Castlebay to Oban

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A day off today since we are travelling to Oban to continue our visit to the remaining Inner Hebrides, missed on the way North due to the Ferry Timetable. We went to see the film “Whisky Galore” last night which was based on the story of the SS Politician, which went down off Eriskay Island in 1941, which is just above Barra and across the sound. The ship hit the rocks full of whisky but but just before it went down the locals salvaged several hundred crates of whisky and hid them from the authorities who chased them down with limited success. The film stars notables such as James Robertson Justice and Gordon Jackson, is quite humorous and was filmed in Castlebay on the south of Barra. The town has has changed a bit with more housing and tarred roads and the castle has been restored to its former glory. Yesterday the long range weather forecast was wall to wall sunshine and low winds for 5 days. However, they have now changed their minds and whilst it is dry they are forecasting cloud and 20mph winds from the South. This is not as good as we would have liked, but at least the southerly winds are a bit warmer than those bitter north winds experienced in the first two and a half weeks of this journey. We are just too fussy. It is amazing how we keep,bumping into the same groups of travellers on these islands at cafes, hotels and on ferries. They are in cars and we on bikes but all seem to go at the same pace, steady, as befits an Outer Hebridean islander. As we journeyed East to Oban the weather improved and as we passed Ardnamurchan Point we could see the lighthouse clearly and blue patches appeared in the leaden sky and sun appeared on the Kilchoan hills highlighting all the white painted houses. Is summer coming back? We arrived in Oban mid-afternoon where it was quite warm and we were stripping off again. Light lunch and then on to Connel where kind David Bleazard and his wife June are putting us up ’yet again’ on our way through Oban. Again we have been recieving donations from kind passers by and are now up to almost £200.

Mull and Tobermory tomorrow . 36 islands now with just 6 to go. Sad now!

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