Barra time

40% chance of rain & much black cloud forecast throughout the day produced this blue sky today.  Donald, the campsite owner had, however, told us (using XC weather forecasting) it was going to be a fine day. Trouble was, we weren't entirely sure what a fine day meant in the Outer Hebrides. 

So, we had two plans... Ideally, Barra's highest hill, Heaval - all of 1km there and back. It manages over 300m so had the chance of good views if the cloud lifted. And, a flat walk from Castlebay to watch wildlife. 

There was a patch of blue when we woke up and it looked promising so we went with Plan A. Despite its brevity, the walk up was fabulous; quite steep and with stunning views. The weather was improving by the minute and on the top we found a sheltered patch and sat in the sunshine for around an hour. We could see the hill where we'd seen the golden eagles yesterday and noted that one could easily fly by... which it did! 

We also chatted for a while with a chap who arrived on top after us, escaping the breakfast hustle and bustle of family life for a walk with his dog. We'd seen them on our ferry  coming over and it did seem a little full on!

After we eventually and a little reluctantly made our way down, we had lunch in the van, coffee in a coffee shop in the bay and continued the afternoon with Plan B and almost pure blue sky. 

We sat, after walking for 10 minutes or so, on some sheltered rocks as the winds was still brisk and cooling - just looking, sitting, taking it all in. We didn't spot any seals or otters but, over a couple of hours, enjoyed watching gannets, shags/cormorants, oyster catchers, guillemots, redwings, fieldfares, plenty of gulls, curlews and sometimes simply the slight surge of the sea on the seaweed. 

Cloud eventually covered the sun which was our sign to head for the bar. Rich got the pint he was after and we chatted with a mum and son from Northern Ireland whilst looking over the castle and bay... Lovely people and she was seriously thinking about moving over here and had rented a house for a second extended stay. 

We couldn't resist another drive round the island before heading home tomorrow. It was just as stunning as day one.

Time has slowed down over the last few days and not because we haven't enjoyed ourselves. I think we could both have enjoyed another few days quite easily.