too.

I was definitely hoping that wasn’t the case and they were maybe vegetarian so they’d leave me be.

Isle of Harris & Lewis host one of the highest-density breeding populations of Golden Eagles in Europe, if I had more time a visit to the observatory would have been a must, next time maybe.

Completely knackered after a long day and no doubt another long day ahead of me tomorrow it was bed for me.

Day 4 & 5

Well, the last full day of my islands escape and the trip has been emotional, sad, happy, and bloody adventurous.

Stepping out of the tent box this morning to an audience of sheep surrounding the campsite was a bit of mad, thankfully they did quickly move when I approached them as I didn’t fancy a repeat of last night’s shenanigans with Harris & Lewis.

Still having the whole of Bosta Beach to myself and now chilling with a wee morning cuppa on the beach with only the waves and the birds for company allowing me to mindfully just be.

Early morning calm always sets me up for the day ahead before continuing my journey South to explore what the rest of Harris has to offer.

Well, it’s fair to say that Lewis has been a blast, what a stunning part of the country you are and in my opinion, this is a place that needs to be everyone’s bucket list, go and visit you will not be disappointed.

Since I have had no shower facilities for the last couple of days if was another cold wash down, teeth brushed and ready to hit the road.

It was about a mile or so up the road before the signal kicked back in and I was able to plan the rest of the day.

Due to another late night sailing from Tarbert back to Uig, I had lots of time to get into some more trouble, so it was decided that a road trip it was going to be windows down listening to some ultimate 80s tunes full blast and wind in my hair. Well, if I had hair, that’s how I imagined it would go, haha I thought it was pretty cool anyway.

Miles and miles on the road listening to the music of my youth brought back some good memories.

Most of the roads in Harris are single-track so coming head-on with camper vans coos, sheep and walkers is pretty common all I can say is I’m glad it’s the infotainment system that’s not working and not my brakes.

I headed down the coast towards Sielebost another lovely little beach continued to Rodel past Clements Church, and back up along the Golden Road

It is assumed by locals that it got its name because of the construction cost claiming that if it cost that much then it must be made of gold!

Built in the years after World War Two, as a safety measure after many accidents as people waded across rivers to get home. 

Now a smooth surface and laid with tarmac, apparently the first road on the Island to ever receive this surface.

This winding single track route through some of Harris’s rocky East Coast with the extreme bends and frightening bljnd summits tend to keep traffic to a minimum.

This route isn’t for the faint hearted as the daunting blind summits scared the absolute shit out of me when as I quickly found out when I met a Highland Coo head on.

The route  takes you up through the rugged mountains that I can only describe as a cross between a rollercoaster and a Formula One track.

What an experience and I must say it was really good fun, and driving miles and miles with not a care in the world just me, nature and my 80s classics what’s not to like.

Finally back to some sensible driving conditions and a short trip back to Tarbert for a 4-hour wait for the ferry whitch was cool as I still had some places to visit.

It was a whirlwind visit to the Isle of Harris distillery as I had just made it in on time before the shop closed for the day and the distillery tours didn’t operate at the weekends, I was a wee bit disappointed as I had planned this tour to visit the previous day before the good of midges changed the course of my trip.

But hey next time maybe, at least I still managed to purchase the nice bottle of Herrach whisky

• Nose:Fresh and vibrant with green apple, peach, honey, vanilla, and a subtle background of beach bonfire smoke.
• Palate: Oily and creamy mouthfeel featuring malty cereal notes, citrus (lemon/lime), white pepper, and a gentle, ashy peat smoke.
• Finish: Medium-long with lingering hints of spice, tart citrus, and soft, earthy smoke.

I had 3 things that I wanted to do on my trip.

Visit the Callanish Stones and scatter Mum’s ashes, buy a lovely lavender candle one of Mum’s favourite scents and something that she used to make her own oils, and the third was to buy a lovely bottle of whisky so I can raise a glass to Mum on those special occasions.

Having done all 3 and said my final goodbyes in my way and a way that I’m sure Mum would have been happy with I feel I have suitably achieved everything I wanted on my trip and much, much, more and having Mum with me every step of the way made it so very special.

Next stop was for some food as I hadn’t eaten all day. And I only had one place left to visit which was the Harris Tweed Shop as that was open late.

You will find out why after I have had some food.

Car still parked I took a nice wee wander through the town of Tarbert which took me about 20 minutes round trip as it isn’t that a big place.  I did come across the only place in town that was open, as everywhere apparently shuts early on a Sat night and most of the locals appeared to be either in the same pub I was in or parked up in a queue waiting on the same late-night ferry.

The Hotel Hebrides was the place to be,

A very nice little hotel and bar overlooking the ferry port and harbour, It had a lovely little menu, cullen skink, fresh salmon, lobster, crayfish fish all the lovely local produce, but for me it was a nice fresh Isle of Harris pepperoni pizza, with a side of garlic dip, and a cold Zero per cent Guinness.

The pizza was enormous but not that enormous as I cleared the plate.

Fed and watered now time for a visit to the world-famous Harris Tweed factory.

I was very keen to purchase a nice blazer having priced them back home and was curious to see if they would be cheaper where they are made, eh no 70 quid dearer and after witnessing 3 Americans outside the shop taking selfies fully dressed in Harris Tweed bonnets, scarfs, blazers & matching bags. They were proper proud of themselves and most likely spent over a grand each.

That’s why they charge more lol and why would they not pump the tourists with a 15 per cent increase?

I did try on a genuine Harris Tweed bunnet but nah, I’ll leave the peaky blinders look to the yanks.

2 hours left till CalMac starts boarding for the ferry back to the mainland

So time to do some writing.

All aboard and another smooth crossing with the same hospitality and warm welcome as the first crossing amazing service a credit to CalMac ferries.

And I do forgive you for the 2 previous delays gave me so much extra time to explore Skye and added so much more to my journey.

So I was contemplating driving some of the way back to Fife once the ferry embarked but given the fact that my eyes were sore and I was in dire need of some sleep, I definitely made the right decision so it was the campsite for me.

Glad that I made that decision as it was a lovely wee site with some nice showers and toilet facilities so I was looking forward to getting a good wash in the morning.

Another early rise, a lovely shower and a cuppa before setting off on the 6-hour drive ahead of me.

One more stop on the way back home at the House of Braur a wee wander around bought some sweeties and treats for the family, they sell some lovely food so a black pudding and steak pie and a latte were what took my fancy and that gave me some energy for the remainder of the trip home.

And back to some normality, roll on the next trip with the planning already in motion to be the Inner Hebrides. Oban, Isle of Mull and Iona I am coming to explore.

“Your work is now complete and it is time for you to rest, I know you will watch over us and keep us safe, sleep tight my beautiful angel until we meet again”

My mind is now at peace

love you mum xxxx.

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