Barra and Vatersay


Sunday 20th September 

I am writing this on the ferry, leaving Barra heading for Oban. The sailing is 4 hrs 45 mins and fortunately the sea is like a mill pond

So, I will continue with the Barra and Vatersay story. I am writing this blog on my phone because I have not had enough internet to transfer the pics onto the iPad. It is a bit tricky! 

After a lazy start on Friday (doing the laundry etc) we drove to the island of Vatersay which is the southernmost inhabited island in the Outer Hebrides.  Our plan was to do a walk around the southern part of the island as detailed in the Bradt  guide. There is no footpath shown on the OS map so we were following the sketch map and the description in the book.  The walk set off at the end of another stunning beach. 



We were trying to follow waymarker posts but many of them had succumbed to the elements so that the direction arrows had been obliterated! The terrain was tussocky moorland up and down with inevitable boggy areas so it was difficult to get into a stride. After about 2 hours we reached a small beach where we stopped to have our sandwiches. 


The next part of the walk took us round another beautiful beach and a view of a deserted village which was inhabited until the 1970s



Then we had difficulty route finding and decided to turn back and use the beach access track back to the village and on to the van. Think we only walked about 3 miles in total but the terrain was tricky for me at times. 
Yesterday  (Saturday) I dropped Michael off at the starting point for the ascent of Heaval, the highest mountain on the island at 384m, to walk back to the campsite. I did the shopping and returned to have a relaxing morning  reading the paper and writing my blog!
He met a young couple from the campsite on the mountain  hence the next photo 


Proof he got to the top!!
Before he went I showed him how to use the camera on his new iPhone!

Looking down on Castlebay and towards Vatersay and the other islands to the south

Looking west with the campsite just visible. 

 He was back in very good time as always! 

In the afternoon we walked over to the headland we could see from the van. There is a large graveyard there, not sure if it is still in use though.  The access is through a pasture. 

Heaval is the mountain on the right. 

We extended the walk to the next bay with another lovely beach where I actually got my feet wet walking at the edge of the sea. 


Our last walk on Barra! 

Later in the afternoon a sea fret rolled in obliterating the views but creating quite an atmosphere. 







The air turned chilly and we retreated to the van for drinkies and an excellent pizza. Joan’s Pizza is located at a house just across the way just a phone call away. She makes them to order on Friday and Saturday nights. 

We have just said farewell to Barra and really hope to return some day. Had we known how beautiful it is we would have extended our stay however I feel sure we will also enjoy a few days on Mull from tomorrow. Tonight we will be somewhere near Oban. 


Castlebay marina in early morning misty light

Leaving Castlebay. 



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