27 June – 4 July 2026
A last-minute reduction in prospective numbers (illness, transport) provided an entirely Blytonesque scenario for this trip.
Saturday morning saw us meeting in Oban and immediately dealing with a flat tyre/collapsed wheel/re-inflation trolley situation prior to boarding the ferry.
While the crossing to Barra was relatively quiet in terms of passenger volume, it was a bit bouncy at times and we were quite relieved to disembark at Castlebay and make the slightly murky 2 km trip to the fantastic beach at Eliean Carrraigraich. A total hub for local swimmers, walkers and dog exercisers we were given little morning peace over the next few days, though Helen was an absolute treat in terms of filling us in with details regarding the ongoings in Castlebay, as well as the vagaries of dental and visual health on Barra overall ( a visit to Glasgow is now required for both of these .) Massively entertaining, plus she had a beautiful dog with her……and her partner Donald drives the local bus (though only Monday to Wednesday.)
A windy few days awaited. A couple of walks to the excellent Vatersay community café at the start of the Hebridean Way kept us going. On Monday we managed a quick afternoon blast round the skerries at the eastern end of Vatersay in relatively challenging conditions: “ Er….this is quite good fun but where exactly are we going next?”
Tuesday saw us round the eastern point again in better weather and cross to the marvellous beach on the north coast of Sandray. Lunch and a supply of fresh water supported our journey along the Sandray coast to eventually cross back to Vatersay, its southern beach and a visit to the abandoned settlement of Eorasdail, still inhabited until the mid-1960s. An excellent paddling day with open crossings, skerry-hopping and creel-boat dodging.
An expedition up the east coast of Barra on Wednesday morning, knowing that the weather would close in over the afternoon, took us to Orasaigh (in Gaelic, tidal island – of which there are many.) The crowning glory was the small creel boat which turned towards us as we recrossed the sound, bringing a pod of dolphins playing on its bow wave into our line of sight. We retreated to our tents for the remainder of the day – and indeed evening & night since this turned out to be the worst weather of the whole trip. Fortunately, no tents were harmed on this occasion.
Thursday we circumnavigated Barra – by bus (driven by Jonathon, not Donald) -stopping at the Eriskay ferry and dropping us at Barra airport, which is quite an attraction in itself, as is its excellent café. Met Helen again, straight off the plane from Glasgow after her appointments and then walked over the dunes to Traigh Eais and kilometres of empty beach, glorious sunshine, wind and pounding blue surf.
Friday we left camp and paddled back to Castlebay via the ‘pizza-oven’ skerry and the old harbour, having decided that the prospect of packing up tents beside the ferry terminal in F7 at around 0600 on Saturday morning was not a particularly attractive proposition – and so we’d booked a night in the Castlebay hostel, complete with pocket sauna. Lunch in the Castlebay Hotel, visits to the buth (shop), distillery outlet (much cheaper than the Co-op across the road) and a final meal in Cafe Kismul rounded off another memorable, if slightly frustrating Hebridean week.
As a postscript, an otter performed for us in the ferry terminal as we departed.
Many thanks to David, Chris, Clare, and Catherine for making this another great trip with lots of the usual nonsense.
Ian Patterson
