What do you do when you’ve been on that “Top of my Bucket List” adventure?

A trip to the St Kilda archipelago has been at the top of my adventure wish list for years. My 4am alarm call on Friday last week fired the gun on my excitement for the day ahead, while also giving me pause for thought. As I gazed up at the moon above McLeod’s Tables, the view from our campsite, I wondered what adventure would rise to the top of that list?

So what is so special about this tiny landmass in the Atlantic Ocean?

• It’s the UK’s only dual UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of only 39 in the world.
• It’s home to nearly 1 million seabirds, including the UK’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins.
• It was evacuated on 29 August 1930 after the remaining 36 islanders voted to leave as their way of life was no longer sustainable.
• St Kilda has its own unique wren, as well as a sub-species of mouse which is twice the size of a British fieldmouse.

There is no place like St Kilda. Towering out of the storm-tossed waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its cliffs and sea stacks clamour with the cries of hundreds of thousands of seabirds. 

Internationally recognised for its birdlife, St Kilda is no less famous for its human history. A community existed here for at least 4,000 years, exploiting the dense colonies of gannets, fulmars and puffins for food, feathers and oil.

The final 36 islanders were evacuated in 1930. Now uninhabited, visitors can brave the weather to sail to the ‘islands at the edge of the world’ for the experience of a lifetime.

And today was the day I reached that “edge”. Dave was coming with me and after packing a full days supplies, we left the Kinloch Campsite in Dunvegan early and drove the 9 miles to the Stein jetty. and here is where we were going.

The midges were light but keeping us on our toes at the jetty as we waited for our fellow passengers to arrive. After a safety briefing from Gordon and Gwyn and putting on our life vests, we were guided aboard. The “don’t let go of the boat” message was unnerving but also quite exciting.

The cloud was low initially and the views were of sea and sea birds. The sun tried to peak through and when it did, we could see Clisham and the isles as we approached Harris. The sea was kind to us with few bumps and little in the way of swell.

After leaving The Minch and entering the Atlantic, the swell became much more interesting. Four points of contact with the boat was essential if you wanted to stay in it. On the deck I was gripping the boat with all my strength. The slamming of waves against the hull and the rise and fall of the swell was too much for some as we continued the 4 hour journey to get to St Kilda. Inside the boat seemed safer than on deck after a while.

Land started to finally loom large and first up was a tour of the gannet fulmar colonies on Boreray.

The bird life was incredible and put on a show as we bobbed around the island of Boreray and Stac an Armin and Stac Lee. Take a look at the film below to get an idea of the swell, at about 30 seconds look out for the people rising into and out of shot. Gordon reminded us to keep our mouths shut as we looked up, to avoid ingesting the bird poo that occasionally fell like rain. The film also gives you a much better idea of just how many birds were flying above us.

Our boat motored on to Village Bay, where we caught our first glimpse of the old village or Main Street and where the residents of the island of Hirta lived. Stone shielings, stone houses and stone cleits (or storehouses) demonstrated the islanders building prowess with the few materials they had. There are no trees on St Kilda.

To get to the pier, we transferred into a little boat and after our briefing from ranger Sue, we were free to explore.

After exploring the church, school and factors house, I left Dave to head up to The Gap, a saddle between the peaks of Conachair and Oisebhal to get a view of the giant sea cliffs from above. Passing the many cleits on the way up, I was surprised at how many of them there were, but also how big some of these island storerooms were.

Village Bay looked and felt Mediterranean in the warmth and sunshine.

Dave took a shot of me while I was admiring the view from The Gap.

That view was stunning.

I lingered a while with my sandwiches, watching and listening to the fulmars and looking over to Boreray and it’s stacs. Literally one of the best mountain views I’ve ever witnessed. I wandered back down “Cleit Street” towards Main Street, admiring the cleit construction techniques as I went.

Most of the houses on Main Street are ruins. A few have been rebuilt to act as staff quarters and a museum.

At the end of Main Street, I met up with Dave again and decided a swim would help cool me down after all that exploring. The water definitely had a “come on in” type of vibe.

The water was crystal clear and a gorgeous blue colour.

Swimming in the bay in the sunshine was just what was needed. Cooled and refreshed, Dave and I walked to the WW2 gun emplacement and looked over towards Dun, wishing I had time to get across and back before the boat left. If you look below you can see WW2 arms…. and Dave’s arms.

Our time was up. The fastest 4 hours ever had been and gone and we got back on the boat. A quick tour of Dun with its pinnacles and puffins and then we turned and sped off in the direction of Levenish. And then homeward.

We arrived back at Stein Jetty by about 8.30pm, just in time to have some awesome fish and chips at The Stein Inn.

A perfect end to a perfect day. Experiencing the historical and ecological joys of the St Kilda first hand are worth the long day. Add to that some hillwalking and swimming and a sense of peace, the formula for a great adventure is there to be had. The only negative for me was that there wasn’t enough time to see everything I wanted to.

I took loads of pictures. But I didn’t intend filming much as I had such a short time on the island. I did capture a few quick shots and threw them together into a short film.

My original question at the start of the blog was what’s next? What is the next “Top of the Bucket List” adventure?

I attended a gig in June in Glasgow and spent most of the previous 6 months listening to the bands tunes. Since attending the gig I’ve moved on to other bands. While not forgetting what was a fab night at The Hydro, there is so much good music out there that it felt natural to move on.

On the other hand I felt genuinely sad to leave St Kilda. The rolling of the boat on the way home matched the rolling of my emotions. So chuffed to have experienced such a remote and magical place, while feeling a certain slipping away again behind us as we left for Skye. I’ve spent months reading up about the islands and stacs and watching films . I’m writing this blog with Trevor Morrison’s Lost Songs of St Kilda album playing in the background. I don’t feel I’m finished with those distant volcanic remains just yet. I don’t feel ready to move on.

Chatting to a ranger just before getting back on the boat, she told me how you could volunteer to be a ranger on St Kilda for a week or two at a time.

And there, my friends, you have it. My new “Top of the Bucket List” adventure. Very similar to the last one, yes.

And it may take me another 10 or 15 years to achieve it. But I’m already quite excited. 😀