Photo: David Robertson Straight after Troon I was to go even further up North to explore the Northern Hebrides! This meant that there was no time to go home and 'chill out' for a bit as I had to go the next day, I was straight back in the van down to Manchester. Monday morning I was greeted by rain, rain and more rain in Greater Manchester at ExPix HQ. Today was the first part of the trip where we were to travel to Oban. From Oban, we then had to catch a 5 hour ferry journey to North Uist, we all had our fingers crossed, as looking at the forecast before we set off it didn't look too promising! With strong winds and heavy rain. Before we could set off, it was our job to pack all our kit in the 17 seater mini bus which we had hired... With only 9 of us you would think there would be loads of free space, but wrong! We were cramped in there all week! After what felt like the longest 6 hour journey ever, we finally made it to Oban. We checked in to a nice little place were we were staying the night and then made our way to the Irish pub O'Donnell's where we met up with two American Professional kitesurfers Patrick Rebstock and James Ropner. After the food, Hannah and I decided to call it it as we were so tired and we made our way back to the B&B. Tuesday's weather was terrible which meant that the ferry to Lochboisdale was cancelled. Being kitesurfers, we made the most of the stormy weather to go and kite Connel in Oban. My smallest kite was a 7m Naish Torch, while I was getting kitted up, I was thinking "I really need to get a 5m, why on earth am I going out?" It was so windy. When Hannah launched me, I was prepared with Alex Bird holding onto the back of my harness, I quickly booted up in my bindings and then I was off. A short, gusty session with a wind speed that felt like 40-50 knots, I felt like I was mad, but proud to have gone out with the guys. Wednesday morning was an early start for all of us, with a 5.30am start, today was the day where we caught the ferry to South Uist! After seeing a beautiful sunrise and 5+ hours later we finally arrived! As soon as we got off the ferry, we took the one and only main road on the island to the beach, Sollas! The people on the island had heard that we were coming so a very kind lady made us lunch and baked millionaire shortbread. Sollas had the best of both worlds, with butter flat water and waves which were separated by a spit. Looking out to the sea I thought wow, this is such a place. I was keen to get out after sitting still for far too long on the ferry. It was the first time out on my 2013 9m Naish Torch and I loved it so much! I was able to hold down so much power, and the pop and drop is incredible. After the session we all headed to Uist Outdoor Centre where was where we were staying for the trip. With home-made 3 course meals every night we couldn't have got anything better after kitesurfing every day. Thursday morning I woke up to the smell of a cooked breakfast! The wind was quite light so few of us went out to explore the area. As we realised Uist pretty much looked the same every direction you looked in... Green grass, hills, remoteness, we decided to head back. We didn't make it back in time before it started to rain so the majority of us got soaked! That afternoon, we went out to check out Hosta, a different beach where waves reached 20ft the previous week. The conditions weren't right, so we headed back down for tea at a nice little cafe. On Friday we all took a trip to the school which was on Benbecula, the students there studied PE, Geography and Social Science. It really put it into perspective when one student said that they hadn't been to North Uist, when it was only really a 45 minute drive, they hadn't been to a shopping centre and they didn't know what Tiree was, yet when they stood on the beach you could see the island from where you were standing. We were there to explain to them how kites work, why different people use different boards and what disciplines there were, you really could see their fascination. It was amazing to think that if I personally went to school there, I would only have to walk three minutes to be on the beach! The beach there was lovely. That afternoon we headed back to Sollas where I was unable to go out because the wind was too strong, we then went to Hosta, as we were promised by locals we would get some waves there. This was where I saw how good James and Patrick were in the waves.
Sunday was our last day on the island, so we had to make the most of it! Most of us was still feeling the night before... That morning, I woke to screams outside, as I realised it was Alex, Seb and Thijs swimming in the Loch! It was freezing but such a good laugh to watch. We made our way to Hosta and was greeted by winds so strong that even Dave, Hannah and Alex even struggled in, guess that meant it was a no go for me, at this point I was really wishing I had a 5m! We then went back to Sollas one last time to see if we could get a freestyle session in, I leant Dave my 7m Torch so he was able to ride as it was still so windy. I was gutted, but when I am getting blown off my feet just standing there... Monday came and it was time that we left the island, we caught the ferry from Lochmaddy to Uig on the Isle of Skye. From then on we made our way through the Highlands to Dunbar where we entertained ourselves for the 7 hour journey there... We stayed at a very fancy hotel called the Royal Makintosh and the next morning we were off to Foxlake cable! This was so much fun, but the first time I have ever got a nose bleed at a cable park... I hit the water so hard! The highlight of the day was Dave doing a railey in a big sumo suit and Alex trying everything thing he could, even though it was his first time on the cable! We arrived in Edinburgh that afternoon after visiting the distillery. Hannah and I were determined to hit the shops, so we soon hopped off the bus and went shopping! After our little shopping spree we met everyone else at a big Wetherspoons, where after 10pm we all got kicked out as I did not have any ID.. Hannah even got asked for ID for buying tap water! This meant it was time to see what Edinburgh really had to offer, and we made our way to another bar. It was such a good night, the place really came alive in the evening and with all the lights it made everything look so stunning. We all eventually made our way back to the travel lodge.. Even Thijs who spent most of the early morning hours walking to the other end of the city where he thought we were staying... After the 5 hour journey back to Manchester, I headed to Hannah and Pete's home town where I stayed the night, off to York we went the next day where we met up with James and Patrick. Then to Redcar in Darlington where round 4 of the BKSA freestyle event was taking place.
Many thanks to ExPix for making this trip happen! It was such a great experience and definitely met some great people where the time was spent well with. Photo Credits: David Robertson Ian Edmondson at ExPix
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