Thursday 21st May

We were all up early to catch the 8.15 ferry to Barra, the weather had now turned nasty and it was raining really heavily. Fortunately it was only a short ride to the ferry terminal but we were all a bit soggy by the time we boarded.
This was a 7 hour trip to Barra so the rummikub came out again and the weather gradually improved as we neared the island. On arrival we headed straight for the one and only shop on the island to stock up on food and then went to the hostel just down the road. The hostel in the main town of Castlebay was really rustic, held together by sticky-tape but not bad on the whole.

Jilly in front of the Hostel

The weather was now dry so we dumped the panniers and set off to do a 12 mile lap of the island. Within a few minutes the rain came back with a vengeance but we plodded on and it soon cleared and the sun came out. There were some steep hills on the east of the island but also some stunning views and the west coast was flatter and had some really nice, sandy beaches.

Jilly half way up the east coast

Fred on the east coast

Fred and Jilly on one of the downhills

The final run down the west coast back into Castlebay

When we got back to the hostel Jilly cooked gammon steaks which was followed by a trip to the pub up the road.