Advertisement
Published: October 12th 2010
Edit Blog Post
We´ve been lucky with the weather so far and its another fine day on Barra. We catch a local bus up the West coast of the island, the driver of course is another MacNeil. Its great to hear local people speaking Gaelic to each other, although sometimes with the strength of the accent we´re not quite sure what language they´re speaking. We pass some stunning white sand beaches and cute little cottages.
We hop off the bus at the Barra airport at Eoligarry. This is not your standard airport - the runway is the beach. When the windsock is flying, you´re not allowed to walk the beach, and from beside the terminal building we watch a commercial flight coming in to land. Pretty unique. Guess its quiet there at high tide.
We walk some white sand, then head up to Kilbar and a historic wee church with a graveyard overflowing with MacNeil gravestones. Then its up to Dun Scurrival, a circular mound of rocks that is the remains of an Iron Age hilltop fort. It overlooks Traigh Eias beach, a beautiful vast stretch of white sand that, when we get down there, is as stunning as it looked from
Barra airport
Beach off limits when the wind sock flies a distance. Long, wide and white, with gentle waves peeling in, clear water and a strong offshore wind whisking the sand away in rippling trails. We almost have the entire beach to ourselves, apart from a couple of hardy families sheltering in the high dunes.
Back at base camp we watch a couple of otters feeding and lounging on a rock near our tent. We´ve been wanting to see otters for ages, so we´re wrapt and watch them daily.
Our next jaunt is to Vatersay Island, attached to Barra by a causeway. Our bus driver, a MacNeil, drops us at a gorgeous beach which sadly was the site of a terrible shipwreck when 350 people lost their lives. We walk the beach attempting to imagine the horrific scene, then its up a hill to another Iron Age fort. The wind is really howling today and we have wild views to the island of Mingulay and the islets beyond.
At our next beach we watch 3 sharks cruising in the shallows and a lone seal pops its head up to peek at us. Its a pretty windswept place and quite dramatic today with dark clouds and rain threatening.
The walk back passes an abandoned village, only the stone walls and chimneys remain, sitting in the desolate landscape.
Back in Castlebay Keith heads to the tent for a dip in the sea and Tessa and I visit the heritage centre. This reveals little about her links to the Barra MacNeils, but we do hear there´s been a large earthquake (7.1 on richter scale) back in New Zealand in Christchurch. With only very sketchy information, the two of us do all we can do under the circumstances - head for the local pub. To watch the TV news, of course. The barmaid (yet another MacNeil) happily changes the channel. Its a slightly nervous wait for news, as Tessa´s brother and family and friends live in Christchurch, but we´re welcomed by some locals who buy us a drink and distract us with tales of island life. When the news does come on its very brief, with dramatic shots of damage, but on the positive side no loss of life. It´s much later when we hear that all are OK, apart from damage to houses and possessions, but that Christchurch will never be the same.
Meanwhile back at base, Keith
has clambered over the slippery seaweed-covered rocks to attempt immersion in the chilly sea. Very refreshing apparently.
It´s our last night on Barra and the local celebrity band, The Vatersay Boys, are playing at their local home pub. We´re keen. The pub fills slowly and by 10:30pm the band members are settling into their seats, beers at the ready. Its a great display of lively accordian music to a now packed house and soon has the tourists slapping their thighs and the locals cheering and dancing on the tables. Its wall to wall entertainment and a great way to end our Barra experience.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.119s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 10; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0524s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb